“Mulch, I think, is one of my favourite gardening words. There’s something onomatopoeic about it: conjuring the soft, damp nourishment of the work it does to the soil.
In the simplest terms mulching is adding rotted-down plant matter to your soil to feed and nourish it. As with everything in the garden, however, people do like to complicate it.
Why mulch at all? It has multiple benefits, primarily feeding the soil. But it also suppresses weeds, builds your soil’s drought and flood defences and protects plants’ root growth. It’s also deeply satisfying, as gardening jobs go.
I suspect the mystery sneaks in because people start to question if they’re doing it right. Are they mulching at the right time? Are they mulching in the right places? Are they mulching with the right mulch?
Some gardeners I respect would, sensibly, answer that the best time to mulch is when you think about it. I’ve been known to mulch in the height of summer, where there’s hardly any bare soil to cover with the stuff, in the hope that some good cool compost will feed my flowering plants and help stave off drought during a heatwave. But I’m more likely to do it around now, once I’ve lifted and divided those plants that have become too big for their boots, planted my bulbs and any 9cm hardy perennials I hope to see grow in the spring, and I’m unlikely to disturb the ground again for months.
People speak of “putting the garden away for winter”; I prefer to think of tucking it in under a thick layer of well-rotted manure. In essence, you want to aim for a time when soil is relatively clear of growth and nothing’s going to pop through.
I mentioned well-rotted manure, but everyone has different preferences of what they mulch. If I’ve had a good compost year, I’ll use the stuff I’ve made from my kitchen scraps, garden waste and delivery boxes. If I’ve lots of new plants in the ground, I’ll splurge on some Lakeland Gold, which is particularly good at softening the sticky London clay beneath my boots. I know of gardeners who mulch with gravel. But if you’re at the beginning of your mulching journey, your plant-based mulches include leaf mould (entry-level mulch; you could essentially let the surrounding trees do it for you); well-rotted garden manure (particularly good for hungry plants such as roses); garden compost (great because it’s right there), and bark or woodchips, which are particularly good for improving drainage and water retention.
You’ll want to put a layer around 5-7cm thick across your beds and pots – which particularly benefit from mulching – so look into ordering by the literal truck load if you want to save on plastic waste and have a particularly large garden. You’ll always be popular with the neighbours if you have some to spare.
