Gardening Question of the Week - Why Do I Have to Mulch in the Winter?
Thursday November 27, 2008
Mulching may not be on your list of things to do this time of year, if you live in a cold climate. But you might want to rethink that. Winter mulching makes sure that the plants you put to bed in the fall don’t wake up before they’re supposed to. It also helps them conserve whatever water remains in the soil during winter. And speaking of soil, winter mulch makes sure that all the things you added to your soil last season don’t just wash away. Winter mulching is about keeping the ground cold, not warm. The hard part is knowing when to do it. But for you lucky gardeners buried under a foot or two of snow, nature has taken care of that for you.
Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.
Comments
Spot on Marie!
Should put that in capital letters for the desert regions of the world.I live in Roosevelt, Utah where the weather is dry,dry,dry! Saving water is key here, so we mulch like its going out of style. Been here for 17 years and although is isn`t as green, growing flowers and veggies is do-able if we use winter as you have outlined-thanks and keep up the good blogging