In many sources of garden literature, the term "mulching soil", "under mulch" or "promulchiruyte soil." Mulching - what is it? The process of covering the soil with a variety of materials in order to protect it from drying out, growth of weeds and loss of fertility. Every grower and florist is familiar with such a situation, when in the hot summer days the soil is unclearly cracked and dries out drastically. It is mulching that can prevent, while increasing the ability to retain moisture in the hot season. The organic layer protects the soil from weathering, drying and erosion, promotes active development of the root system and enriches the soil with organic substances. You can use a variety of materials: organic and inorganic. The most important thing is to cover the soil with something breathing and harmless.
What materials will help keep the soil moisture
Mulching of soil on the site can be successfully carried out with the help of bark and wood chips. This coating not only fulfills the main task of preserving moisture, but also ennobles the site. Pieces of chips are suitable for mulching shrubs (raspberries) and fruit trees. Peat is also excellent as a coating, because it has the ability to loosen heavy ground, bind sand and air. The soil near the bushes of strawberries and strawberries can be covered with pine needles, which prevent the occurrence and spread of gray rot. The shed manure should be mixed with the top layer of the earth, then the content of nitrogen and other nutrients will not decrease. Knowing how mulching is done, what it is and how to properly work the soil, you can keep the plants healthy and beautiful.
How to mulch properly
Before cultivating the soil, the parcel of land must be treated: remove the weeds, old leaves and carefully level the surface, if necessary, then loosen up. It is important to apply fertilizer to the soil, while slightly pressing it with rakes or forks. Now, knowing what mulching is doing , what it is, the material should be scattered in a small layer (2 to 4 cm) across the entire bed of the bed. If the mulching is done with straw, then it should be mixed with nitrogen fertilizers beforehand .
When you need to mulch the soil
As usual, gardeners cover the soil with protective materials in May, before the start of the hot season. But some, knowing all the subtleties of how mulching is done, what it is, the features of the process, cover the soil under the bushes with special mulch paper immediately after the snow has fallen, when there is a sufficient amount of moisture in the ground. Cover it in this way does not make sense at any other time, because the paper will not allow you to penetrate the soil with the necessary amount of moisture. But still, in most cases, the first mulching is carried out in May, and then do it as necessary (if the mulch is not enough) at any other convenient time.