Adding Mulch

Mulching

Adding Mulch

If I add mulch to my garden, should I assist it and dig it in as it rots down or leave it alone to mix in on its own? For e.g Pea straw.

This is an excellent question concerning mulch, and the use of it depends on what materials you are mulching with. Placed on the soil surface, mulch helps prevent weed growth, aids with water retention and eventually breaks down to improve organic matter in the soil.

With pea straw, we would strongly recommend using it only as a surface mulch (which will eventually break down) as opposed to mixing it in as a soil additive.

You can remove the mulch, and dig in Daltons Garden Time™ Compost to improve the soil in vegetable gardens or when preparing sites for new plantings, then reapply the mulch (like crushed bark or pea straw etc) to the soil surface to break down naturally.

At this time of the year, there is an enormous amount of leaves from deciduous trees, these (especially oak leaves), can be used as a mulch and by early summer, will have broken down, improving your soil very quickly.

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