Selecting this mulch promotes wetland restoration by eradicating invasive species from our ecosystem. Utility mulch is available in many areas where county or city solid waste departments allow drop-off of landscape materials. Contact your local solid waste department for details.

Be sure to ask if invasive species are avoided; if not, you might be inviting problematic plants. Leaves are an excellent source of free mulch. Compost can be used as mulch, but a thin layer of wood, straw or leaf mulch should be applied over any compost applied to the existing soil.

Soil bacteria may begin to decompose the wood mulch and take nutrients from the soil to decompose the mulch, creating the opposite of the desired effect. Grass clippings can mat down and prevent oxygenation of the soil. It is best to compost them prior to applying to the edible landscape.

Be sure to avoid grass clippings as mulch if your lawn was recently treated with herbicides or other chemicals. We would like to acknowledge Lyn Barber, Terra Freeman, Tom Wichman and Jennifer Marvin for their contributions to this publication.

Bauer, S. Crane, J. Freeman, T. Silvasy, L. Barber, T. Wichman, E. Momol, T. McIntyre, J. Rivas, and J. Liu, G. Simonne, K. Morgan, and G. Marble, C. McLaughlin, J. Mulching Practices for South Florida. Oi, F. Shober, A. Toor, G. Shober, and A. Treadwell, D. Brown, J. Stephens, and S.

Zhang, S. Wang, L. Sun, C. Qiu, Y. Ding, H. Gu, L. Wang, Z. Wang, and Z. Release Date: November 4th, County agent. University of Florida. Original publication date November edu for the currently supported version of this publication. Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 3.

Pineapple plants with oak leaf mulch. Figure 4. Banana trunks and leaves are a good source of organic matter and readily decompose, so they can be used for mulch on banana trees self-mulching. Figure 5. A large cabbage plant is mulched with hay, leaving 3—5 inches of space around the base of the plant.

Figure 6. A raised bed of mixed vegetables is covered with a thin layer of pine straw. Figure 7. Rows of mounded strawberry plants are mulched with a thin layer of pine straw. Figure 8. Oak leaves can be used as a mulch for vegetable and herb seedlings.

Figure 9. Photo Type of Mulch Recommended? DOWNLOAD Publication ENH Release Date: November 4th, Related Experts. McIntyre, Tina L. County agent University of Florida.

Rivas, Jacqlyn staff University of Florida. Momol, Esen A. Silvasy, Tiare County agent University of Florida. Related Collections Florida-Friendly Edible Landscaping series 4.

Related Units CLUE. Environmental Horticulture. Mid-Florida REC. Related Topics. Edible Landscapes. Lawn and Garden: Mulches. However, you might be surprised to learn that many of the free materials typically promoted as beneficial for the garden can actually be quite detrimental.

Keep reading to learn about how to select safe materials for mulching naturally. Swiss chard border with sweet alyssum living mulch. Living plants—either annual or perennial—planted underneath a primary crop can help to suppress weeds, retain moisture, reduce soil erosion, and create habitat for beneficial insects.

Because their roots are intact, they also provide food and habitat for beneficial soil organisms. In the vegetable garden, seek out annual plants to use as living mulch.

Meanwhile, use perennial plants as living mulch under edible perennial crops such as fruit trees. Learn more about growing annual flowers in the vegetable garden.

Above, we learned that mulch should be used differently in different situations regarding climate and seasons. Although many wildflowers have adapted to thrive when growing in competition with one another in a prairie, annual vegetables have typically not adapted to such conditions.

Another consideration is the root structure of the living plant and adjacent vegetable crop. Different plants have different root structures; some are shallow and fibrous, while others are narrow and deep.

Rather, they benefit one another. I also like to plant comfrey under my fruit trees , with the same effect. Deep-rooted comfrey plants get along well with shallow-rooted fruit trees. Experiment to find your favorite combinations that work best for the conditions of your garden.

Chopped comfrey; ready for spreading as a green mulch. Green mulch is the use of fresh, green plant matter to smother weeds and provide a nutrient boost fertilizer to crops. Mulching in place reduces labor by reducing the need to haul in wheelbarrows full of organic material.

So for example, you can chop back living mulches regularly throughout the season and drop them right on the soil. You might do this to keep them short so that they continue to anchor and protect the soil while preventing them from shading out the main crop.

This action can also keep them from setting seed, if that is undesired. In addition to the living mulches described above, the following are a few additional plants that make great green mulch. Did you notice that many of these plants are considered to be weeds?

Learn more about when weeds are good and 5 weeds you want in your garden and more details about how to use them beneficially. Cut green mulch plants at the base, leaving their roots intact to feed beneficial soil organisms.

Chop the green matter roughly into 3-inch pieces, and lay the green mulch on top of the soil. Be sure it does not come into direct contact with surrounding garden crops. For a more attractive look, green mulch can be topped with a layer of leaf mulch or woodchip mulch see Magic Mulch Combo below.

If so, check out my Permaculture Design Program and get the tools and support needed to create and implement your own permaculture design. Broccoli seedlings mulched with chopped weeds. Did you know that pound for pound, the leaves of most trees contain twice as many minerals as manure?

Leaf mulch is an attractive top-dressing in the garden, and helps to retain moisture. I collect leaves from the lawn and shred them with the lawn mower or leaf mulcher , and pile them in wire bins for use throughout the year.

Wood chips can be delivered—often for free—from local tree services giving the driver a tip may ensure more deliveries in your future! Wood chips are a perfect mulch to use around perennials. They should never make contact with the stems or trunks of the plants.

Wood chips that have broken down for years are a gold mine of a soil conditioner. A study at Michigan State University researched leaf mulch to see whether it contributed to weed suppression or fertilization. The researchers found that leaf mulch did not serve much value as a weed suppressor or fertilizer source by itself.

However, when coupled with a nitrogen source green mulch , the weed suppression and fertilization levels went up.

Though I use many types of green mulch around the garden, my favorite combo is using the abundant grass clippings from my neighbor. I pile them thickly—about 1 to 2 inches—in the garden beds but not touching the plants and top with an equally thick layer of shredded leaves.

It also solved my problem of not having enough room in the compost bins to accommodate all of the grass clippings from the neighbors. Be careful when using organic materials from outside sources!

Grass clippings are one of the biggest contributors of herbicide contamination to the garden, which can damage crops and poison soil for many years. Compost is an excellent amendment that is often used as a mulch all by itself. Learn how to purchase herbicide-free soil. in place of green mulch.

Note : Ask questions about the origin of the manure. Unfortunately, manure can be laced with herbicides , or it can contain pharmaceuticals, which can damage crops and poison soil. In the fall spread a thick layer of composted manure over the beds and top with a layer of shredded leaves or composted wood chips.

This will not only protect the soil from the harsh winter temps, but it also improves soil quality. All in all, mulching is an important component of lasting soil health, water conservation, and time savings for the gardener.

When the soil is happy, the plants are happy, too! This is part of the process of connecting to our place as active residents. How does adding compost and mulch in the fall in preparation for winter square with a winter cover crop?

Is the mulch sufficient soil protection? Or is the cover crop unnecessary? Any thoughts are appreciated. Great post! Hi Michael. You bring up some great questions about mulching. Although, a compromise might be seeding the cover crop then covering the garden with straw, which would give the best coverage while still allowing for germination.

Cover crops take some work to turn over in the spring before planting, unless you use a tiller. Each cover crop has a specific set of nutrients it adds to the soil, like different types of mulches. I think any mulch is much better than no mulch over the winter, but if you know what nutrient challenges your specific soil has, you might be able to choose the best mulch for the job.

You may want to note that rabbit manure can be used directly on plantings without composting it first. Let it brew for two or three days, then use on garden and house plants. Rabbits are good choppers and the manure falling through the cages is ready for using in the garden.

Dump your peelings and unused veggies and weeds in the rabbit pen and the rabbits work night and day to produce the manure. Rabbits are fun to watch as well as chickens. Two cute chickens in a cute coop means two fresh eggs a day. That is a lot to use in a week, unless you have a few egg-breakfast eaters.

How can you use purslane as a green mulch without ending up with an unwanted cover crop of it? I pull as much as I can manage and feed it to the chickens. I think purslane is an excellent living mulch. It is fertilizing the soil with potassium and other trace elements.

Happy gardening 🙂. Purslane is amazing, and delicious too. It is very nutritious. Would suggest you do a bit of research about it.