Lee Burkhill: Award Winning Designer & BBC 1's Garden Rescue Presenters Official Blog
Welcome to the Garden Ninja Gardening Forum! If you have a gardening question that you can't find answers to then ask below to seek help from the Garden Ninja army! Please make your garden questions as specific and detailed as possible so the community can provide comprehensive answers in the online forum below.
Welcome to the ultimate beginner gardening and garden design forum! Where no gardening question is too silly or obvious. This online gardening forum is run by Lee Burkhill, the Garden Ninja from BBC 1's Garden Rescue and a trusted group of experienced gardeners.
Whether you are a beginner or an expert gardener, it's a safe place to ask garden-related questions for garden design or planting. If you have a problem in your garden or need help, this is the Garden Forum for you!
Posting Rules: This space is open for all garden-related questions. Please be polite, courteous and respectful. If you wouldn't say it to your mum's face, then don't post it here. Please don't promote, sell, link spam or advertise here. Please don't ask for 'cheeky' full Garden redesigns here. They will be deleted.
This may be a daft question but I’ve been pondering it for a while! I’ve adopted the no dig approach and one of the common recommendations is to apply a good layer of mulch each year. But can you keep doing this indefinitely?
I was a bit concerned that for plants that do die back (Hosta, ferns etc) can they end up too deep down to grow back? Also, what about plants that don’t die back - I know roses (we have a few) cannot be buried past the crowns so how do you mulch around these each year?
I suspect over the course of a year the thickness of the mulch layer breaks down naturally so am I worrying about nothing? 😃
This may be a daft question but I’ve been pondering it for a while! I’ve adopted the no dig approach and one of the common recommendations is to apply a good layer of mulch each year. But can you keep doing this indefinitely?
I was a bit concerned that for plants that do die back (Hosta, ferns etc) can they end up too deep down to grow back? Also, what about plants that don’t die back - I know roses (we have a few) cannot be buried past the crowns so how do you mulch around these each year?
I suspect over the course of a year the thickness of the mulch layer breaks down naturally so am I worrying about nothing? 😃
This is actually quite a common question! A lot of the 'no nig' gardening guides recommend mulching heavily each year and that does lead to the question of 'where does all this mulch go?!'.
https://youtu.be/ptBotSa2wpw
The thing to remember here is that mulch such as compost, leaf mould or well-rotten manure is an expendable plant food; it's not soil. So it doesn't build up the same. It basically gets used up as the plant feeds off the organic matter, and it breaks down into the soil. So it all depends on how quickly the mulch disappears into the soil and how often you top it up.
I'd never advise mulching more than twice a year as a maximum.
For vegetable growing and no dig, this happens quickly as vegetables are hungry plants, the same for roses. So the advice would be, only remulch once the previous mulch has been broken down and taken into the soil. As you rightly point out if you bury the crown of plants they will rot and potentially die, so using your discretition is key!
This is actually quite a common question! A lot of the 'no nig' gardening guides recommend mulching heavily each year and that does lead to the question of 'where does all this mulch go?!'.
The thing to remember here is that mulch such as compost, leaf mould or well-rotten manure is an expendable plant food; it's not soil. So it doesn't build up the same. It basically gets used up as the plant feeds off the organic matter, and it breaks down into the soil. So it all depends on how quickly the mulch disappears into the soil and how often you top it up.
I'd never advise mulching more than twice a year as a maximum.
For vegetable growing and no dig, this happens quickly as vegetables are hungry plants, the same for roses. So the advice would be, only remulch once the previous mulch has been broken down and taken into the soil. As you rightly point out if you bury the crown of plants they will rot and potentially die, so using your discretition is key!
That’s very helpful Lee thanks. It’s interesting now you’ve said this that I did notice the well rotted manure I put around our roses (in pots) the level has dropped significantly over the year….
That’s very helpful Lee thanks. It’s interesting now you’ve said this that I did notice the well rotted manure I put around our roses (in pots) the level has dropped significantly over the year….
Lee Burkhill: Award Winning Designer & BBC 1's Garden Rescue Presenters Official Blog
To my Newsletter
To my YouTube channel