Benefits of a Mulch

One of the most important uses of organic matter by the home gardener is as a mulch. When so used it reduces the damaging impact of rain or irrigation on the soil. This is very important because it increases the infiltration of water and reduces erosion. An organic mulch conserves soil moisture by reducing evaporation, and helps to suppress weed growth.

Some of the best organic materials to use as mulch in the garden are leaves, lawn clippings, fresh sawdust, fine wood shavings, pine needles, chopped straw, ground corn cobs, shredded tobacco or cane stems, peanut hulls, or cottonseed hulls. They will not add important amounts of nutrients, or have a significant effect on the pH of the soil.

The dead vegetable and flower plants in your garden should be chopped down and left on the ground as a protective mulch during winter. This trash mulch will help reduce erosion, and improve the organic matter content of the soil when the garden is prepared for planting in spring.

Cut corn stalks, tomato vines, and other tall plants into 8-inch pieces with a sickle or pruning shears. Chop up low plants like beans and bushy flowers by running along the row with a rotary lawn mower.

Cover Crops

The planting of rye or wheat in fall is sometimes recommended as a means of controlling erosion during winter, and providing organic matter to improve the soil. Most home gardens are small and on relatively level land, so erosion is not a serious problem. Also, the use of mulch, leaves, lawn clippings, and plant refuse from the garden and flower bed usually will provide more organic matter than would be secured from the cover crop.

If the garden is planted in early spring, and a fall garden of hardy vegetables is maintained until late fall, there will not be enough time to plant an overwintering cover crop and secure a beneficial growth to plow into the soil the following year. Therefore, the use of overwintering cover crops is usually not recommended for the home garden.

For gardeners who have a relatively poor soil and cannot secure adequate supplies of mulching material, the use of an overwintering cover crop may be desirable. Sow rye or wheat broadcast at the rate of 3 to 4 pounds per 100 square feet, and scratch into the top inch of soil with a rake. This should be done several weeks before the average date of the first fall frost.

If crops are still growing in the garden, the rye or wheat may be planted between the rows.

Plow or rototill the cover crop into the soil in spring when the garden is prepared for planting, about a month before the average date of the last frost.

Mulching with fresh sawdust, lawn clippings, or other organic material is an ideal way to raise vegetables. Such a mulch will conserve soil moisture, help control weeds, and improve the infiltration of rain or irrigation water into the soil.

Plant your vegetable seeds at the recommended depth and cover with soil in the usual way. Then spread a band of sawdust or vermiculite about 4 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick on top of the row. This mulch helps to conserve moisture, reduces crusting of the soil, and allows the young seedlings to emerge easily.

When the vegetable seedlings are about 6 inches tall, apply between the rows a 1-inch mulch of fine organic material such as fresh sawdust, lawn clippings, or peanut hulls, or a 2- or 3-inch layer of loose unshredded leaves.

If weeds are present which are 2 inches tall or more, kill them by cultivating or hoeing before the mulch is applied. Mulch will smother weeds less than 1 inch tall.

Be sure the sawdust or fine shredded bark you use as mulch is fresh, or well aerated if old. Sawdust or shredded bark from the inside of a pile may go through anaerobic decomposition and become very acid, with a pH of about 3.0, and have a pungent odor. Such material is very toxic to plants.

Some weeds may continue to come up through the mulch. Pull these out by hand or carefully cut them off with a sharp hoe. Weeds are easy to pull when the ground is moist after a rain. Do not cultivate because this will mix the mulch with the soil and reduce its effectiveness.

The mulch should be worked into the soil by plowing, rototilling, or spading when the garden is prepared for planting in spring. This will add organic matter to the soil and improve soil structure and workability. It gives all the advantages of adding compost, plus the benefit of a full season with mulch.

Apply 4 pounds of 5-10-5 fertilizer per 100 square feet when the garden is plowed. This will counteract any tendency toward nitrogen deficiency, and provide adequate nutrients for the vegetable crops in the garden. Base the kind and rate of fertilizer to apply on soil tests for best results.

If plants develop light green color during the growing season, apply a side dressing of a fertilizer containing nitrogen. Use 1 pound of 10-10-10 per 100 square feet, or per 50 feet of row, or use 2 pounds of 5-10-5. Spread the fertilizer uniformly between the rows of plants, and scratch into the soil or mulch with a rake. If there is no forecast for rain it is advisable to apply water to dissolve the nitrogen and carry it down to the roots.

If you prefer an organic fertilizer as a side dressing, use 10 pounds of 1-1-1 dried manure per 50 feet of row. The nitrogen from this material is not as rapidly available as from chemical fertilizer, and therefore it is a less effective side dressing treatment.