Good news! Spring is here! And if you live in Walled Lake, or in one of the surrounding areas, that means it’s time to call J&S Landscaping to order mulch for your garden! Take a look at the flyer in our header for this year’s offering!
Meanwhile, this is a great time to review all the reasons we recommend mulching your flower beds, trees, and shrubs. When done properly, it prevents many gardening issues. Learning how and when to apply it can be a game changer.
What is Mulch?
Mulch is any organic or inorganic material used enrich or insulate the soil around or beneath plants.
The list of inorganic materials includes shredded rubber, gravel, and various types of sheeting. These all have their place in landscaping, but today we’re going to focus on organic mulch.
Organic mulches are made up of wood chips, straw, leaves, grass, peat moss, coconut fibers, cardboard or newspapers. J&S Landscaping recommends and sells premium wood chips.
What does It Do?
All mulches reduce erosion, preventing run-off, and weeds. Organic mulch does all of that AND protects the roots of plants during the winter, encourages seeds to germinate sooner when applied in the spring, and protects young plants from temperature extremes and loss of moisture. It also offers food and shelter for earthworms whose tunnels greatly increase absorption of rain by the soil. As it breaks down, organic mulch enriches your soil and becomes part of the complex ecosystem that supports and feeds your plants.
Mulching plants ensures that they will maintain their appearance throughout the season. Perennials benefit from year-round mulching and live longer. Annuals look better throughout the season.
It is also applied for aesthetic reasons, giving flower beds and the soil around the base of trees a clean, uniform appearance.
What is the Best Material?
J&S Landscaping likes fresh ground wood chips best. It is attractive, clean, and even smells pleasant. Our premium mulch is made from Greater Northern Michigan hardwood trees. It’s carefully ground to ensure a uniform appearance. And it will work for most gardeners. But if you are looking for an attractive, colored dressing that will draw attention to your flowers or shrubs, we also offer color enhanced mulch (red, black, and brown).
J&S Landscaping also offers red cedar. In addition to smelling good, it has the added benefit of repelling some bugs, such as moths, ants, termites, and cockroaches. And just like our hardwood mulch, it is freshly ground, so it will last the entire growing season. You can discuss this with our specialists when you call us.
How Much Should You Apply?
How much mulch you apply will vary based on the kind of plants, your soil time, and climate. If you have a heavy soil that includes a lot of clay and drains slowly, a thinner layer is best. A well-mixed, softer soil that holds moisture will need a moderate amount of mulch.
If you are using wood chip mulch on your flower beds for the first time, we recommend two to four inches. Any less than that, and it won’t offer enough coverage to prevent weeds. If you used it the previous season and didn’t turn it into the soil, then you may only need to add a couple of inches.
When you add a layer of protective covering to your gardens, you will need to think about the needs of the plants you’re caring for and what kind of climate you have. For example, roses need good air circulation and don’t like “wet feet.” If kept in continuously wet conditions, they develop many problems, ranging from funguses to root rot. If you live in a humid climate with a lot of rain, you should mulch lightly–two or so inches. That way the soil will dry out some between watering or rain. But if you live in a climate with hot, dry growing seasons, two to four inchies of mulch accompanied by regular watering, will keep your roses blooming all season.
How to Apply Mulch
Adding mulch is easy! Spread an even layer across the surface of the soil beginning at the base of the plant (do not pile it up against the stem or trunk). Just make sure that it stretches beyond the drip-line of your trees, shrubs, and plants. A drip-line is an invisible circle of sorts that is marked by the circumference of your plant’s branches. You aren’t just cooling and watering the soil at the base of the plant, you’re ensuring that the soil all the way around the plant is moist and cool too. It’s like air conditioning for your plant’s roots.
How Much Do You need?
That is a great question for our landscaping specialists! It depends on why you need it and where you’re planning to use it. Most of the time the amount of dressing you need will depend on the amount of space you plan to cover. Our staff has special calculators that they use so that they can give you an exact quote.
Order Mulch Today!
J&S Landscaping experts are ready and waiting for your call! J & S Landscaping also builds outdoor living areas, designs beautiful landscapes, offers commercial lawn care services, and much, much more. We are an authorized contractor for Belgard and a proud member of the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association.
Call today to learn more about our Delivery Services! We have trucks of all sizes and can provide exactly what you need. We deal in only the best hardwood mulch on the market, direct from Michigan and Canada. And our prices can’t be beat!
