What is the best vegetable garden mulch?
Gardening is a great hobby when you consider all of the positives you can get from it. Some people use it as therapy, some as their alone time, and others use it as a sustainable way to save on food costs. However, without the proper mulch, you’re going to have a rough time making your garden into something that provides for you.
Now, just because mulch is organic or compost in nature doesn’t always mean it’s best for your garden. You need to know what you want out of your garden and how often you want to tend to it when you pick out the right mulch for you.
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Types Of Mulches For Vegetables
Vegetable plants need a lot of nutrients over a long period while they are growing and bearing food. How you get your plants, the nutrients you need is entirely up to you. However, mulch is a great way to get this done while protecting the soil that holds the roots from things like:
- Too much sunlight
- Weeds
- Chemicals from fertilizers
- Becoming bare of nutrients
Organic Mulches
While you can use fertilizer or man-made products that allow for your plants to get the nutrients they need, the best option for your plants is to use organic materials for a more natural result. There are plenty of organic options that are cost-effective and give the plants exactly what they need.
Wood Chips
This is a very common type of mulch that is used residentially and commercially. These come in several colors, sizes, and varieties to accommodate any needs your garden may have. Wood chips break down over time, and thanks to the insects and critters that live in the soil, the nutrients wood chips leave behind get worked down to the roots to feed your plant.
Some people feel like wood chips are not the best candidate for annual vegetable gardens due to the length of time it takes for them to break down. However, if you start your garden off with wood chips, after a year, your soil will be rich in nutrients, and it will be easily replaced and fed.
Leaves
Leaves are by far one of the cheapest ways to mulch your garden. It is as simple as using leaves from your yard. They will decompose rather quickly, so it’s best to have another mulch option or plenty of leaves to replace them with.
Some people have problems with leaves not staying in place due to blowing away with the wind. This problem can easily be solved by running your leaves over with a lawnmower or putting them through some type of shredder before placing them down as mulch. When doing this, they will also decompose faster, so keep that in mind.
Grass Clippings
Grass clippings are another cheap option to use as mulch, but it can be more tedious to do correctly. Using wet or thick layers of green grass can cause mold and an odor in your garden. So you have to keep a rotating pattern of layers to get the most out of it.
It is best to use dry grass and slowly layer newer grass a few inches thick, with a thin layer of green grass at the top. The top layer will help weigh down the dry grass, and as it decomposes, the top layer will dry and decompose once it reaches the bottom.
It is worth noting that this process is only considered organic if the grass you are using has not been treated with any chemical fertilizers or pesticides. If you don’t know what the grass has been treated with, it is always better to assume it is not organic material.
Hay or Straw
Hay or straw are simple mulch options that decompose very quickly. They decompose so quickly that you will likely need to replace it about every 5-6 weeks. You will want to keep a good eye on it to ensure your soil stays moist and covered.
You need to avoid straw or hay-filled with seeds so that they don’t sprout weeds that can take over your garden.
Pine Needles
Pine needles can help with low acidity levels in your soil and be an excellent option for organic mulch. They stay put better than other mulch options and have a much slower breakdown time, so you don’t have to replace them as often.
Organic mulches can be amazing for weed control, as well as feeding your soil so your plants can grow well. However, they take significantly more time and work to manage so many people often choose a non-organic option due to the lack of time they have to manage a garden.
Inorganic Mulches
Inorganic mulches are the preferred path that some choose to take due to the ability to cut out the weeds almost entirely and the lack of replacing and re-mulching throughout the season. While these are not the most environmentally friendly options for mulch, they are useful.
Newspaper
This is most likely the best nonorganic option for mulch. Newspapers will decompose after a year and allow a good amount of water, nutrients, and sunlight to reach the soil. When you pair newspapers with organic mulch, your plants would stay fed well and not have to compete for space with weeds.
Some people say the ink in the newspaper can harm your soil and plants; however, there is not enough evidence to suggest that this is accurate. It is best to simply pay attention to your garden and use an alternative method if something is not working for you.
Black Plastic
If you are having problems with weeds, laying down a black plastic layer will kill any plants that it covers. The issue with this is the color will absorb heat and transfer it to the soil, which means the roots can get too hot and burn, killing the plant. This has to be monitored closely.
Usually, black plastic is not used alone since it can cause problems, so it is commonly layered with organic mulch to help regulate heat. However, sunlight and decomposing mulch can cause the plastic to break down faster, so it needs to be regularly checked to continue the weed-killing benefits.
Landscape Fabric
Much like black plastic, landscape fabric aids in weed-killing. While this does not heat the soil as black does, it does restrict the number of nutrients the earth would get from organic mulch. This would be best paired with rocks or other types of landscape material you don’t want to be mixed into the ground.
Overall, all three of these nonorganic options might help with the weed issues you are likely to have but will not be able to contribute many nutrients to your soil. You would need an alternate option for allowing your plants to be fed with organic nutrients or nonorganic fertilizer.
(Source: Frador, dummies, Gardeners, fine gardening, veggie gardener, big rentz)
Final Thoughts
Vegetable gardens are a fantastic way to sustain yourself without costing a ton of money. While maintaining a garden can take a bit more time than grocery shopping, it’s always worth it when done correctly. Knowing exactly where your food comes from gives you peace of mind.
A large part of gardening is knowing what your soil lacks and how you will help it grow plants that bear food. Organic compost-type mulch is the best way to feed your soil without chemicals or man-made products.
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