Have you ever felt like you are spending all spring weeding the garden? Until recently I seemed to be on a yearly treadmill weeding the garden in spring one year only to be back starting from scratch doing it all over again the next year!
I couldn’t go on like that, especially as I have several large garden beds where I live. I decided to put down some mulch throughout the garden beds to try and suppress the weeds. I found some valuable websites that have helped me to do just that. Since using mulch I have found that fewer weeds have come up each year!
I have included several links to websites that give answers to general questions such as why we should use mulch and how to use it, as well as the options we have when choosing the type of mulch we need to use.
Precision Landscape website: Mulch for Natural Weed Control
About.com Gardening: Mulch – What Is It and Which Mulch Should You Use Where?
Royal Horticultural Society: Mulches and mulching
I have also included an ehow YouTube video that enables you to see how mulching should be done.
eHow YouTube video: How to Mulch a Garden
The last link from A Garden for the House website shows how old newspaper can be used to cover large areas containing small weeds without even having to pull them out! I have used this method to great effect even using it in and around my established plants. Just be careful that you don’t smother any dormant bulbs that might be growing. I try and put in a marker peg to mark where my bulbs are so I know where they are when they are dormant.
A Garden for the House website: Newspaper Mulching
I am surprised more people have not commented here because this is excellent work.
Thanks for the feedback Donald – hope it was useful!