Lets Talk Mulch

Why mulch? Mulch will help to suppress the weed growth as well as helping retain moisture in the soil.

Mulch will help retain the moisture in the soil, slow down weed growth, moderate soil temperature in the heat and the cold.

How do you know how much mulch you will need?

It will be dependent on the type of mulch however ideally I would only mulch to a maximum depth of 50mm.

How to calculate mulch?

You will need to measure the area of your garden beds then multiply this by the depth of mulch. This will give you a cubic metre measurement which is the measurement most landscape supply companies will deliver in. Maths is not my strong point so for those of you like me make sure when you do your calculations all measurements are in the same units eg all centimetres or all millimetres or all metres.

I find it easier to talk in metres when you do this calculation as then the final unit you have is the unit the landscape supply company talks in. This means a garden bed that is 10 metres by 5 metres = 50 then multiply the area by 0.05m (this is the depth of mulch = 50 mm deep). This will mean you need 2.5 cubic metres.

If you are purchasing mulch by the bag then they normally have some type of coverage rate listed on the bag.

If you are purchasing mulch as bales of lucerne direct from the farmer then really it will be trial and error. Always try to make sure the bales are free of seedheads and weeds as you don’t want to create another issue in the garden.

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• Topics:

• Gardening