Hi everyone, I’m a Massachusetts gardener who’s trying to create water-wise gardens that are resilient during our increasingly weird summers. For the past few years, I’ve composted all of my garden waste, grass clippings (have to keep my other half happy… he loves lawns!), and as many of our fall leaves as we possibly can. The result is that I have a lot of beautiful home-made compost to use as mulch, but I never feel like I’m quite doing it right…? So here are some mulching 101 questions:
When is the best time to mulch? I always thought late fall, but for the last few years, I have non-evergreen herbaceous perennials that are still going strong in December… does that matter? Does it hurt them to mulch over the top of them?
…Or what about early spring, when I have bulbs poking their brave little heads out surprisingly early? Will they resent several inches of mulch?
I also have a lot of groundcover in my gardens… Should I mulch on top of that?
And finally, I have a question inspired by one of Danielle’s Sherry’s picks on a recent podcast (deer resistant plants?)… she’s often talked about mulching her garden because she has to be water-wise, but on this podcast, she also mentioned that she direct sowed slender-leaved false foxglove last year & is going to try again. How do mulching, direct sowing, and self-sowing go together? Or do they?
Thanks so much for any help you all have!
Replies
Hi! Great post! I like to mulch in spring after perennials have begun to emerge because I inevitably lose track of where I planted what and I like to get a handle on what I have first. I also have a lot of spring ephemerals, so I like to see those come up before I set down mulch. I mainly use chopped oak leaves because they don't break down as fast as other trees and I have a lot of them around. You won't harm your perennials by mulching over them with compost or chopped leaves, though be cautious using whole leaves because they can mat together. I do some mulching after frost in fall, too, covering bare spots, going around shrubs and trees to protect them from drying in winter, and especially tucking in perennials prone to heaving (heuchera!). I wouldn't worry about your bulbs. They will appreciate the mulch and will have no trouble emerging in spring. I wouldn't cover ground cover plants, but I would put mulch on any thin or bare spots. In areas where you'd like to direct sow, I wouldn't put any mulch or only a thin layer over the seeded area. As for those enthusiastic self sowing perennials, their enthusiasm will be curbed by a good layer of mulch, but if you want to encourage self sowing, go easy with mulch around the perennials you want. You are making me want to get off the couch and go mulch!