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Across Frederick County, we find perfectly groomed green lawns contrasting with a clear-cut edge of hardwood-covered flowerbeds. Paradoxically, the hardwood mulch imitates the naturally decomposing material we would find across our county if we did not insist on covering our land with lawn.
Mulch rings are ubiquitous in Frederick. They help protect the tree trunk from weed whackers, keep in moisture, moderate soil temperature, reduce compaction and erosion, and prevent weeds. Ideally, mulch rings will be about 2-4 inches deep and cover the area between the tree root flare (about 3 inches from the actual trunk) to the drip line. Do not pile mulch up against the trunk, as it will lead to fungus growth and animals and insects inhabiting it, damaging the trunk. Mulch rings are especially helpful to help young trees get established.
Double shredded hardwood mulch helps keep the soil moist and adds structure, drainage and nutrient-holding capacity.
Across Frederick County, we find perfectly groomed green lawns contrasting with a clear-cut edge of hardwood-covered flowerbeds. Paradoxically, the hardwood mulch imitates the naturally decomposing material we would find across our county if we did not insist on covering our land with lawn.
Mulch rings are ubiquitous in Frederick. They help protect the tree trunk from weed whackers, keep in moisture, moderate soil temperature, reduce compaction and erosion, and prevent weeds. Ideally, mulch rings will be about 2-4 inches deep and cover the area between the tree root flare (about 3 inches from the actual trunk) to the drip line. Do not pile mulch up against the trunk, as it will lead to fungus growth and animals and insects inhabiting it, damaging the trunk. Mulch rings are especially helpful to help young trees get established.
Double shredded hardwood mulch helps keep the soil moist and adds structure, drainage and nutrient-holding capacity.
Springtime! The whir of mowers, blowers and edgers announces yet another year of investing vast amounts of effort, money, chemicals and labor into reshaping nature into what we communally have decided looks orderly, manicured and acceptable. After the scent of gasoline and diesel dissipates, a grounding and earthy, almost palpable, scent takes over, much like a soothing Band-Aid both for our senses and for the recently performed procedures on our soil. This calming and musky fragrance comes from fresh mulch.
While mulch is defined as any organic or inorganic matter that we use to cover the soil and prevent moisture from evaporating, mulch is also a fundamental tool in suppressing weeds, keeping the soil cool (or warm), preventing frost heaving in winter and protecting tree trunks from weed whackers and slow erosion, as well as making the garden bed look more orderly. Organic mulches also help improve the soil’s structure, drainage and nutrient-holding capacity as they decompose. In many ways, organic mulch imitates the decaying woody material that occurs naturally in forests, protecting and feeding new growth.
Today, there is a considerable array of mulch options that we can chose from, and each has its preferred uses.
The most common mulch is shredded hardwood mulch. It can be either single, double or triple shredded depending on your preference. Shredded hardwood mulch is mostly composed of left over lumber and bark from the sawmill. There are different types of machinery used for shredding, including de-barkers, large circular saws, tub grinders, commercial hammers and many size screens. Tree limbs and branches that have been ground up by wood chippers usually result in a more uneven type of wood chips than shredded hardwood mulch.
Higher quality hardwood mulch has a larger component of shredded bark and is usually double or triple screened. This type of mulch easily decays in the soil, does not reduce the nitrogen levels and doesn’t wash away in a storm. Raw or fresh wood chips, on the other hand, can draw the bacteria out of the soil to work on decaying the fresh wood, rather than working in the soil and producing nitrogen as we aim for it to do.
Hardwood mulch can also be produced from shredded old wood pallets and used furniture, however it is less desirable because of its lack of organic matter, making it harder to decay and reducing nitrogen levels in the soil.
Mulch can also affect the pH content in the soil. Hardwood mulch will run around a pH level of 5, while evergreen mulches will be closer to 4. Informed homeowners will use pine mulch with their acid-loving plants and hardwood mulch for others to help with ideal pH levels. However, in the long term, these pH levels will balance out, when the mulch is fully decayed and integrated into the soil.
Most evergreen mulches come from cedar, cypress, hemlock and pine. Evergreen mulch is best used around trees, shrubs and in garden beds where you won’t be doing a lot of work and can leave the mulch for a considerable time, especially if not finely shredded. Cedar and hemlock bark have the added benefit of averting pests and smelling amazing, which is why they’re often used in vegetable yards and orchards. Meanwhile, pine and cypress bark decompose more quickly and therefore have a higher nutritional value for the plants.
Grass clippings are another natural way to enhance soil, prevent some weeds and preserve moisture if adequately used. However, make sure not to include weed seeds into mulching clippings and do not add too thick a layer on your garden bed, as this may create a moisture barrier and have the opposite effect of what you were looking for. As a mulch cover for a flower bed or similar, grass clippings may be best suited to remote areas since green plant debris has high water content and decomposes very rapidly. While this releases valuable nitrogen back into the soil, the clippings can also rot and smell bad.
The easiest way to use grass clippings in your yard is to simply remove the bag from your mower and let the clippings do their work in the sod. This is simple and effective. If you have used weed killer or some other herbicide or pesticide on your lawn, or any synthetic lawn care products, you must discard the clippings, as they can be harmful to flowering plants, and you certainly don’t want to use them in your vegetable garden. Untreated grass clippings can also be dumped into your compost bin or used to mulch open, unplanted areas.
Shredded leaves are nature's favorite mulch and the biggest component of duff, the decomposing organic layer that softens our steps in forests. Shredded leaves can be used anywhere. Since they disintegrate relatively quickly, they improve soil fertility and also provide an effective temperature buffer for delicate plants. Mowing over the leaves in the fall helps your lawn obtain the nutrients and a thin layer of mulch to protect it for the winter. Otherwise, let autumn leaf piles dry out, then shred them and work them into the soil to add porosity and valuable nutrients, making plants and earthworms very happy.
There are two caveats to leaf mulch. Leaves that are not shredded can mat together and repel water in rainy areas, which is something you want to avoid. In addition, leaves from the side of the road often include mold and weed seeds as rainfall washes everything into the curb, trapping moisture and weeds among the leaf piles. In general, shredded leaf mulch is perfect for woodland gardens, and if you spread a layer over your vegetable garden in the fall, it will begin decomposing throughout the winter. Composting leaves is another great use as it generates a nutritious fertilizer for all your plants (excepting compost made from leaves you pick up from the curb). For this purpose, try to keep the leaves moist and turn the leaf pile at least once weekly. For a balanced compost, add some grass clippings into the mix to add nitrogen. The proper ratio of nitrogen to carbon is 25 to 30 carbon (leaves) to 1 part nitrogen (grass).
Straw and hay also are popular mulches for the vegetable garden, but they have very different effects on your yard. Straw is a popular winter mulch for covering onions, garlic, strawberries and more. It is a post-harvest byproduct of threshing the stalks of cereal grain crops, such as wheat, rye, oats and barley. The seed heads have been used and the remaining stems are straw and a popular bedding material for farm animals. But it’s also a great option for gardens since straw decomposes very slowly. Since it will last the entire growing season, use it on pathways to discourage weeds and protect your harvest. Straw also attracts beneficial insects and is easy to clean up or work into the soil when it’s time to plant a new crop, a year later.
Hay, on the other hand, is actually planted and harvested by farmers to feed livestock and may include a mix of fescues, legumes (alfalfa and clover) and different types of grasses. Hay contains all the parts of a mature plant — stalks, leaves and seed heads — harvested when they are fresh and still full of nutrients for animal feed. It is then rolled into those big round bales you see dotting farm fields. And yes, you read correctly: Hay is full of seeds, as well as weed seeds, so we advise against adding hay into your veggie beds or mulched flower beds.
This is the first of two stories about mulch. Look for the second article on mulch in the upcoming Green section, which will explain inorganic options, including newspapers, landscape fabric, plastic, rocks and dyed mulch.
The Frederick County Forestry Board promotes the conservation, stewardship, and sustainable use of our forest resources and urban landscapes. We inform the public and vigorously advocate to retain or increase the integrity of our local, regional, and national forest ecosystems. Trees enhance our physical and mental well-being; improve the quality of our streams, lakes, and the Bay; help cool the environment; retain and improve soil; produce oxygen while consuming carbon dioxide; and provide shelter and food for wildlife. Please visit frederick.forestryboard.org for additional information and resources or to sign up for our free weekly Nature Note articles, tree plantings, Second Sunday Tree Walks, tree shelter exchange, and more.
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Very informative and useful article. After many years of mulching this gave me a better understanding.
Agreed. I learned quite a bit.
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