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Mulch Buying Guide

A sapphire. If you're looking to start a garden  but are limited on time, mulching is the way to go.  A handy addition to your soil bed,  mulching helps fight weeds and pests, while also working to retain the water that your flowers  and veggies need to grow.  Plus, mulch acts a great guard against dirt--when it rains, the soil doesn't splash up on the plants, making your garden one of the best looking crops on the block.  Check out the information below to find out which kind of mulch is the best for you.

Organic Versus Inorganic

  • Organic mulches  are made up of once living material, like bark, straw, leaves, grass clippings and pine needles. They really work to improve the soil by adding nutrients as they decompose.  
    • In very moist climates, organic mulches may retain too much water, encouraging slugs and snails.  It may even cause the stems of your plants to rot. 
    • Rodents can love chowing down on this stuff, so if you already have a rodent problem, you may want to switch to inorganic instead.
  • Inorganic mulch  can be made of everything from rubber to brick and stone pieces and plastic.  Like organic mulch, they help to retain water for the plants, but they also encourage some added warmth, which may be good for particular types of gardens--like veggie.  These mulches also come in a variety of colours which can enhance the look of your garden or front lawn landscape, and because of the heavier weight of the synthetic materials used in them, the pieces won't get easily blown away in inclement weather. 
    • Inorganic mulches can be very difficult to move because of their weight, and if you ever want to transplant plants you may experience substantial root loss.
    • Sometimes it can be very hard to monitor the moisture level with inorganic mulches--especially those with plastics.

Different Seasons

You may want to use mulch for different reasons in different seasons.

  • Winter is the most common time to mulch, as freezing and thawing soil can break new roots and push new plants out of the ground.  By mulching with an light material like straw when the soil first freezes, you can help keep the soil frozen until winter ends, when it can then be removed.
  • In the spring, allow the soil to reach its optimum temperature before applying mulch.  For warm season crops like tomatoes, apply mulch when temperature reaches around 21° C.  Cooler season plants pansies are best mulched early in the spring, as soon as the growing season begins.
  • In summer, mulching materials low in nitrogen, such as straw or coarse sawdust, should be fortified with a nitrogen fertilizer to aid in optimal plant growth.
  • Mulch can also be used to kill off sod  in any season.  Simply put a layer of newspaper down followed by a thick layer of mulch directly on the site where you plan to garden.  This cuts off all sunlight to the unwanted sod, which will eventually decompose and add more organic matter to the garden.  The newspaper will also decompose, and causes no damage to plant life.

How Much?

If you're laying down over 7 or 8 centimetres of fine mulch, you're overdoing it.  With these organic mulches--like compost or shredded leaves--you only need to put down about a 5 centimetre layer.. For the more hefty materials like wood chips or stones, 7 or 8 centimetres is acceptable.

Related Guides

Mulch Mats

Greenhouses

Gardening Tips

Lawn Tractors 

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