Homegrown Mulch
Meza Trucking provides many types of mulch for your home and garden in the Stockton and Lodi area, but in the event you want to try mulch which you can make at a much lower cost than purchasing commercially, here are some tips on different types of homegrown mulch:
1. Homegrown Mulch from Grass Clippings
Create mulch from grass clippings by collect your grass clippings. Grass clippings tend to mat so apply in a thin layer. Within a few weeks, the grass will decompose and makes a perfect top mulch for under shrubs or for vegetable gardens. Be sure not to mulch with grass that has been treated with pesticides and herbicides.
2. Mulch from Chopped Leaves
Autumn leaves are a bountiful and free source of mulch. A lawnmower fitted with a catcher can be used to chop the leaves to prevent matting. A mulch created from your autumn chopped leaves can last up to one year. This mulch is a great landscaping mulch for planting areas such as empty vegetable gardens as winter approaches. Backyard areas are well suited for leaf mulches as they provide an informal landscape. Wetting the leaves immediately after applying will prevent them from blowing away before they start to decompose.
3. Compost
Home grown compost is another free mulch that adds organic matter and nutrition to soil as the compost continues to break down. Compost usually lasts up to one year and looks attractive enough to put in high visibility areas such as front yard gardens. When making your own compost, be sure to turn the pile so that it heats up enough to kill weed seeds and disease organisms. Then this compost can be used as a soil additive in new gardening beds.
4. Wood Chips
For those of you who have a large backyard or property with many trees and shrubs, investing in a chipper-shredder will allown you to have your own supply of wood chips. Fresh wood chips make a mulch that will last from one to four years when put on top of soil. Benefits of wood chips are that they don’t blow away, contain weed seeds, and won’t float. However, they should not be worked into the soil as they take the nitrogen out of soil when they decompose. Landscape designs are beautified by wood chips. They also are a good material for making informal paths.
Check out the photo gallery of Meza Trucking mulches and wood chips for beautiful and nutritious ground coverings for your landscape or gardening designs provided at very competitive prices.