Soil mulching

Growing a crop, like any other activity, requires special technologies, effective methods and mandatory actions, without which one should not expect significant results. To increase the yield of the soil, it needs constant enrichment and protection, and mulch does this best. Soil mulching - what it is and what it is eaten with, let's try to understand this technology in detail.

What is soil mulching

For those who do not yet know what soil mulching is, we report the origin of the term. It crept into the Russian language from English agricultural literature, where the word mulch serves as a designation for soddy soil enriched with humus.

Slightly transformed, we use the term "mulch" for all types of materials that cover the beds, flower beds and tree trunks. Accordingly, soil mulching is a technology for the formation of a layer covering the fruit-bearing soil.

Thanks to the numerous popularizing works of Nikolai Kurdyumov, this method has become popular with gardeners and gardeners experimenting in their summer cottages.

Industrial-scale agricultural plantations also use a similar technology, especially in conditions where irrigation water is scarce.

When and for what is it used?

Before mulching the soil, you need to know what it is, what benefits or harm it can bring to the condition of the soil and crop. And how effective is this technology.

The formation of mulch, as an additional layer on the ground, brings a number of bonuses:

protects the soil from overheating in the summer heat;
reduces the intensity of evaporation, i.e. allows less frequent watering;
frees from loosening and digging, as the closed soil remains loose, does not trample down, does not compact and does not form a crust after watering;
prevents weathering of the soil;
rotting, the mulch layer automatically turns into a natural fertilizer, enriching and improving the structure of the fertile layer;
in winter, mulch protects the roots of plants from freezing, performs snow-retaining functions;
during the entire growing season, it is an obstacle to the growth of weeds, and the plants that have sprouted through it are weakened and easily removed;

gives decorativeness to flower plantings (flower beds, slides, borders);
with the right selection of materials for mulching, you can change the chemical composition of the soil (carry out liming or, conversely, reduce acidity, improve the structure of clay soil or enrich the sand layers);
protects low-growing or drooping fruits and flowers from contamination, especially strawberries, cucumbers, low-growing tomatoes, peonies, chrysanthemums.

Mulching also has its drawbacks, their list is much shorter:

prevents early heating of the beds, therefore, in order to obtain early harvests, last year's undecomposed mulch is raked onto the paths in the spring;
when using plants with seeds after mowing lawns or weeding beds, it is possible that the soil is clogged with weed seeds, which will later have to be dealt with;
in summer, it serves as a habitat for slugs and snails, which love the humid and moderately cool microclimate under the mulch.

Due to the fact that mulching can be done with any materials, its possibilities can be very different.

Mulching the soil in autumn

Traditionally, mulch is applied to the beds at the beginning of summer, when the plants in the garden have already reached such a size that a five to ten centimeter layer does not interfere with them. But there is also mulching the soil in the fall, which also brings considerable benefits. In autumn, mulching materials are needed for:

protection of the root system of wintering plants from frost, especially if the snow layer is not stable, untimely thaws are possible or frosts occur before the formation of a cover of snow;
replacing the procedure with digging and applying organic fertilizers;
snow delays in the most necessary places, in beds and flower beds where there are no shrubs and trees;
the formation of compost in a natural way, since during the winter the layer is saturated with moisture and begins to rot in the conditions of the heat provided by the snow layer;
ensures cleanliness on the site, as fallen leaves and unnecessary branches are neatly distributed over the beds.

To mulch the soil in autumn, natural materials are used. This could include waste from your garden, such as leaves, plant stems, flower stems, and other agricultural waste.

In autumn, straw, substrates from growing mushrooms, garbage collected in parks are widely offered for sale.

organic materials

To the question of how to mulch the soil, there are more than a dozen correct answers.

In most cases, organic materials are used, i.e. plant life products. Each of them has its own advantages and is recommended taking into account their features.

Various materials are used to protect and enrich the soil.

Straw

This is the cheapest and most available material if there is agricultural land nearby. Straw, especially pressed straw, is convenient because it forms a thick layer that reliably covers the soil. Due to its light color, it reflects the sun's rays to the maximum, i.e. prevents overheating of the soil. The peculiarity of straw is slow rotting:

the same material can be used for two or even three years,
on the other hand, the soil below it is enriched slowly.

Mulching the soil for tomatoes with straw reduces the frequency of watering, as a result, the plants get sick less, bear fruit longer, and ripe tomatoes turn out sweet and juicy.

Straw is the best soil mulch for strawberries. Thanks to him, the berries are large, clean, and do not get soil pests, often leaving the owners only leftovers from their table.

cut grass

The material is obtained as a result of lawn care. Citizens can negotiate with firms or drivers that take out grass, on delivery to the country. The beds will be mulched with grass clippings cut around the site for safety reasons. The advantage of grass in its cheapness and rapid decay.

Literally a month later, with regular watering, it completely turns into high-quality compost and completely mixes with the soil.

Disadvantages - the reverse side of the coin, i.e. in a month you will have to make a new layer of mulch.

It's important to know! It is dangerous to take grass cut at the stage of seed formation, since the whole next season will have to be spent on fighting weeds or lawn grass overgrowing the site.

Sawdust and chips

Chips and sawdust are popular where there is a woodworking industry or joinery. These materials, like tree needles, have high acidity, so soil mulching with sawdust is done carefully, only for plants that tolerate acidic soils well.

The advantage of sawdust and wood chips is high aesthetics. The rose gardens, slides and other flower plantings covered with them look neat.

To the question of whether it is possible to mulch the soil with coniferous sawdust, the answer is not unambiguous. Fresh, they do more harm than good. They can cover paths in the garden or vegetable garden, or make them into compost pits with a large addition of lime, and after decay, use them in the garden. The soil under the juniper is also mulched with sawdust, which must first rot and are used as part of the compost. If the soil has a calcareous character and has a low level of acidity, then it is possible to mulch the soil with spruce and pine needles. This will help correct the soil balance. Recommended for use under strawberries and most flower plants.

Humus

The material can be applied to the soil as a fertilizer or mulched with it. Caution when using is necessary, since fresh humus, when decomposed, releases a huge amount of heat and organic compounds, which adversely affect the condition of most plants.

Apply humus under plants that need enhanced fertilizer, such as cucumbers and raspberries. The ideal use is to make an organic foliar tea. Further, soaked humus, mixed with grass, scatter over the beds.

fallen leaves

Leaves falling from trees are excellent mulching material. Many are interested in what kind of foliage is better to mulch the soil. The correct answer to this question is healthy, so that diseases and pests do not travel around the site. Foliage from infected trees is recommended to be completely removed from the site.

Inorganic materials

Less commonly used are materials of inorganic origin, such as sand, pebbles, decorative chips, etc. Unlike organics, they do not change the composition of the soil. Their main task is to prevent the soil from drying out or the soil from spreading onto the tracks.

Pebbles and small stone chips are the main material for mulching flower slides. They are used in flowerbeds or beds where plants are grown in special containers with enriched soil.

Film and covering material

The industry produces various types of film and covering material (spunbond, agril, spantex, agrospan, geotextile, agrofibre, and so on). The cover may be in the form of a film or non-woven material. The use of the listed and similar materials allows:

retain moisture in the soil;
ensure it warms up as soon as possible;
protect the bed from germinating weeds;
get rid of pests wintering in the soil and in the spring, getting to the surface;
keep strawberries clean.

The technology of using synthetic mulch provides for the following operations:

a film or other covering material is spread on the prepared soil;
fixed around the perimeter so that it is not lifted by the wind (sprinkled or pinned);
holes are made according to the planting pattern;
seedlings are placed in prepared holes;
the film around them is sprinkled with earth.

Sometimes a layer of organic mulch or small stone chips is poured over the film to prevent overheating of the covering material and the soil underneath.

The material is used for all plants that grow from seedlings (strawberries, tomatoes, onions, peppers). On beds, with plants grown from seeds, it is not used.

How to make your own mulch?

As mulch, ready-made materials are usually used, which are brought from outside. But there are ways to independently prepare organic covering material on your site.

The easiest way is to grow green manure. To do this, seeds of fast-growing plants that have a beneficial effect on the soil (mustard, legumes, rapeseed, vetch, rye, lupine, phacelia) are sown on an area free from planting. During their growth, green manure enriches the soil.

Sowing of green manure is carried out:

in spring - before growing heat-loving plants;
in the second half of summer - after harvesting the early harvest.

Before planting the main crop, green manure is cut off and the resulting green mass is used as mulch, laid out in beds.

A more complicated and time-consuming method is the preparation of compost, into which any remnants of garden vegetation, manure, humus, kitchen waste, and so on go. After maturation, the compost is introduced into the soil in planting pits, and not completely decomposed residues are used as mulch.

The main mistakes in the use of mulch

Despite the high efficiency of soil mulching, there is a possibility that it will bring harm instead of benefit if the material for soil mulching is not chosen correctly.

A negative effect is possible in the following cases:

As a result of the fact that in spring the sheltered soil does not receive enough solar heat, therefore, in order to warm up the mulched soil, last year's mulch layer must be removed and sent to the compost pit. If the mulch is suitable for further use, it is transferred to the paths. The result is a double effect, i.e. the beds are warming up, and there is less dirt on the paths and grass does not grow for some time.
Unsuitable materials are used for mulching, for example, those that increase acidity or contain seeds that can germinate. Such products are best composted first or used as a second layer on top of the film, i.e. avoid direct contact with the soil. Since weed seeds can germinate even after several years, they remain viable even in compost due to high humidity. If during the summer such weeds gradually dry on the film, then the ability to germinate the seeds will significantly decrease, although not completely disappear.
A layer of mulch can be a breeding ground for slugs, which grow to enormous sizes in a favorable environment. Therefore, before scattering the mulch, and especially before laying out the covering inorganic material, it is recommended to sprinkle the beds abundantly with agents used to combat garden pests.
In conditions of high humidity, artificial or slowly rotting materials are used for mulching.
Do not spread the mulch in a thick layer on the beds if the seedlings are too small, as the plants are shaded and receive insufficient sun, resulting in slow growth or death.

There are not so many possible mistakes and all of them can be avoided if you imagine the result of your actions in advance.

Conclusion

Mulching is one of the main factors in organic farming. For those who are just starting to use it, it seems that these are vain labor-intensive actions. But after a year, the understanding comes that once spreading the mulch over the beds, the gardener gets rid of the need for frequent watering, weeding, loosening. After several years of active mulching, there is no need to dig up the ground. As a result, bountiful harvests are obtained as a result of less time and effort.