Spring mulch with bark or wood chirping

ankitgoel26

Hi all,

I am new here and also fairly new to gardening (some positive of the lockdown). I am trying to find out if I should mulch my flower and veg bed which are mostly empty apart from few plants and a tree and over winter garlic and onions? I am growing many different plants that I will plant our later in April/May but wondering if I do need to mulch to protect the moisture or is it not necessary?

Any suggestions would be really helpful.

Thanks,
Ag

Posy

What sort of soil do you have? What are you thinking of planting? At this stage a dressing of well rotted manure would be better, not least because you won't have to fiddle with it when you plant.

ankitgoel26

Hi Posy,

Thanks for a prompt response, really appreciate it. I have been trying to find out myself what sold type I have. After reading info online and esp https://www.boughton.co.uk/products/topsoils/soil-types/, it looks like sandy soil. It's usually free draining and have lots of little rocks but at the moment, soil is dense and thick due to the rain over the winters. 

I am planning to plant many annuals like cosmos, marigold, borage, cornflower, crocosmia, etc.

I like your suggestion to use well rotted manure. Can I. use rake to mix it up. after the dressing or just dress it up? 

Thanks again!

edhelka

I use bark mulch to suppress weeds. Where I have it, I wouldn't be able to keep the beds weed-free without it. I don't use it in my perennial beds where I just plant very densely. I use the bark mulch in beds where I can't do dense planting (like my rose bed, some parts of shrub bed and in a narrow bed in the front garden).
I have sandy soil and it works well to keep it moist. It disappears quickly and needs to be top-upped every year.
The downside is birds, making a mess with it, throwing it on the lawn and everywhere. It's blackbirds digging for goodies in the mulch. I don't blame them, I guess they help with pests too, but it's annoying.
I wouldn't use it in a vegetable bed. It's more for a permanent planting, where you almost never need to dig.

Posy

My soil is very heavy, so I'm not much use to you! I would fork it in lightly to help reserve moisture later but annuals don't want lots of manure so not a hard job. Basically, you spread a layer on top and fork or hoe it into the surface. Free-draining soil experts will soon provide good advice.....