Everything You Need to Know About Mulch Including When and Why to Do It

You probably already know that mulching your landscape beds and tree rings make them look great. Adding new layers of mulch always gives your commercial property a fresh and polished look. But did you know that mulching is also incredibly good for your landscape? It does much more than add aesthetic appeal—it also helps keep your plants performing optimally.

As a property manager, you might know that it’s important to keep up with regular mulching, but you might not know much more about the “how, why, and when” behind mulching.

That’s why we’ve put together this helpful information—so that you can understand this important service and make sure that you’re getting the most out of it.

Why Mulch?

First and foremost, it’s important to understand why you should be mulching in the first place. We’ve already touched upon the aesthetic benefits that you were probably well-aware of. A nicely mulched commercial property just looks better than one that’s not. It’s a great way to get your commercial property to stand out.

We’ve also already mentioned that mulch is good for your landscape, helping your plants to perform their best. But you may be wondering why.

The fact is, there are many reasons.

For one, mulch is beneficial to plants because it acts as a barrier. This allows is to lock in moisture that’s needed to keep your plants thriving. In the long run, this can help you cut back on irrigation efforts and also helps conserve water. Mulch can also assist in preventing erosion and runoff during and after storms.

As a barrier, mulch also helps to insulate your plants’ root systems—which are vital to their survival. Mulch keeps the temperature warmer beneath it, even as the air temperature drops.

Mulch can also assist in weed control and keep labor-intensive weed maintenance to a bare minimum. That’s because it’s very difficult for weeds to push through mulch and access sunlight, which they need to grow. This suppression of weeds will help keep your plant beds looking their best.

When to Mulch?

Now that you know why to mulch, you might be wondering when to do it.  Ideally, you should be mulching twice a year—in the spring and the fall. In very early spring (or sometimes even late winter), your plant beds can start being prepped for the coming spring. This means clearing out winter debris, cutting back perennials, and adding that precious layer of mulch. This is the best way to prep your plant beds for the spring—setting them up to retain moisture and suppress weeds.

Adding a layer of mulch in the fall will have similar benefits. It will help protect your plants’ roots as air temperatures drop and it will also suppress winter weeds that could pop up during random warm spells. Of course, it will also make your fall plant beds look their best along with some seasonal color.

How to Mulch?

How you mulch—including how much you add—is also important. There is such a thing as too much mulch as it can turn your soil soggy. This can leave your plants susceptible to disease.

Of course, too little mulch isn’t ideal, either. Aggressive weeds can be strong enough to grow through a sparse layer of mulch and it won’t act as a very good barrier or insulator if it’s too spread out.

In most cases, a thin but solid layer of mulch, will do. The exact amount will depend on your specific plant beds and the site conditions. This can be determined by a professional. Some plant beds will require more mulch than others. But generally speaking, plant beds need somewhere between 2 to 3 inches of mulch.

Hiring a Pro for Your Mulching Needs

It’s a wise choice on your part to better understand the services that you have performed on your landscape. After all, by doing your due diligence, you’re ensuring that you get the most value out of these services.

Even so, chances are, you don’t want to perform these services on your own. You’re looking for a professional who can handle them as part of the overall maintenance of your commercial property.

While almost every landscape company offers mulching, even landscape professionals can make mistakes when it comes to its proper application. You ought to be able to feel confident that the company you hire will do the job right.

Of course, you want them to be able to do a lot more than just mulch. If you truly want the burden off your shoulders, you want a company that can handle complete property management. Mulching is a vital part of that—but it’s just one part of the overall “big picture.”

At Bluegrass, we offer a Landcare Management Plan, or LMP, which is a tool that helps us uncover all of your needs and put an action plan into place. By allowing us to take control of your property, we also take away the hassle and the stress associated with it.

To sum it all up, we think it’s incredibly commendable that you’re researching and gaining knowledge on mulch. It shows that you want the best for your property. But at the end of the day, you want to be able to trust that the company you’re hiring has you covered (no pun intended). By choosing the right company, you can feel confident that your property will receive the right amount of mulch at the right times in order to reap the most possible benefit and value out of it. In other words, by choosing the right company, you can gain valuable peace of mind that the job will get done right.