Mulch is an indispensable part of the vegetable garden, with a multitude of benefits. We’ve got tips to help you know how much to add and when to add it.

How to apply mulch to a vegetable garden

Benefits of mulching

Mulch is an indispensable part of the vegetable garden. Adding a layer of mulch over your garden soil will pay off in a multitude of ways by:

  • slowing evaporation of water from the soil
  • preventing weeds (many weeds need bare soil)
  • supplying nutrients to the soil (as it breaks down)
  • protecting the soil from damage by sun and air
  • reducing disease (by preventing soil splashing on leaves)

If a genetically engineered commercial product did as much, it would be patented, hailed as a miracle of science, promoted in all of the garden magazines and sold for a hefty price. Yet mulch does all of these things and more and costs next to nothing.

Types of mulch

How to apply mulch to a vegetable garden - Image of a child's hands planting a small tomato plant in the soil under a thick layer of straw mulchThe best all-around material for mulching your vegetable garden is straw. Straw comes neatly compacted into a convenient (if rather heavy) bale, is clean and easy to use and looks quite attractive on the bed.

Just be sure to avoid the similar-looking hay at all costs! It is full of weed seeds which can turn your soil into a weedy nightmare!

If you don’t have access to straw, you can use grass clippings or chopped tree leaves (run these over with a lawnmower to chop them, or put them in a metal bin and shred them with a string trimmer).

Compost can be used as mulch too, if you have enough of it. You can also buy the hulls of cocoa bean, cottonseed, buckwheat, and other types of silage (and even pine needles in some areas!) for use as mulch, but they can sometimes be more expensive when compared to straw.

When to mulch

If you are growing transplants, you will need to spread a 2- to 3-inch layer of mulch around the newly planted plants (it will settle as you water). Just make sure to keep the mulch about 2 inches away from the stems of your plants. If you are direct sowing seeds, though, you will have to wait until the seeds have germinated and the plants are a few inches high before applying it.

When not to mulch

How to apply mulch to a vegetable garden - Image of small seedlings sprouted in soil and mulchMulching is probably the most important thing you can do for your garden, except in a couple of important situations. Primarily, I don’t recommend using mulch if you have a problem with slugs in your garden because it provides the perfect hiding places for them.

Additionally, it’s a good idea to skip mulching in the early spring if you want the soil to warm up rapidly, as natural mulch creates an insulation layer, keeping the ground under it cool. Leaving off the mulch will allow the warming rays of the sun to warm the soil.

How often to add mulch

The beauty of using mulch in the garden is that, as a natural material, it will add nutrients to your soil as it breaks down. But because it breaks down, you will have to add more mulch from time to time. Generally I reapply a layer of mulch when I am first starting my planting and that will last through the season.

The good news is that this year’s mulch will be easier to mix into the soil for next year’s garden, giving you a jump start on preparing your garden bed.

Extending your summer garden growing season is surprisingly easy. With a little planning you can continue to harvest tender plants like lettuces and tomatoes for several weeks, and maybe longer.

Extending Your Summer Garden Growing Season

It might be difficult to imagine it right now, but the warm days of summer won’t last. But don’t worry! Extending your summer garden growing season is surprisingly easy. With a little planning you can continue to harvest tender plants like lettuces and tomatoes for several weeks, and maybe longer.

Early Frost Protection

The simplest season-extending technique is to protect the tender crops from the first occasional fall frosts. A sudden dip in temperature will do a lot more damage to plants than a gradual decline (which gradually hardens them off).

Extending Your Summer Garden image garden bed with a plastic row cover

Especially frustrating to gardeners is the fact that these early frosty nights are almost always followed by several weeks of good growing weather. The good news is that the simple act of covering your tender plants for a night or two may reward you with several more weeks of harvests.

Happily you can get advance warning of an oncoming frost and act to protect your plants. Almost anything will give protection from a light frost. The point is to cover the plant and create a small air space that will stay warmer than the cold air.

•    old blankets
•    plastic sheeting
•    row covers
•    straw mulch
•    cloches
•    cold frames

Draping old blankets or plastic sheeting is the most common way you see gardeners protecting their tender plants from a frost. Row covers using plastic sheeting and arches that are attached to the garden bed, are a somewhat more long-term solution. Just be sure to open it up from time to time to release excess moisture.

Another option is to put down a layer of straw mulch. You just make sure you put down several inches to make sure they’re covered. This has the added benefit of helping to protect the soil from erosion from heavy winter rains.

Severe Frost Protection

Cold frames and cloches can even protect plants from more severe frosts. Plastic or glass cloches can be purchased at your garden center, or you can make your own. Common household items and plastic packaging you’d otherwise put in the recycle bin are great cloches. Milk jugs with the bottoms cut out or clear plastic take-out containers. Just make sure you stake them to the ground so they don’t blow away!

A cold frame is a bit more elaborate, but it will give you more room for growing. They look like a miniature greenhouse, and are generally constructed as a small box with glass or heavy-duty plastic windows. You can build them to fit your needs, making them ideal for taller plants such as tomatoes. Once you remove the stakes, your tomato plants can be laid down on the ground for easier protection.

How Long Can You Extend?

Extending Your Summer Garden image lettuces in a cold frame

Extending your summer garden growing season is a great idea, but for how long? Realistically, you should only try to protect your tender crops for as long as there is good growth in the daytime. It isn’t worth protecting them once the days get too cold and the sunlight hours get short, as they won’t thrive.

At that point, it is better to replace them with hardy winter crops. Or you can decide to take a break for a month or two and hibernate, and enjoy your well-earned rest. If you’ve been diligent and canned, dried, or frozen some of your earlier harvests, you can enjoy the fruits of your own labor until you’re ready to start preparing again for next year’s spring garden.

Planning a winter vegetable garden is surprisingly easy. Follow these tips to keep growing your own vegetables once the summer crops are done.

Planning a Winter Vegetable Garden

As the days grow shorter and the temperatures start to drop, many gardeners move indoors for the winter. But for those of us who live in a mild climate where we can grow late fall and winter crops, we can keep right on growing as long as we pick the right crops, get them in the ground early enough and provide them with the proper protection. Follow these tips to start planning a winter vegetable garden to keep growing once the summer crops are done.

What to Grow

Some cool weather crops are much better suited to growing in fall than in spring. Often by the time it’s warm enough for plants to mature in spring, longer days will cause short-day crops (spinach and oriental cabbage) to bolt. The warm temperatures adversely affect their flavor as well.

But if you plant these crops in late summer, they’ll get a good kickstart in the warmth of a late-summer sun, and then mature more slowly in the shorter, colder days that follow.

Planning a Winter Garden image close up of a broccoli head and green leavesWhen planning a winter vegetable garden, these tried and true hardy crops are your best bet:

•    Broccoli
•    Brussels Sprouts
•    Cabbage
•    Carrot
•    Cauliflower
•    Chard
•    Horseradish
•    Jerusalem Artichoke
•    Kale
•    Leek
•    Mâche
•    Mustard Greens
•    Parsnip
•    Turnips

Even within these crops, it is important to use the right variety at this time of year, as hardiness can vary considerably. Fortunately, for every plant in the Smart Gardener database we’ve included a ‘Growing Conditions’ tag in the plant profile so you can easily see what each plants needs—cold, cool, warm or hot weather. For fall and winter crops, you want to look for plants that can tolerate cold weather.

When to Plant

Fall and mild winter crops commonly take longer to mature because the sun is weaker and the days are shorter. The best way to determine the right time to plant a fall crop is to figure out the number of days it takes for it to reach maturation (adding extra days to allow for slower growth in fall). Determine the day you want them to mature (in areas with frost, this is normally just before the weather turns too cold for good growth). Subtract the number of growing days from the maturation date and you have the sowing date.

It’s a good idea to plant a few successions at this time to make sure you get at least one crop before the frosts and possibly more if the frost is later than expected. If you rarely have frosts, you may be able to continue growing these crops through the winter.

planning a winter vegetable garden image of a cabbage plant with frost on the leavesWhere to Plant

Beds for winter crops should receive all of the sunlight they can get, so make sure they won’t be shaded. A south-facing slope is the best choice as it gets extra heat from the sun. You can even shape your shape winter beds so they tilt slightly to the south to give them a little extra solar gain.

The beds themselves should be well protected from cold winds. Don’t plant the winter garden in a low-lying area, as it might be a frost pocket and much colder than a more elevated slope.

The soil should also be well drained, as dampness is often as great as enemy of winter plants as cold is (much of the value of cloches and cold frames is due to their protecting plants from moisture).

Let Smart Gardener Help

The easiest way to plan a fall and winter garden is to let Smart Gardener do the work for you. If you already have a spring/summer garden, you can create a copy of your existing layout and select fall/winter, and then select the plants you want to grow.

Based on your frost dates, Smart Gardener will help you find which varieties are best for your climate, and let you know when it’s time to plant them.