Vegetable Garden Mulch

Vegetable garden mulch is the process of putting down a protective layer of material, preferably organic, that will help protect the soil from erosion.

Mulching will help save water and money by retaining or slowing down the loss of moisture. It will give a landscaped look to the garden. It will also help reduced compaction and help prevent weed growth.

In vegetable garden mulch, mulches can be organic or inorganic.

Organic mulches can be straw, bark chips, shredded wood, leaves, grass clippings, newspaper (not any color print) and other like items. Organic materials will help improve the soil by adding organic matter/nutrients as they decay. This matter will help keep the soil lose. A lose soil helps improve water infiltration, encourages vigorous root growth and help the soil retain water.

Grass clippings should not really be used in the garden. Why. Because you should be using a mulching lawnmower and leaving the grass clippings on the grass. A lot of people rake these up but they really need to be left on the lawn.

Inorganic materials include plastic type materials and rock materials. These will look good for landscaping purposes but will do nothing to improve the soil. Rocks could sink down into the soil and hinder plant growth. But with plastic you will still have to put something on it to weigh it down.

Plastic is good to put down a few months before planting to kill any seeds. The ground under the black plastic will heat up. This heat will kill most weed seeds.

Several layers of newspaper could be used, but something will need to be put on it to help keep it from blowing away. I stay away from using it. Instead I put it in the recycle bin. I will use it though to put down on the bottom of my raised beds when I put dirt in them for the first time. This will help keep down the weeds.

For vegetable garden mulch, I have used leaves, but they have to put on several inches think to do any good. But then they tend to stick together when wet, so water will not soak down into the soil as it should. Plus the leaves had bits of trash and other stuff I could not use.

Compost is also good, but it will require large amounts of it. We talk about compost under the compost section.

I like to use cypress mulch. I like the smell and the texture of it. But like any organic mulch it only has a life span of several years and then I will need to add more.

Some say hay and straw can be used as a mulch for vegetable garden mulch. I would be careful here because these usually have insects in them. These insects could be harmful. Also never accept a load of straw or hay that has been used in a barn. It has manure in it which is also beneficial but there can be fleas. These are not beneficial.

In Leakey we had a pond on our ranch. The pond had lots of “seaweed” even though it was not actual seed weed, but exactly what it was I do not know. I would dredge this up and put it on the garden. I never saw any different benefit than using anything else for mulching vegetable garden.

Also it stank pretty badly. Vegetable garden mulch should not stink. If it is it means it is staying wet too long so turn it over and work it every three days and the stink or sour smell should go away.

In Leakey there was a cedar mill that grounded cedar stumps for the oil in them. We took some of this cedar dust and put it around some tress. They started dying. I am not sure if this was because it was fresh cedar or a tightly packed mulch.

There is a debate going on whether to use freshly cut mulch or not when mulching vegetable garden I would say if you chip up your own brush debris, let the chippings sit for a month or two before using them. Or you may want to try some and see what they do. It is your garden. Experiment with it.

When putting the vegetable garden mulch down, some suggest leaving an inch of open space around the plant. I have put mulch all around my plant and have not noticed any problems. Some believe the excess humidity will cause diseases to form. We will try this both ways and document it this year as we put in the garden.

If weeds are a major concern then you may try a layer of newspaper or geotextiles or weed barrier for a base and then put mulch on top of these when mulching vegetable garden. Geotextiles are made of polyester and allow water and fertilizer to enter the soil but not let weeds grow.

I also think that old clothing would work the same for a lot cheaper price. Geotextiles are not cheap.

Plastic I would just stay away from unless you are doing commercial gardening. But if you were, you would not be reading this site.

I have not used any of these. I guess if I had perennials planted then this would work. But it will not work for the garden. I am not sure why they call it premium. Rubber is rubber. Perhaps the tire came off a Rolls Royce instead of a Fiesta.

Vegetable garden mulch can be bought in the bag at your local hardware store and even Wal-Mart. Or you can buy them in bulk from a local nursery. See the section on soil preparation for formulas to figure out how much you need.

What you use as vegetable garden mulch and how is up to you. I have my favorites and you will soon have yours.

Thank you for your visit.

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