Mulching Tips , for Your Gardening Hobby.<br />Adding mulch to a garden has a variety of benefits, from maintaining moisture levels to keeping the weeds out.<br />Perhaps most importantly, mulch can make the soil of your garden better.<br />Mulch plays a big part in <br />growing better soils, Dr. William C. Fonteno, North Carolina <br />State University, via 'The New York Times'.<br />Mulching is a way to continue that <br />process on a natural scale, Dr. William C. Fonteno, North Carolina <br />State University, via 'The New York Times'.<br />Experts say that mulching is a way to recreate the natural and slower soiling processes that occur in forests.<br />In a forest, there’s no big heap, just a layer of an inch or two or three, breaking down and returning to the system, Dr. William C. Fonteno, North Carolina <br />State University, via 'The New York Times'.<br />With mulching, it's good to think in the long term and to trust that the process will continually improve your garden over the span of several cycles.<br />Every year that you are adding mulch, you are creating additional soil, and your soil will be better, Dr. William C. Fonteno, North Carolina <br />State University, via 'The New York Times'.<br />Most people don’t want to put down something that breaks down quickly, because you have to do it again and again, Dr. William C. Fonteno, North Carolina <br />State University, via 'The New York Times'.<br />But if you take the attitude that you’re growing the soil, maybe you’ll think differently. It’s hard for soil microbes to chew on <br />big chips, Dr. William C. Fonteno, North Carolina <br />State University, via 'The New York Times'.<br />Therefore, mulch should be applied sparingly and practically rather than in heaping piles or decoratively.<br />Horticulturists say that the ingredients of a good organic mulch can include leaves, the leftovers of cut grass, straw and even wood chips and bark.<br />Grass and leaves will decompose quickly, whereas bits of wood mulch will take longer.<br />Bits of mulch that take longer to decompose allow your soil to maintain proper nitrogen levels, which is beneficial if you don't wish to add fertilizer
