From My Garden to Yours

As we traipse through summer, there are bound to be a few sections of our gardens and landscapes that are overlooked or utterly ignored. While our attention may be elsewhere, pesky weeds are taking advantage of every resource they can. To stake your claim on territory once farmed but not entirely abandoned, mulch the terrain to smother intruders and maintain existing soil tilth.

Timing is crucial to any mulching project. Once the soil is cleared and exposed, opportunistic plants (weeds) are destined to grow on any prepared spaces. Before the next generation of seeds germinates, cover the soil to prevent light from aiding the onslaught. This covering also physically impairs the plant’s stems and branches from establishing a presence. In addition to preventing seed-spread marauders, the vining and spreading weeds will not be able to get a toehold through an impervious ground cover.

One trick that works well is the combination of dissimilar mulching materials. “Sheer frustration” could be defined as the invasion of intrusive weeds through a carpet of carefully spread pine bark nuggets. A simple layer of weed block fabric under particulate mulching materials is the double dose that is greater than the sum of the parts. I am particularly fond of the amalgamation of a few layers of newspaper topped with pine needles.

Weeding along the garden trellis is tough work. Not only is pulling weeds along a linear space frustratingly slow work, the roots tangled through fencing add an industrial twist to the project. And you have both sides of the fence to contend with. Vowing to pull weeds along a fence or trellis as infrequently as possible, I cut strips of black plastic sheeting about two feet wide to run along the base of the perimeter. Cover the plastic with any decorative mulch, and this chore should be history.

Once summer is over and weed growth drops back from overdrive, we can relax our attitude regarding the invasive hordes plundering our soil. During a more civilized growing season, consider the positive aspects of mulch. Protecting the soil from direct sunlight slows moisture loss. The volume of ground cover provides a habitat for beneficial soil life like earthworms. The mulch will eventually break down, adding organic matter to the soil. Even if the mulch is slow to decompose, it will protect the organic matter already accumulated in the soil from washing away in the rain. Nature’s simple method of littering the ground is a trick we can easily emulate.

Tom Carey is the owner of Sundew Gardens, a you-pick gardening business in Oviedo. Visit the Sundew Gardens Facebook page.