What Does Mulch Do?

Mulch, also known as compost, is one of those things that many people may buy and use without actually knowing what it does or what it is. Mulch is organic material that’s made to act like a layer over or a barrier for your lawn’s soil. It can be made of many different materials, such as bark and wood, and even more subtypes of those materials. 

When you lay it over your lawn’s surface, the organic material does several things. It improves soil moisture, reduces soil erosion, reduces soil compaction, maintains optimal temperatures for places, increases soil nutrition, and reduces the number of weeds. This is a lot for a material you only have to layer over your lawn in appropriate amounts.

How Does Mulch Help Lawns?

Mulch provides soil structure, which makes a lot of the natural processes in your lawn more stable. It reduces the chances of there being too much or too little of anything, which will improve and reduce a lot of processes you want to moderate.

How Does Mulch Improve Soil Moisture?

While the type of mulch dictates how well it improves soil moisture, mulch improves soil moisture by acting as a barrier against the sun’s rays and the heat, but less so water. Composts are made up of materials like bark and wood because they do two things:

• Block a lot of sunlight because they’re opaque objects.
• Let water drain around the bits and pieces of wood because they aren’t too heavy.

How Does Mulch Reduce Soil Erosion and Compaction?

Mulch is able to reduce soil erosion and compaction for similar reasons to how it improves soil moisture. Because the water drains around the bits and pieces of wood, it’s spread out amongst the soil and the roots. Water flows wherever it can, and sometimes that can culminate in one spot. Even though the water will naturally spread out across your lawn or garden as it seeps into the soil, it will cause erosion. Erosion is never at 0%, but when mulch keeps it low, it also reduces how often you have to replace the soil, which is much more difficult than replacing the mulch. 

Compaction is reduced for the same reason. High concentrations of water not only cause erosion, but the particles in your soil clump together and compact. When this happens, water has a hard time getting into the roots, leading to many plants drying out.

How Does Mulch Protect Plants from the Cold?

Most of the heat that finds its way into your soil is from sunlight. When mulch blocks a good portion of the sunlight, it helps fight against extreme heat. It doesn’t keep the ground completely cool during the hot summers, but it helps to keep the moisture underground from evaporating before plants can get to it. 

During the winter, the heat that does get through tends to stay there as the mulch traps it deep down. Heat rises, but it’ll rise into the mulch, so the soil won’t be as cold as it could be, helping your plants survive the winter.

How Does Mulch Protect Against Weeds?

Weeds, whether it be in the summer or spring, spread more seeds than most other plants. Most seeds will be caught by the mulch that acts as a protective layer over your soil. Don’t let the seeds stay there though, be sure to rake the mulch to catch weed seeds. They may not be able to steal as much from your plants as they would if they were deep in the soil, but they can still grow in your mulch.

Get Mulch from Pioneer Landscape Centers

Pioneer Landscape Centers carry two types of mulch: bark and wood. We carry them in several different colors and sizes, across several types of trees. If you’re trying to find mulch that will do its job and add color to your yard, contact your local Pioneer Landscape Centers. Our experts are here and ready to help you.