Mulching the Garden
In order to finish off a compost pile I needed some more green layers. The front garden has been begging me to tidy it up a bit, nasturtiums have run rampant.
- Out came the shears, gave everything a haircut and uncovered the paths again. The purple salvia’s are at the end of their flowering period and new shoots are poking out ready for spring. These get chopped right down to the floor at this time every year.
- I also got as much grass out as I could – it breeds like crazy under the mulch if I don’t.
- When I first started this garden I put in a winter green manure crop which included vetch. Green manures are specific plants which you allow to grow to a point, just before flowering usually, and then chop it where it is and cover it with mulch or new plantings. They do a great job of feeding the soil. Vetch now pops up every year – I don’t even chop it, just fold it into the garden bed and cover it with mulch.
- Then I dug out all the paths and put all the old wood chip on the garden beds. I’m not too fussy about burying most of it. Strawberries, comfrey, baby sunrose, nasturtiums, sweet potato all come back through in the end – along with plenty of onion weed and grass! With the plants I want I try to leave a couple of leaves poking out.
- Then it is just a matter of filling up the paths again with fresh wood chip. All the bigger chunks of wood just go on the bottom and I cover them with the finer chips. Everything breaks down eventually.
The whole job took about three hours. Not hard to fall in love with it again after that.
