Spring is quickly approaching us and so are all the responsibilities that come along with it. Mulching your garden beds is important to do in mid-to-late spring. It is never too early to start preparing to take care of your gardens. 

Mulching your garden:

Prepare. You have the option to mulch your garden with either organic or inorganic mulch. There are benefits and disadvantages to the different types of mulches and ultimately, it will be your opinion on which you prefer. Keep in mind that the reason we mulch is to keep moisture in our soil!

Organic mulch: decomposes the materials they are made up of overtime. 

• This type of mulch will add nutrients to your soil but is messier than inorganic mulch. 
• Bark, manure, wood chips, straw, shells, and leaf mold are all categorized under organic mulch. 

Inorganic mulch: works to eliminate the growth of moss. 

• This type of mulch is great if you need to keep the leaves of your plant dry because the mulch will not splash onto the leaves.
• Gravel, stones, and pebbles are considered to be inorganic mulch.

Organic mulch is known to be more of a “functional” mulch and inorganic mulch is known to be there more for the beauty aspect. After you decided on your mulch’s purpose, you will need to pick up your mulch. The amount of mulch you need depends on how big your garden is.

Pull the weeds. Before you begin mulching, you will need to remove all the weeds from the ground. 

Landscaping fabric. This is an optional step, but if you choose to use any landscaping fabric, it goes underneath the mulch. 

Place the mulch. Remember that the more, the merrier! You will need approximately 2-4 inches of mulch. Since its main purpose is to help retain the moisture in our soil, we need a lot of mulch to have a happy garden. 

Disperse the mulch. We now want to disperse the mulch into an even layer. You can use a rake or tool of your preference to complete this step. 

Remember to mulch this spring because, mulching is important for a successful, happy garden.