This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Mulching in summer
MrMustard
Posts: 25
I'm new to gardening. I'm having trouble with weeds so far this summer, which I have been treating and pulling up. I read that mulching can help to suppress weeds as well as benefiting the plants. It is now mid June and I have not mulched my flowerbeds at all this year - is it too late to do so now?
0
Posts
Elsewhere online it says mulch in late spring and to avoid mulching in hotter months. So I though I was too late. But as you suggest watering before mulching then that should protect from over drying.
If it says avoid mulching in Hotter months I don't think you'll have a problem
Ideally you should still avoid mulching during hotter months...
I think it's more about dry than hot isn't it? Mulch needs to go on moist soil or it keeps soil dry rather than moist
In the sticks near Peterborough
Sounds good to me
see what the proper gardeners think
In the sticks near Peterborough
What are you mulching with? Bark? What sort of weeds are you dealing with?
Better mulching later than not at all, in my opinion. As others have said, give it a good soak prior to applying the mulch. If you're dealing with small little 'easy' weeds, putting down six or so layers of wet newspaper before applying the mulch will really cut back on the weeding. If you've got bind weed, couch grass, mares tail, etc.. the newspaper (or mulch) won't do much good beyond making them a bit easier to pull out from the loose top layer.