Benefits Of Mulching For The Winter Season

Sherri:

Hi, I am Sherri with HomeShow Garden Pros, and I’m here today at Nature’s Way Resources with Leo. And we’re going to talk about the benefits of mulching before the wintertime. And we’re here, it’s time to do it. So why would we mulch before winter?

Leo:

Well, let’s take a look right here. So as we see this pile, it looks kind of dry on the outside, but we’re going to break into it and see the real importance of how it looks like on the inside. And that’s basically what’s going on in the soil, where our plants are growing, where our vegetables are growing, where our trees are growing. Yeah. So it looks dry out here. You can see on the inside it’s a lot darker. It’s a lot more humid, a lot more moist. And this is basically what’s going to be happening during the winter-

Sherri:

Underground.

Leo:

And if you guys could feel this right now, it’s nice and warm. It’s kind of chilly out right now, but as soon as you break into it, get it from down here.

Sherri:

Oh, yeah. I mean, it’s like, it’s nice and warm.

Leo:

It’s like you’re putting your hands close to a fire again and warmer and stuff.

Sherri:

So the mulch will retain your moisture and kind of warm your roots basically. So it insulates your roots during the winter, keeping things a little bit warmer. So right before winter would be an ideal time. Another great time to do it would be going into summer to get ready for the drought times and insulate some moisture.
And what is your saying you always say when we’re doing the show?

Leo:

This year’s mulch is next year’s compost.

Sherri:

Yes. So this pile right here, you put mulch on your yard and what’s going to happen, it’s going to turn into this amazing compost over here.

Leo:

Right. Exactly. So sometimes you don’t even have to apply compost to your flower beds because if you’re adding this mulch as it breaks down, especially during the rainy season, like the fall, the spring, all that water is going to be like the major catalyst and helping that mulch decompose. And all those nutrients are just going to be like a leftover after it’s starting to break down. And then every year you just add a little bit more mulch.

Sherri:

Little mulch. And then before you know it, you can stick your elbow all the way down in your flower beds and you have beautiful compost.

Leo:

Yep.

Sherri:

So get out and get mulching before this winter to protect your plants, insulate the heat, keep the moisture in, and then next year you’ll have this beautiful compost. And then it’s time to apply more mulch. So for more great tips like this, join us at HomeShow Garden Pros.