If there is one job that pays for itself twice over, it is mulching. Bare soil bakes, crusts over, loses water to the wind and grows weeds. A covered bed does none of those things.

What it actually does

• Keeps moisture in, so you water less often.
• Blocks light, so most weed seeds never get started.
• Evens out soil temperature through heatwaves and cold snaps.
• Breaks down slowly and feeds the soil life underneath.

Choosing a material

Pea straw, sugarcane and lucerne are excellent on vegetable beds — soft, quick to break down and full of nutrients. Wood chips suit paths, fruit trees and shrubs, but keep them off vegetable beds where they tie up nitrogen at the surface. Grass clippings work if spread thinly and dried first; laid on thick and green they turn into a smelly mat.

How to lay it

Weed first, then water the bed well — mulch laid over dry soil keeps rain out as effectively as it keeps moisture in. Spread five to eight centimetres, and pull it back a few centimetres from plant stems and tree trunks. Mulch piled against a stem holds damp and invites rot.

Top it up, do not dig it in

As the layer thins over the season, add more on top. Digging it through the soil is unnecessary work; worms do that job better.

Less watering, more harvest

Mulched beds usually carry more through the hot months than the household can eat. HomeGrown™ gives that surplus somewhere local to go, whether you sell it or pass it on for free.