|
|
MulchingQ. What is the difference between compost and mulch? A. Compost should be worked into the soil (eventually, at least) to make it more fertile. Mulch, by contrast, is spread atop the soil, both to protect the soil from the elements and to suppress weeds. While it is true that organic mulches will eventually decompose, thereby themselves becoming compost, their function as long as they serve as mulch is distinct from the function of compost. Q. What types of mulches are there besides bark mulches? A. Besides bark mulches, the following types of mulches are widely used:
Among natural types of mulches, the bark mulches and the crushed stone mulches are perhaps the most attractive. For a breakdown of the pros and cons of bark mulches and other mulches, please consult Selecting the Proper Mulch. An advantage of having wooded acreage and owning a wood chipper is that you can use the wood chipper to make your own wood-chip mulch. After chipping up wood to be used as a mulch, people usually compost the chips first. A word of warning, however.... According to the UMass Extension service, wood-chips destined to be used as mulch should not be piled up higher than 10 feet in the compost bin. Exceeding that height can cause the pH of your mulch to become overly acidic -- perhaps to the point even of damaging plants that come in contact with it. Q. How should I mulch around trees? A. I've seen people build a stone-wall raised bed around a big tree on their lawn, then fill the raised bed with mulch. Avoid mulching around trees like this! You may build stone walls or other structures around your trees to set them off, but do not mound up dirt or mulch around the trunks of trees. Doing so may cause harm to your trees. If you are mulching around a tree, start tapering the height of the mulch down when you get to within about 1' of the trunk, leaving the base of the tree free of mulch. It would even be better to have to weed this 1' than to risk damage to your tree. |
|
|
|
