Q: I'm confused about mulching. Do I mulch in summer, or do I mulch in winter?
A: Both! There are lots of reasons to mulch and protect the plants and soil. In spring and summer, we spread mulch to hold the moisture in the ground. We dutifully spread a layer of bark or peat over the garden, and we hope we can water less because a good mulch will hold the moisture in the ground during periods of drought.
We're told that a heavy layer of mulch will cut weeding to a minimum. And we might mulch for aesthetics — to make the garden or shrubs look wonderfully neat and tidy and weed-free.
In the summer, mulch is often put over a vegetable bed to keep the vegetables near the ground, like lettuce, much cleaner — no mud splashing on your salad greens. And mulch keeps the ground at an even temperature, allowing better plant growth. Dark-colored mulch will warm the soil earlier in the spring, allowing earlier growth.
In winter, we mulch for a different kind of protection. We mulch for temperature and sun protection. During the late winter, the sun gets higher and warmer in the sky. The temperature can fluctuate, causing the ground to freeze one day and melt the next, causing frost heaves, which expose tender roots. Mulch helps minimize heaving.
When the ground has finally frozen, usually by mid-December, it is time to mulch for winter. But do wait until the ground is frozen. If you mulch too early, the mulch will be laid over warm ground and it can serve as a cozy winter home for many undesirable four- and eight-legged creatures — so don't hurry mulching.
Summer or winter, think of mulch as your insurance policy in the garden.
Q: What should I use for mulch?
A: Lots of cheap and useful mulches are available depending on where you live. But whatever you choose, smaller, more shredded material works best, and composts more easily into the soil.
Most mulches are castoffs from another industry — industrial garbage, if you please — but useful garbage to a gardener. And on a regional basis, they're readily available.
If you live in the South, you may find hulls from cotton bolls or peanut shells. In the Northeast, we use peat, straw, and salt marsh hay and bark and even shredded paper printed with nontoxic inks. But open your eyes and you'll discover that the best free mulch is right in your own backyard.
Two of the most perfect mulching materials are available just when you need them most — grass clippings and dry leaves — and they're certainly cheap. But to be used to best advantage, they take some preparation:
Grass should be dried until it's a yellow color, then cut and shredded well. Likewise for any leaves. If used whole, they may smother plants and produce yellow spots on grass, but not if they're shredded. Leaves and grass protect and form a very valuable compost layer.
What could be better? After all, nature lays down a layer of protective mulch. Consider this: In forests and woodlands, there is no one to rake it away — and everything thrives.
Q: When can I stop mowing? I figure I've been mowing my lawn at least once a week, sometimes twice, for eight months this year! The grass really looks good, lush and green. I think I had the best lawn in the neighborhood, but I've had enough. When will lawn mowing finally be over?
A: Admit it now — you really liked cutting that lawn this year! As you mowed, you admired the lawn, the thick green turf you slaved over during half the year.
For the final cutting, set the mower blade at 2 inches so the grass roots have some protection over the winter. Rev up the mower, and bid your lawn goodbye for the winter.
Now admit it, you're going to miss it!
This week's dirt
Grab that last flowering annual from the garden and put it in a pot. Bring it indoors for the windowsill — a dwarf marigold, impatiens, coleus, even some alyssum. We've had some cold nights, but I always find a seedling that needs rescuing, blooming away in spite of the weather.
By now, the plants may have had some cold damage and won't live forever, but it's a free houseplant and will supply some color in the late fall.
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North Shore Gardener by Barbara Barger of Beverly is a regular feature of Wednesday's Lifestyles section. Reach Barbara by e-mail at nsgardener@comcast.net or write to her c/o Salem News, 32 Dunham Road, Beverly, MA 01915. Previous North Shore Gardener columns can be found at www.ns gardener.com.
