Mulching During the Summer Makes Healthier Trees and Shrubs

Have you ever removed a pile of straw or cut grass, or ashes from the garden or elsewhere in a time of summer drought? If you have then you could not help but be impressed by the great degree of moisture that was present in the soil under the heap, as compared with the parched earth elsewhere. The soil under cover of the manure or other substance, would be so damp as to contain no suggestion of the prevailing drought, which goes to show that the spot was rendered comparatively drought-proof, by the simple means of what is termed a mulch. I will show you how mulching during the summer will make your trees and shrubs healthier.

The idea of this article is to emphasize the value of the summer mulch in growing almost every kind of tree, shrubs and plants. Everything in the garden, from strawberry plants to a Maple tree should be mulched. If you have a hedge then it to should be treated the same way. My neighbors had an evergreen hedge that was over a third of a mile long and it was the perfect picture of vigor and shapeliness. I am sure a lot credit may be due to the trimming it receives but there is no doubt that most of it was because of the mulch that is kept on the roots.

When planted, the surface under the trees was at once heavily coated with sawdust for a width of three feet, which later was increased to be a foot wider. This hedge was some distance from the house, so there was no objection to adding to the mulch such things as the litter that came from cleaning up the drives, or leaves from the lawn and elsewhere. The result was a hedge row that went through excessive dry weather without a sign of suffering.

Most people who plant trees on their lawns, along the highways or elsewhere, want large size trees that will yield shade and adornment at the earliest possible time. The best way to get these results is by mulching. This will apply to isolated specimens on the lawn, or sometimes it may be better to keep the soil around the trees well tilled and manured but otherwise mulching is the best treatment.

There is a right and wrong way of doing everything; mulching is no exception. The mulching should be done correctly so that the trees on your lawn get the full benefit of the mulch and yet preserves the utmost neatness. The correct way consists merely of taking up a circle of turf about five feet in diameter, and two inches thick at the circumference. The soil that is laid bare by the operation is rounded to be somewhat higher at the center. I would suggest placing a layer of straw around the trees and make it even in thickness. At first, it will look rather bright but the sun and dew will soon have a browning effect on the straw. However, if you dampen the straw before applying it and then is beaten or trod down as it is brought into place, there will be no trouble about its being disturbed by the wind.

This type of mulch offers no obstacle to the lawn mower: it can lap over it without harm. A mulch that is two inches thick and firmly packer, will give weeds no chance worth speaking of to spring up under the tree.

However, if one desires to incite growth in the tree beyond what the simple advantage of the mulch provides, this can be done very easily. The first step should be, and before laying the straw, to scatter a half inch or thereabouts of manure over the surface to be mulched, the manure to be covered with the straw. Second, in a dry season, no harm can come from watering a mulched lawn tree. The presence of the mulch will facilitate the watering quite decidely, for the water can be put on using a bucket or from a hose, with the best possible chance of its quickly settling to the roots.

Mulching in the front garden has its advantages, and that is why materials like manure, leaves, ashes or almost any kind of available waste can be utilized. One important thing to remember is to make sure equal amounts of moisture and temperature get to the roots. In the case of a pear tree mulching is favorable against the development of blight, through promoting the conditions that ensure a healthful, normal state of growth. There have been instances reported where careful and constant attention to mulching has preserved pear orchards almost intact from blight where neighboring orchards suffered badly.

Apple trees seem to benefit very well by liberal mulching. You can soon tell by the strong growth and rich dark foliage; both of which offered the basis of fine fruit.

Most of hardy shrubs are free consumers of moisture, which not infrequently affects their appearance, through causing the foliage to turn yellow in August and perhaps half of it to drop. In these beds where summer mulching is freely resorted to, all this may be changed and instead of the sickly mid-summer look the foliage will stand clear and bright into October.

You can even try a light mulch application when lawn seeding. There have been many happy results using this method. This has been especially true in cases where the seeding was unavoidably delayed until May, or else was undertaken in September. The idea here is this: With the help of a slight shower and a thin mulch soon after seeding, the mulch will soon consume the moisture that there may be a good catch for the seed, while without the mulch there would be no catch at all.

So prepare your trees, shrubs and plants with mulch. Mulching done correctly will insure beautiful lively trees and plants. Your garden or yard is sure to be the envy of the neighborhood.