In many sources of garden literature, the term "mulching the soil", "under the mulch" or "mulch the soil." Mulching - what is it? The process of coating the soil with a variety of materials in order to protect it from drying out, weed growth and loss of fertility. Every gardener and florist is familiar with a situation where in hot summer days the soil cracks ugly and dries out very badly. It is mulching that can prevent this, while increasing the ability to retain moisture in the hot season. The organic layer protects the soil from weathering, drying out and erosion, contributes to the active development of the root system and enriches the soil with organic substances. Various materials can be used: organic and inorganic. The most important thing is to cover the soil with something breathable and harmless.
Mulching the soil on the site can be successfully carried out using bark and wood chips. Such a coating not only performs the main task of preserving moisture, but also ennobles the area. Pieces of slivers are suitable for mulching shrubs (raspberries) and fruit trees. Peat is also perfect as a coating, because it has the ability to loosen heavy earth, bind sandy and air-intensive. The soil near the bushes of strawberries and strawberries can be covered with pine needles, which prevent the occurrence and spread of gray rot. Rotten manure must be mixed with the top layer of the earth, then the content of nitrogen and other nutrients will not decrease. Knowing how the mulching is carried out, what it is and how to properly process the soil, you can keep the plants healthy and beautiful.
Before cultivating the soil, a piece of land must be cultivated: remove weeds, old leaves and carefully level the surface, if necessary, then loosen. It is important to introduce fertilizer into the soil, while slightly pressing it with a rake or pitchfork. Now, knowing what mulching is done,
what it is, the material should be scattered in a small layer (2 to 4 cm) over the entire surface of the bed. If mulching is carried out with straw, then it should be mixed with
nitrogen fertilizers beforehand
.As usual, gardeners cover the soil with protective materials in May, before the start of the hot season. But some, knowing all the intricacies of how mulching is done, what it is, process features, cover the soil under shrubs with special mulch paper right after the snow has melted, when there is enough moisture in the ground. Covering it in this way does not make sense at any other time, because paper will not allow the necessary amount of moisture to penetrate into the soil. But still, in most cases, the first mulching is carried out in May, and then they do it as necessary (if the mulch is not enough) at any other convenient time.