Deep Mulch Gardening
If you haven’t heard, deep mulch gardening is where its at!
Less weeds, moisture control, beautiful soil - all things gardeners dream about!
What is deep mulch gardening? To put it simply, it’s a thick layer of natural materials aka, mulch, to allow nature to do its thing. We like to use a mixture of organic materials when setting up and maintaining a garden:
soiled hay
compost
shredded wood chips
shredded leaves
pine needles
One of the benefits of using a deep mulch method is there is no tilling involved. This allows the soil and beneficial bacteria and insects to remain intact. A deep mulch method will slowly, over time completely change your soil composition to a rich, organic matter where plants and bugs thrive!
Below you can see how we transformed a grass covered field into a thriving vegetable garden. We’re currently on year two in this space and in just a year the soil change is incredible!
We had to till up the heavy grass to begin, only till the areas you MUST till. Leave as much undisturbed as possible.
Next, put down a thick layer of organic compost. We got ours from the city, most cities have this service for a fraction of the cost of buying bags from your local garden store.
We then used wood chips from trees, leaves and branches from all over our property. This is a very time-consuming, labor-intensive process but well worth the effort. We eventually rented a commercial chipper to help speed the process up. Total gamechanger. If you don’t have access to wood a great service for FREE wood chips is available in many cities is Chip Drop. I wish they delivered here!
In our garden paths I skip the tilling. Cut the grass as short as you can, lay down a layer of cardboard, straw/hay or compost and then a very thick layer of mulch on top. The cardboard does an amazing job of choking out weeds and enriches the soil at the same time.
It may seem very laborious and time consuming at first, but the time you spend in the beginning will reap big rewards later. I spend very little time weeding, watering (even in the crazy Texas heat!) and after that first time, I never have to amend the soil again. The thick layer of compost feeds the soil over time.
How do I plant in it and how do I maintain it?
When planting seeds or starts, pull back the mulch from your planting space. Adding mulch into your planting hole will release too much nitrogen and will stunt the growth. Once the plant is established, pull the mulch around the base of the plant.
Each spring or fall, add a layer of mulch to your beds. The mulch breaks down each year, feeding the soil and your plants. If you keep a fresh layer on top this will retain moisture and help control weeds.
Does mulch attract bugs? Short answer, yes. But bugs can be beneficial. If you stay on top of it, bugs are manageable. This is where Companion Gardening and natural, organic pest control and time in the garden come into play. I inspect my vegetable plants once or twice a day, hand pick and when necessary use an organic plant spray to control the slug, snail and squash bug population. It’s all part of living in this fallen world!
If you’d like to learn even more, I highly recommend the Back to Eden Documentary. Even after years of deep mulch gardening, I learned so much and became even more committed to gardening this way.
I hope this post inspires you to get out there and plant your own garden this year. It’s doable, start small and get your hands dirty!
