Spring is the ideal mulching time in Florida and a great way to protect your plants from water loss and replenish the earth. Evaporation can cause the former to happen, and before long, you’d lose the gorgeous landscape you envision.
Mulching works wonders in complementing one’s landscape and also makes a beautiful sight with the color and textures. However, many Tampa residents, especially those new to mulching, often face confusion in how to mulch, the best method, and the appropriate choice of mulch.
If you’re here looking for similar answers as well, then read along. We’ll make your mulching experience as successful and easy as it can be!
Mulch- What it is
First things first, let’s learn a little about what mulch is. It is a layer of material that we lay over the top of our soil with just about anything. Typically, though, we use organic materials to create mulch over flower beds and garden beds, and to line the edges of yards.
Many homeowners also use mulch when they wish to change the outlook of their yard or a section of it for a new look. For Tampa, Florida residents, spring is the perfect time for mulching because the soil is slightly warm at that time.
If you’re looking to buy mulch, the proper rule is to buy at a cost of per yard.
Mulch- How to Choose
When you head over to buy mulch for your land, you will surely come upon various products in the store. Do not fall for the first variety you come upon but rather choose something wisely. At this point, we would suggest you go with complete knowledge of your earth and plant type, their specific requirements, etc.
It would also be great if you do some proactive research and determine ahead of time what catches your fancy cosmetically. It would help if you also considered factors like the children’s play area, where rubber mulch would be the best choice. Homeowners who intend to include playground areas would do great to pick rubber since it increases the safety level.
You could consider using stone or gravel for other landscape areas you wish to include because the two are cosmetically delightful and durable. We’ve also seen many creative geniuses using pine straws since it replicates the natural floor of a forest. It looks utterly captivating, we tell you, but it is also super beneficial for trees and plants.
High-quality organic soil is necessary to make trees and plants survive longer, but pine straw provides other advantages as well. These include:
- A fabulous nesting place for birds
- Pine straw is the favorite of blooming plants as well, in addition to nesting birds.
- It becomes a great compost material that also benefits the soil. Breaks down in approximately a year or so.
- Maintains an acidic level at 6 or 6-5 that suits plants ideally
- Weed suppression is another attractive quality of pine straws
- It stays firmly in place
However, despite the many wonderful qualities of pine straws, we have to tell you of the other limitless varieties of mulch in the markets. You will find a range of colors and textures, so we advise you to do some window shopping before settling on one particular mulch choice.
Besides, you would do great to enlist the opinions of other family members too, since the landscape must be as appealing to them as for yourself. Supply stores in Tampa offer a vast variety of mulch, some of which include:
- Stone and gravel
- Red mulch
- Recycled hardwood
- Rubber
- Pine straw
- Organic or hardwood
- Melaleuca
- Pine bark
- Grade-A cypress
- Cypress
- Grade-A cedar
- Eucalyptus
- Coco Brown
- Pine Straw
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Mulch Application
Once your mulch bags are in place, you can get to work on your land. First, map out the area you plan to mulch and pull off the weeds or cut them. Remember to do this before you lay down your landscape fabric, cardboard, newspaper, or plastic. This will prevent the weeds from returning faster than they might.
Our goal behind mulching is to increase the aesthetical and cosmetic appeal of the landscape. Hence, it is imperative to install edges or borders or cut them. By performing this step, you will have the mulch stay firmly in place while making the space look attractive too.
There are several ways in which you start laying out the mulch on your designated piece of land. You may either use a trashcan with wheels, a wheelbarrow or put out of the bags by cutting their corner. Next, make sure to buy a tine rake or a steel bow to spread your mulch because they perform better than lightweight leaf rakes.
Remember that our priority is to prevent waterlogging and make the trees and plants last longer. Hence, we must leave space around the tree trunks and the plants for this purpose once we start mulching. After you finish mulching, remember to soak it down well. The rewards will be far fulfilling than you can imagine.
The Best Mulch Types for Tampa Gardens
The mulch you will find in Tampa is typically organic. The best variety to use for a garden here is aged mulch because it performs better than newly made, fresh chips. You can settle for several stylistic approaches, but we all know homeowners end up with dark brown mulch for the most part.
It gives your backyard a completely natural look while ensuring that no unnatural chemicals or dyes come with the material. The most common Tampa mulch is the hardwood bark. It is also the most reliable.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve got a garden in Tampa, you must mulch it for preservation. Mulching is one of the best ways of maintaining your garden and is also aesthetically very attractive. From improving the outlook of your yard to benefitting the shrubs, bushes, and plants in your garden, it is an excellent material.
Mulch also adds a much-needed biological moisture potential that helps your plants grow better and strong. If you wish to promote the health and vitamin content in your ground, think no further, Payne’s Environmental Services Recycling Facility offers fresh chopped mulch to Tampa Bay residents and surrounding areas.
