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Dear Casual Gardener, It’s tedious and back breaking work to spend time mulching around baby Spring plants – Is it possible to mulch in the Fall and Winter? Do have any tips about when in the Fall it is best to mulch? Signed, Garden Gal = = = = = = = = = = = = = Dear Garden Gal, Fall mulching is a fantastic idea. The key to a good fall mulching is doing it AFTER the ground has frozen. Mulching before the ground has frozen encourages the ground to heat before a potential freeze and trigger growth at the time when plants are beginning the process for wintering over. Typically, hard freezes start after November 1 for Zone 5 (Chicagoland and surrounding suburbs) and sometimes later. Spring and summer mulching is really done as a way to control weeds and promote a unified “look” in the garden. Fall and winter mulching is a fantastic way to assure protection through the winter freeze and thaw cycle. “Heaving” can happen during a freeze cycle – the ground heaves up, forcing the root systems of many plants to be exposed above the soil. This can mean death to your plants. Mulch also helps maintain an even ground temperature; raising the freeze line. This is good as it encourages earthworms to work closer to the surface of the soil through the fall and winter seasons. Encouraging earthworms is a good idea. They do the difficult work of turning soil over, increasing root aeration, and creating worm castings; all very beneficial to the garden. According to Doris Taylor, Plant Information Specialist from The Morton Arboretum’s Plant Clinic in Lisle, IL (www.mortonarb.org), there are several mulches in Illinois which are the most popular for fall mulching: shredded hardwood, pine bark, and raked leaves (the least expensive and easiest to find). Doris suggests using “public access” mulch as there has been a false stigma associated with “public access mulch” or “free city mulch” having diseased properties which can hurt your garden plants. If you obtain the mulch from a particularly large pile which has heat tendrils rising from it in the cold air, you can be assured the mulch temperature internal to the pile is killing off any virus or disease remaining on the mulch. The rule of thumb for any mulch application: 1 to 2” Deep for Perennial Beds 3 to 5” Deep for Bushes and Trees It is advisable to add a deeper layer of leaves as they “collapse” and disintegrate quite easily once winter hits. Adding more than 6” of any mulch can be counter-productive as it can smother the plants out when their little heads pop up in the Spring. Happy Mulching! Remember - Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com or The Blog - www.gardeningnude.com |
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