Now is the time to begin making plans to securing leaf mulch from neighbors or from your own yard. If you have not used any mulch on your gardens, you may want to consider adding this valuable free resource. When raking be careful to not also contaminate your leave with branches, or seed pods. This only invites clutter and seeds to germinate in your gardens.
- Mulch offers many benefits!
- Mulch insulates your plants from harsh winter winds
- It provides a barrier that allows rain in but limits evaporation leaving the garden. A well mulched garden seldom needs watering when average rain falls occur.
- Leaf mulch breaks down and converts to rich growing medium for your plants It adds many vitamins to your plants that are sometimes stripped when you have soil exposed to the elements.
- It reduces your weeds sometimes by 95%.
- Leaf mulch is a good underlayment for wood mulch and cuts down on the amount mulches that you purchase from garden centers.
- Worms are the most important addition to any garden. They love leaf mulch and their excretions contribute good fertilizer additions to your gardens. They work the soil and allow it to be soft and pliable when you need to dig. Encouraging earth worms, not nite crawlers to any garden or landscape area is the #1 recommendation that I give to homeowners.
Leaf mulch is free. I advise people to put on 3-4 inches of leaf mulch in the fall when temperatures drop consistently to 25-30 degrees. As your budget can afford you may want to consider purchasing shredded mulch to top dress your gardens. There are many mulches today. Natural cedar mulches look nice when you apply them, but they turn grey quickly and need to be redressed to keep that rich cedar look. Over the past few years dyed shredded mulch has offered better alternatives. Dyed mulches come in an array of colors to match your gardening tastes. At Country Greenhouse outside of Bemidji, MN, they offer a wide selection of colors. They are located 5 miles S. on Hwy 71. They can be reached at (218) 751-0534. Ask for Duane or Emi.