The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1911-02-02
The Why, When and How of
MuIching.


It is doubtful if any one from
of garden work is more important
than that of %mulching, but the
one who secures the best results
from it is the one who makes a
study of why when and how it
should be done, just as he studies
the cas- for planting and prun-
ing at certain seasons and in GER
tain ways.
Why do we mulchG Not to pre-
vent freezing Gas many new to the
work seem to think), but to pre-
vent thawing. lit is premature
thawing rather than hard freezing
which we have to guard against.
A bed of hardy bulbs will not
be injured if the ground freezes
solid far below their depths and
stays so for months, but if the
surface of the ground is left bare
and exposed to the bright sum
shine of the pre-spring days, the
surafce soil thaws, the bulbs start
top growth; and the next freez-
up does them an injury.
Every time a thaw is followed
by a freez more injury is done I'M
til the bulbs are heaved out of the
soil and the starting buds ruined.
The mulch is intended to keep the
direct sun rays from the soil so
prevent the warming of the sur
face soil until the time when it
will not freeze again.
Knowing that effort should be
directed toward keeping off
warmth rather than providing it,
it is easy to understand how a
mulch of loose leaves, straw, ever
green boughs, corn stalks, light
barnyard little Or whatever it con-
venient is better than a dressing
of heavy manures that may keep
the soil sufficiently warm, directly
under it, to start growth of plants
and then smother them. Let the
covering be light and loose, re-
member hat the object is mainly
to shade the soil from the sun and
protect it from the sweep of the
winds.
If the materials is light enough
to be blown away by the winds,
a few light branches should be
put owe it-just enough to hold
the material where put. lie some
old woven wire fencing is avail
able, a strip of that pegged down
at the corners holds any sort of
mulch securely.
The same law that applies to the
flat beds where blubs or half
hardly plants are wintering ap-
plies to the half-hardly shrubs on
which the branches as well as the
root, need protection to prevent
the rst warm days from starting
dormant leaf buds into a prema-
ture growth that will be killed by
subsequent freezing.
Here straw, cornstalks, ever
green boughs or other materials
must be stood on end around the
bushes and in order to do the
work in the easiest way, and with
the least material all dead
branches should be cut from the
shrubs and the remaining branches
drawn together as closely as may
be- without injuring them. Use
broad strips of cloth for this work
Tor twists of straw in order to
avoid cutting the branches.
Cover the ground with a light
mulch, then stand the protection
material around the shrubs and
tie it in place. When this is done.
examine it near the ground and
open it out in places to admit a
circulation of air over the surface
of the soil, and incidentally spoi,
fine nesting places for mice and
moles.
Barrels with both ends, oui
make a good protectors if the low
er end rests on something (bricI
for examp1e) to hold them VI
from the ground and the tops GOV
cred with burlap.