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Publix GreenWise Market Magazine - Spring 2009
Much Ado About Mulch
 Most gardeners know that just about any mulch they put down will help conserve water, control weeds without chemicals and stabilize soil temperature to help plants thrive. But eco-savvy gardeners looking for more are as picky about the type of mulch they use as they are about the shrubs, flowers and vegetables it surrounds. And it turns out that sometimes the most earth-friendly options are right in your own backyard.
GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF HOME
"Any mulch that’s an organic mulch is earth-friendly," says Barbara Pleasant, coauthor of The Complete Compost Gardening Guide (Storey Publishing, 2008). Organic mulches are simply those that biodegrade, such as shredded bark, wood chips, grass clippings, leaves and pine straw. When they do break down, they also nourish the soil to varying degrees, sometimes saving the cost of additional amendments. "I always think it’s a good idea for people to start in their own yard and then ask, ‘What is my yard generating that I can use as mulch?"
Chances are it’s grass clippings, one of the best mulches around, says Cheryl Long, editor in chief of Mother Earth News magazine. "They’re literally like the organic fertilizer in the bag for free," she says. In the spring fresh clippings can contain up to 4 percent nitrogen, similar to the content of some commercial fertilizers. They require no packaging, and they don’t have to be shipped long distances.
Simply scatter clippings in a half-inch layer, then add another thin layer in a day or two. Your goal is to eventually build up to a total depth of about 2 inches of mulch. Applying grass clippings to that depth all at once could result in them matting together and becoming slimy. And just to be on the safe side, don’t mulch with clippings from lawns that have been treated with weed-and-feed because of the possibility that they might contain persistent herbicides.
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PERMANENT OPTIONS
What about inorganic mulches? Many gardeners appreciate the convenience of stone or gravel because they need to lay it down only once. "The advantage is that they last pretty much forever," Long says. "The disadvantage is also that they last forever." If you eventually want to move a garden bed, stones can be hard to remove. They’re also a bit more expensive and do nothing to enrich the soil.
Some inorganic mulches may actually harm the soil. Recycled rubber, for example, can leach zinc. And even that bag of wood chips is a problem if it contains recycled chemically treated lumber that exposes your garden to arsenic and chromium.
READ THE FINE PRINT
So how do you know that the mulch you buy is safe? When it comes to organic mulch, start with the packaging, says Pleasant. Look for certification by the Organic Materials Review Institute or the Mulch & Soil Council, two watchdogs of quality control. Even without one or both of their endorsements, it’s doubtful your wood chip mulch will have been contaminated with recycled treated lumber, she says. That’s because in the Southeast, most mulch is a byproduct of the thriving timber industry and comes fresh from the local sawmill. In fact, it’s likely that the bags you buy at your neighborhood Publix didn’t travel more than 150 miles to get there.
Pleasant’s advice for consumers is very simple. "Just cover the ground. Nature’s way is to always have the ground covered. I like the analogy that a mulch is a soothing bandage. As long as you’re using something that’s natural and biodegradable, you’re following the blueprint."
How Mulch Is Enough?
Mulch is sold by the cubic foot and cubic yard, but what does that mean for your garden? "There are those of us whose eyes glaze over when something says ‘cubic yard," says gardening author Barbara Pleasant. "What’s easier to envision is the footprint that the bag makes when you throw it on the ground."
At around 2½ feet long and 1½ feet wide, a typical bag of mulch is just under 4 square feet. If the bag is 4 inches thick, that’s about 1¼ to 2 times the recommended application depth of 2 to 3 inches. So that bag will cover approximately 7 square feet of garden space. For a more precise calculation, Pleasant suggests doing an Internet search for "mulch calculator" and entering your specifics in one of the tools that comes up.
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 Every Litter Bit Helps
Publix GreenWise Market Cat Litter can be an eco-friendly mulch option. This all-natural 100% yellow pine litter contains no additives or chemicals and is biodegradable. You can use new cat litter or even recycle it from your litter box. To recycle used litter, remove and discard any visible clumps and feces and use the remaining litter as mulch—but only for your nonedible plants.
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