What is a simple way to improve your garden overnight? Mulch!

A layer of chopped bark makes an attractive and effective mulch

What is mulch? Mulch is layer of organic matter, usually chopped bark, compost, chopped leaves, grass clippings or a combination of them all.  The layer needs to be laid over the soil to form a blanket.

What does mulch do? Mulch is like insulation on a house.  It protects the soil from extremes of heat and cold, and slows evaporation so irrigation is more effective.  Mulches keep roots cooler in summer, warmer in winter. Mulch can also help keep soil frozen in cold climates so that it does not thaw too quickly, causing frost “heaving”.

Sheet mulching involves several layers laid over a old lawn

What happens when mulch breaks down? Mulch is the natural way to feed your garden! You want the layer of mulch to be slowly composting and returning to the soil.  This encourages healthy strong plants that will need less care and fertilizer. Nature creates mulch when trees drop their leaves in fall.  These leaves break down over winter and become food for the forest. Mimic nature and you will never go wrong!

One way to think about it, it is think like a fire.  Just like ants in a kitchen, fire moves along one plane, such as the ground until it encounteres a way to move upward.  So when a fire is moving towards a tree, it will tend to try and move up into the tree using other things around it, such as shrubs or fences.  

This is called a fuel ladder.  A way for fire to “climb” up into the air, or into the roof of your home.

fire "climbs" upward using shrubs and low branches

Also, since heat rises, one way fire can climb is by heating things ahead of it.  Such as on a slope.  A fire that starts at the base of the hill will move much faster than a fire on flat land because the heat radiating form the fire will heat and dry out the material above it.  In other words, on a slope, fire can reach farther becuase of the effect of rising heat.  This is without even considering sparks blowing ahead of a fire.

So when clearing, think like fire and try to see where fire can have a chance to “climb” using fuel ladders.  This way, instead of creating a barren moonscape in your landscape, you can create an effective and attractive fire safe property.