In southern Australia our climate is changing so fast it's difficult to keep up and looking after our precious garden is just that bit harder these days.
Whether you're trying to protect ornamental plants and shrubs or those tasty veges and fruits you've been nurturing through Winter and Spring, you will need some help in the form of a mulch layer.
There are plenty of mulch varieties available these days and dependent on your garden type you'll need soft or hard mulches.
Mulch that comes from wood are generally used for larger ornamental plant/shrub protection. Mulch from grasses, eg lucerne, from crops such as sugar cane and pea straw are generally used for the vege patch.
Nowadays we get hotter and longer dry spells throughout Summer and quite often through late Spring and early Autumn, creating havoc for plants to both survive and thrive. My regimen is to clear my gardens (all types) of weeds and then to add a liberal amount of mulch, ensuring I keep the mulch away from plant stems to avoid passing on disease. You'll want to check your garden beds in early Spring and top up if necessary.
I find that my vege garden mulch needs replenishing a few times throughout the growing season (Oct thru April) and my other general gardens about once every two years. Pine bark mulches (using one that has an approximate size of 10-20mm) will break down almost completely in two years. Some other types you might get away with three years but that's about it. For mulch to be effective it needs to have a layer of about 75mm (or 3 inches).
Mulching is a definite part of every garden these days and if you don't use it you'll struggle to keep all plants healthy and productive. For me the most important use for mulch is as a moisture retainer and an aesthetic lifter for the overall appearance of a garden. The least important part of it;s job is as a weed inhibitor. It will help but its IS NOT a panacea for weed control. It must be accompanied by a weeding schedule. Doing both things will achieve great results for you and your garden.
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