Summer 2006, location: somewhere on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.

I remember the smell of cedar that steamed up from a fresh shovelful of fresh mulch I was loading up the wheel barrel.  It was so peaceful, looking around the naturally landscaped acreage.  You enter the property on a long, winding driveway that seemed so small among the enormous evergreens of Canadian west coast.  Winding by the central pond (closer in size to a small lake), that was home to many fish, white ducks and a few geese.  The drive comes to an end, of course there is an architecturally pleasing mansion that is tucked in amongst large flowerbeds full of native flora.  I was there, hired from the specialty nursery that I was working at, to apply a generous layer of mulch to the flower beds and around a few outbuildings.

As I dumped little piles of cedar mulch around the plants, making sure to not crush anything with the large wheelbarrow, I can remember how peaceful it was.   Listening to the sounds of nature, as no one was home & I did not have a cell phone (I was one of the last to jump on the bandwagon -> 2010), was, and is, such a recharging experience.  & yes I was working..  but as you get to know me there is a very fine line between work and play!
I can remember it being almost surreally peaceful.  Crawling around nature, spreading cedar mulch that smells heavenly, birds chirping, the little stream trickling into the pond: I was so content.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted quick movement coming from the sky above the pond.  I really only had enough time to slightly turn my head avert my gaze to the blur of movement.  My heart raced a bit..  I was in the middle of now-where, in the middle of the mountains, with no cell…  My eyes focused in on the blur, as it was fast approaching the ponds peaceful water.

It was a bald eagle.  A HUGE, brown body/white headed  bald eagle!  As I was wrapping my head around this fact, the incredibly large eagle opened up its large talons and snatched up a white duck.  A white, squawking deafening screams, innocent duck.  Then, as quickly as it came, bald eagle flew back up toward the sky and into the overhead, evergreen canopy.

That is a day of mulching that will stick with me forever!

 

What is Mulching?

Mulching may be defined as covering exposed soil, with either organic or synthetic geo-textiles.

9 Benefits of Mulching

1┃Conserves soil moisture

2┃Cushions the soil agains compaction

3┃Reduces mud splash

4┃Prevents wind erosion

5┃Controls soil temperature

6┃Prevents the soil surface from crusting

7┃Natural/organic mulch decays, adding to the organic content of the soil

8┃Organisms that bring on this decay will release nutrients from the mulch decay, making those nutrients available for the roots to absorb

9┃Organic/Natural weed barrier

 

I am a firm believer/user of mulching every square inch of bare soil in my landscapes.  There are soo many benefits, too many to count.  & when it comes to cons, there are non that I have found for using natural/organic types of mulches.  Healthy for your plants, for your family/friends/pets/animals/etc…  I actually like weeding – only in mulched areas…  Any weeds that grow through my 4″ or deeper mulch are easy to pull, spindly-long, and there are very few.

For any of you fellow green-thumbers out there that have tried to get rid Aegopodium podagraria L. (also known as: ground elder, herb gerard, bishop’s weed, goutweed, gout wort, and snow-in-the-mountain), it can nearly impossible to completely remove.  I successfully got rid of a huge mass planting by mulching with a good 3″ of newspaper topped with a nice 5″ layer of natural wood mulch.  Worked like a dream!  Maybe had a couple squeak through, which would simply prompt me to go back and add more shredded paper, then wood mulch.  Within 2 growing seasons it was gone forever!  Would highly recommend if you have an invasive plant that is an eye-sore!

8 types of Natural Mulches

1┃Leaf litter
2┃Straw
3┃Ground Corn cobs
4┃Wood Chips/Mulch
5┃Pine Straw
6┃Shredded Paper
7┃Pine Cones
8┃Rocks

 

That is Mulching in a nutshell!  Oh, nutshells could also be an excellent type of mulch, ha!

 

Would highly encourage you to leave any questions, that may have popped up while reading, in the comment section below & I would enjoy answering them for you!