06 October, 2011

Mulch it! Mulch it good!

Before our hot summer rears its warm, ugly head, It's time to start thinking about mulching your gardens. You may not realise it, but succulents benefit greatly from a good mulching too!

In this photo: Echeveria 'Topsy Turvy' and Echeveria 'Dondo'.

Adding mulch around your succulents in your garden helps to:
  • lower the soil temperature
  • retain moisture within soil
  • reduce water evaporation rate
  • reduce soil erosion
  • suppress weeds
Here, we have used Red Gum wood chips because of the nice red colour, but you can use whatever is available - wood chips, pebbles, gravel - It's up to your imagination.

TIP - Make sure you lay it on thick! For wood chips, 100mm thick will do the job nicely. ALSO, make sure you keep the mulch away from the base of your plants (unlike our photo here!) - this helps to prevent rotting at the base of your plants.

So...How much mulch will I need, and where do I get it from?
You can get mulch from any good garden centre or landscape supplier, and quantities are usually measured in cubic metres. To find out how many cubic metres you will need, simply times the length by the width of your space, then times that by the thickness/height of your mulch:


For a garden 2m long by 3m wide:
2m x 3m x 0.1m (100mm thick) = 0.6m3 (0.6 cubic metres)


So go out there and have some fun mulching your succulents!
And be proud of your garden!!! Go take a photo or two, post them on our Facebook Page and boast about your hard work! Go on... all the other kids are doin' it :)