2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16
Until recently, only summer residents of the southern regions were engaged in mulching. With the advent of intense heat, those gardeners who had not done this before thought about it. Mulch - what is it? And what is she for? Let's find out.
Soil protection
Under the influence of the sun, wind and rain, the uncovered earth loses its fertility every year, its structure collapses, and a crust forms on the surface. Summer heat overheats and dries up the soil, winter cold leads to freezing of the roots of some plants. Mulching protects against these factors.
Mulch - what is it? This is the covering of the earth with various materials that suppress the growth of weeds. Powerful perennials can sprout through them, but they are easy to weed out with your hands. This agricultural practice retains the necessary moisture in the soil, so you can water less frequently.
The soil under the artificial "blanket" heats up less, which favorably affects the growth of roots. In winter, perennials do not freeze under such conditions.
Mulch - what is it? It is protection against pests and diseases. Some Researchprove that this technique repels moles, protects against onion and carrot flies, nematodes. In addition, the structure of the fertile layer improves, as the humus content increases in it. Earthworms become more active, so the soil becomes loose. Some substances, such as garden compost and rotted manure, provide additional nutrition to cultivated crops.
How to make mulch
To begin with, prepare the surface of the earth: remove debris and weeds. These works are carried out in May. Then sprinkle with complex fertilizer and lightly close it with a rake. After that, a material containing organic matter is poured into a 5-centimeter layer on moist, clean and warm soil. The radius of the mulched circle, in the center of which the plant is 45 cm, in the center of which the bush is 75 cm. The layer of the substance should not reach the stems and trunks of cultivated crops, otherwise they may rot.
Under perennial plants, the mulch is not removed for the next year: they just lay a new layer. Under annual crops, substances are buried in the soil or placed in a compost heap for processing by worms.
Mulch materials
Popular among gardeners is organic mulch - manure, compost, which nourish plants. In addition to them, it is used:
- Peat - retains soil moisture, protects from the sun. It is used for mulching garlic during autumn planting, as well as for vegetable seeds.
- Chips and bark - provides a beautiful appearance. Suitable for fruitcrops.
- Pine or spruce needles - prevents the reproduction of gray rot. Used for strawberries.
- Cut grass - used for vegetable beds, but it needs to be dried in the sun.
- Green manure - used for vegetable crops. They are a green mass of plants that are grown for fertilizer. It is better to mix them with disk tools with the upper earthen layer.
- Sawdust - good for any plants, except for annual vegetables. They are applied with ash and nitrogen fertilizers.
- Straw cutting – Provides soil protection but contains weed seeds. At the same time, nitrogen fertilizers must be applied with it.
We answered the question: "Mulch - what is it?" This agricultural technique is gradually replacing the digging of garden plots. Its advantages are low labor intensity, greater germination and high yield, preservation of the root system of perennial crops.
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