Mulching and Winter Protection: Essential Steps to Guard your Garden

Mulching and Winter Protection: Essential Steps to Guard your Garden

As the days the get shorter and the temperatures outside drop, our North Texas gardens are getting ready for their winter sleep. With frost and the occasional snowfall just around the corner, now is the time to protect your garden perennials – marigolds, mums and marjoram – with mulch. Adding a layer of mulch will shield the roots from the intermittent periods of extreme cold we sometimes get in North Texas. It helps prevent erosion and exposure during violent storms and is one of the best ways to prepare your garden for winter. Mulch helps the soil hold moisture so you don’t have to water as often. It also suppresses weeds, which can get out of control, even during winter months. And over time, mulches made from organic materials break down and increase your soil’s structure and fertility. What kind of mulch should I use? Simpson Landscape generally recommends using organic materials as mulch. When making your selection, consider how well it protects and what it will add to the soil. There are many types of materials for mulch – these are the most common in North Texas: Shredded hardwood: Come from chipped or shredded branches or small trees, usually a mixture of woods from a variety of trees Available at a reasonable cost, sometimes even free from municipalities or utilities Becomes alkaline as it breaks down, benefiting all but those plants that need a lot of acid Durable ground cover that “knits together” and resists floating away in heavy rains Shredded bark: One of the most common and least expensive types of mulch Comes from a variety of...