Article published November 04, 2009
If it's fall, it must be time to mulch
I love the brilliant fall colors of my Michigan neighborhood. This is my favorite season, but autumn's beauty isn't the only reason. I like to save a few bucks whenever I can and I'm a do-it-yourselfer at heart. Fall replenishes one of the most important elements in our landscape - the soil. All of those yellow, orange, and red leaves can turn into black gold.
If your community doesn't pick up leaves at the curb, don't bag them up and throw them out. You can add a few ingredients to the bags of leaves, let them sit, and make rich compost. Here's what you do: as your leaves fall, chop them up with your mower a few times, then rake a three-inch layer onto your lawn. The leaves will break down quicker because you have already shredded them, and also will protect your plants during the winter. If you don't have any leaves, ask the neighbors for some of theirs.
If you have a sea of leaves like I do, it is too much work to chop mulch into your lawn. Put the leaves in black bags, add a shovel full of soil and two big handfuls of green matter such as grass clippings or vegetable garden debris, which will add important nitrogen. Add about one-fourth cup of any type of landscape fertilizer, then sprinkle with water.
Tie the bags securely and poke small holes in the sides for air circulation. Now, kick the bags around the yard and then put them in an inconspicuous spot, perhaps behind the garage or along a fence. Find a spot that gets three or four hours of sunlight a day. Let the mixture heat up over the winter and spring. Kick the bags around the yard again once the snow melts. By next fall, you should have black compost to nourish your soil.More mulch
Lightweight leaves can be raked up against your house to provide winter protection. They also can become mulch for plants that need to be shielded from the wind.
Mulch comes in all shapes and sizes. Hay and straw make good insulators, but you have to watch out for weed seeds - sometimes they will create more problems. Pine needles and peat moss also make great lightweight mulch. But too much of a good thing can be a problem. A continual thick layer of pine needles will make your soil acidic. To make peat moss easier to use, water it down even while it is in the bag.Starting a new garden? You can use black plastic and rock mulch if you don't like to dig around in the garden. Rock mulch is also great if it is really windy in your yard.
Bark mulch is popular with people who still like to play in the dirt. A four-inch layer will help insulate your plants, but using wood chips for long periods of time will suck the nitrogen out of your soil. Mix some compost into your bags of wood chips, one bag of compost to two bags of wood chips.Take cover
Cover perennials with a thick layer of mulch after temperatures stay below freezing for a few hours during the day and all of the night. You want hardy perennials to remain frozen because thawing and freezing will cause damage.
Everything in your garden will benefit from a thick layer of mulch right now. Tender perennials or plants that are new this past summer should be mulched around the base. Put a four-inch layer of mulch over your bulbs and don't forget to put some around the base of your trees. Use with an organic mulch and leave the rock mulch for your landscaping project next spring.
Roses need some special protection too. Pile manure around the base of the plants for a spring feeding. If your roses are in a windy area, put three stakes around the plant - the stakes should be taller than the plant. Secure a wrapping of burlap around your roses and fill the area with light leaves until next spring, when you prune them.
Bundle up, and don't forget to take a late-fall picture of your landscape for your garden journal.
Contact Kelly Heidbreder at:
kheidbreder@theblade.com
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