Maintain mulch in a no till garden

In a no till garden, the mulch plays a very important role. Mulch will prevent soil erosion, insulate the soil from becoming too hot for the roots of the garden plants, prevent water from evaporating from the soil, help slow down the rain to catch and hold on your garden, prevent soil crusting and it prevents weed seeds from germinating by blocking the sunlight from hitting the seeds in the top edges of the soil.

While there are inorganic mulch options, we recommend organic material like arborist wood chips or straw as a mulch because it will compost down over time and add to the fertility of your soil. Inorganic mulches do not do this.

As mulch composts, the amount of mulch on your garden will thin. When the mulch gets too thin, you will start to get weed growth through the mulch. To prevent this, a no till garden needs the mulch topped up on a regular basis.

Straw breaks down very quickly and will to be topped up yearly. As straw takes some time to settle into place, it is best to top up the straw in the fall so it can settle over winter and absorb snow melt into the soil. This will also reduce how much work you will have to do in the spring when you are tending to transplants.

Arborist wood chips do not break down as slowly as straw so these can be topped up every other year. Again, it is best to top up in the fall to ensure it is settled into place for spring planting.

Irregardless of what type of mulch you use, it is always best to have some on hand to top up spots that have weed growth coming through when you notice it. If you are seeing weeds, it simply means you need more mulch in that spot.