 Winter Mulch An insulating layer of fresh straw can be spread over your perennial plants in autumn it is called a winter mulch. Summer Mulch A summer mulch is a layer of material (we prefer straw) spread over the flowerbed during the growing season. Wait for the soil to dry out and warm up in spring, then spread mulch over the bare soil between plants. Be sure to keep it far enough back from the plants, either newly emerging perennials or newly planted annuals, so the straw does not touch leaves or stalks, or you will hamper air circulation and promote mildew. We spread fresh straw about 6 in./15 cm thick in spring and leave it there all summer. By the time autumn comes there will be about 1 in./2.5 cm left. During autumn clean-up, it is raked up with all the other garden detritus and composted.
A summer mulch takes a little work to maintain, but saves a lot of work in other areas. It is good for both the garden and the environment:
• you will water less, because mulch retains soil moisture by preventing evaporation,
• it keeps down weeds by shading them out,
• the underside of the mulch decomposes over the summer, thus adding organic matter to the soil,
• if you walk around on the straw, instead of directly on the earth, the soil compacts less,
• erosion during a heavy rain is lessened, because rain is filtered through the straw and lands softly soil,
• soil-borne plant diseases are fewer, because soil will not, during a heavy rain, bounce back up and cling to the undersides of leaves. This also keeps plants cleaner and therefore more attractive to look at, which is the entire point of gardening,
• it keeps soil cooler in the heat of the summer, which both roots and worms appreciate. Worms do not like temperatures higher than 80°F/26°C,
• it keeps the soil warmer in autumn, thus extending the growing season a little.
Our Favorite Summer Mulching Material
Hands down, we recommend straw. It has a stiff, open texture that is too airy to entice most bugs (which like snug, dark hidey-holes) and diseases. As well, it weathers to unattractive silver. We always buy straw at a garden center because it is convenient, relatively seed-free, and has been cut to a civilized length of about 12 in./30 cm.
Summer Mulches We Do Not Like
• those big bark chips are the most aesthetic, but they are too expensive to suit your authors.
• grass clippings add nutrients to the soil, but look terrible as they dry up and begin to fly in the wind. They can also turn into a layer of felt, which harbors mold and resists water absorption. NEVER use grass as a mulch unless you are dead certain there are no herbicide residues (including fertilizer-herbicide mixtures) in the clippings.
• peat moss forms a water-resistant crust during dry weather. It takes two or three hours of rain to soften the crust.
• newspaper mulch adds nutrients to the soil, but it looks dreadful and harbors insects and diseases in its close-packed layers.
• blade plastic does a great job of keeping weeds down, but it is expensive and aesthetically repulsive. You need to cut holes for the plants to stick out through. It also overheats the soil, killing worms and roots.
• fancy new types of garden fabrics are always coming on the market, but they usually involve serious money and invariably look awful. They certainly never add organic material to the soil the way straw does.
• leaves left over from last year are not high on our list, because leaves (especially maple) pack down into a tight, damp, airless mat. A vast assortment of bugs and diseases use such cozy places as homes during various parts of their life cycles. Since we do not like the notion of providing pleasant homes for these pests, we rake up all our autumn leaves and compost them.
Slugs and Summer Mulching
About the only drawback we have found with summer mulching is the presence of garden-devouring slugs. To see if slugs are hiding in the mulch, pull back a little of the straw. Do this during the day, when they are hiding from the heat of the sun. If you are not squeamish, you can hand-pick slugs and drop them in a bucket of very hot water. The resulting disgusting mess can be put on the compost heap. If you are squeamish, sprinkle just a little salt (from the kitchen shaker) on them and they will die before your very eyes.
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