Application of mulch is a good idea. The question is what do you use?
There is a huge range of mulch products available to select from. Good gardeners are very fussy about what they put down and for good reason. You see the idea of mulch is to allow water to easily penetrate into the soil whilst forming a barrier to stop evaporation.
Unfortunately all the processed, artificially coloured, black, forest waste products and wood chips absorb most of the reticulation water before it gets to the soil. Some also becomes water repellent over time.
Valuable nitrogen will be pulled from the soil as soil microbes try to break it down.
The best natural mulches are Lucerne hay or Pea straw, because both are legumes that contain organic nitrogen. They just need to be teased out into a loose layer. Some gardener’s use a mixture of lawn clippings combined with either of those.
However there is a new mulch product that has been recently developed in the country by an enterprising family and is made from lupin crop residues.
It is called “Dsatco Lupin Mulch” and is available in 42 litre bags or in Bulka Bags , these are larger than a garden bag and hold one cubic metre.
Lupins are also members of the legume family so the product contains natural nitrogen along with a balanced quantity of essential elements. Prior to packaging the product is put through a composting process to ensure it is free of weed seeds.
The good thing about these mulches is they perform very well, allow the soil to breathe and breakdown into quality organic residues that worms and microbes will love and so will your soil. A light covering is all that is required.
The majority of good gardeners do not allow anything that can be mulched or mown to be removed from their gardens.
It is simply re-cycled and made into much by using a mechanical “mulcher” or laying out the things you have pulled out and running over them a few times with the rotary mower.
This is a cheap and effective way of keeping garden refuse on the property and avoids contributing to landfill. Mind you larger limbs and loppings cannot be used and should go into the regular council pick up.
Lawn clippings can be mixed with any of the above and are a valuable source of organic nutrients.
Kitchen waste can be broken down using a Bokashi Bucket . After a few weeks of pickling it can then be dug into garden beds.
An alternative to this is to use a compost tumbler. Home made compost can be produced from kitchen waste, lawn clippings and manure.
Happy Gardening!
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