Mulch – The Key to a Healthy Garden

Want to know the secret to a beautiful, healthy garden? The key to success is feeding your soil life (not your plants). Did you know that there are literally millions of little critters in just one teaspoon of soil? No kidding! Healthy soil is just brimming with a diversity of microscopic bacteria, algae, fungi, protozoa, nematodes and micro-arthropods, to the visible earthworms, insects, and small vertebrates. How they interact with one another is called the “soil food web.” [Click to Read More]

I’ll let you research this on your own, but suffice it to say that if your soil life is healthy and happy, your plants will thrive. One of the Master Gardener mantras is “Feed your soil, not your plants.” What we mean by this is to feed the soil life, so that they in turn can release nutrients from the soil to the plants or even create their own nutrients for the plants! They can also improve the structure and porosity of the soil if they receive the right food and environmental conditions. Note that chemical fertilizers feed your plants directly, are short-lived, and non-sustainable. Your plants will grow with the use of chemical fertilizers, but they will not thrive in the long run.

Now you’re probably asking, what do all those little critters eat? It’s pretty simple—organic matter from decaying plant or animal material. Yes, Mother Nature has this grand plan called the “circle of life” whereby dead material can feed soil life, which in turn feeds our plants, which then feed animals and humans, in a sustainable and healthy manner. So, please “leave your leaves” where they fall and add a layer of compost (I prefer horse manure!) and mulch once or twice a year in the fall and/or early spring and your garden will thank you for it.