4 Organic Mulches For Weed Suppression

When it comes to market gardening and keeping the weeds at bay, mulching is an essential practice. You may be wondering what mulch is and how it can help your market garden.

Mulch is an organic material that you lay on top of the ground around plants. It helps by keeping moisture in the soil, preventing weeds from growing, and insulating plants from extreme temperatures.

You may be able to source some types of mulch from your farm already, but if not there are many types of mulch available for purchase at local nurseries or home improvement stores, so here's a brief overview of each type.

Pine Needles

Pine needles are an excellent choice for weed suppression. Pine needle mulch can also be used to reduce erosion on slopes and steep embankments, as well as to increase soil fertility through composting.

The pine needles have a fibrous structure that breaks down relatively quickly in the soil and turns into humus, which helps with water retention in the soil by holding onto moisture during drought cycles.

This type of mulch can be applied straight from the tree in whole form or shredded into smaller pieces before application.

Additionally, pine needles are a great mulch for aesthetics because they stay relatively light in color throughout their life cycle and don’t get muddy or dark like other mulches such as wood chips do after rainstorms.

A thick layer of pine needles will also help keep water from evaporating too quickly from newly planted seeds that have been sown into the soil.

This can be especially helpful during periods when it gets hot outside but not enough time has passed for plants to develop roots deep into the soil.

Cardboard

Cardboard is a great choice for weed suppression. It's easy to use, cheap and can be recycled from other household items. Cardboard is also 100% biodegradable, which means it won't harm the environment.

As well as weed suppression, you can use cardboard for many different things:

• Garden beds; Just lay down sheets of cardboard to form the bottom layer of your garden so that weeds have no chance at growing.

• Paths; Cardboard makes it nearly impossible for weeds to grow through because they due to their light supression qualities, and don't have any form of nutrients in them. Just lay down pieces along your path and watch the weeds disappear!

• Cardboard is also great because it decomposes quickly when exposed to moisture, which means you don't have to worry about covering up the cardboard with mulch or other materials that would prevent it from decomposing.

Hay

Hay is a great mulch for your market garden. Hay is an excellent insulator, especially when it's fresh and green.

It can also be used as a weed suppressant and will help keep the soil warm in winter, and cool in summer.

As with other mulches, Hay will also help to retain moisture in the soil, reducing the need for watering.

Leaf Mold

Fallen leaves are a great mulch. They can be used as a weed suppressant, as well as a fertilizer. Leaves are a great organically-rich material and provide nutrients to the soil as they decompose.

Leaves are a great organic mulch, but avoid using them in areas where they could be blown away by the wind.

If possible, rake up and remove leaves as soon as they fall so you don't have to wait for them to decompose before placing them on top of your plants - this will give you more control over how much sunlight reaches the ground and cause less stress on your plants.

Get Mulchin'!

Mulch is a great way to keep your market garden looking beautiful and weed free. The best types will depend on your garden or lawn.