Mulching

Have you ever walked in the bush or drove through a forest, and wondered how those huge trees ever grew and survived? There is no watering system, no fertiliser, no insecticide, no pruning, cultivating or weeding. Well maybe we have it all wrong!

Nature has been around for a long time and managed quite well without us! Now we have to take a few lessons from nature.

For years we have been standing around with a hose in our hands, spraying the garden once or twice a day, and then we run and get a fungicide to kill the disease.

We get insects, caterpillars or snails, so we use an insecticide; we kill or chase the lizards & birds away. We spend lots of money on a smorgasboard of fancy fertilisers.

Now let's get back to the trees.

Each one lives in its own little micro climate, the deciduous tree drops its leaves once a year and lets the sun in to warm the ground which stops the mould and fungi in the winter, and keeps the undergrowth alive. Usually native to colder climates.

The evergreen trees drops leaves all year round, it has to, because it is usually native to the warmer climates and it needs that precious mulch all year round to keep the roots cool and moist for as long as possible. Every leaf is supported by a hair root, so when the leaves are jettisoned, all that spare energy is put into tree development.

"Are we getting the message yet?"

The leaves are at their heaviest in autumn and then in the spring they topped up with spent petals, pollens and fruit. You could say the cream on the strawberries for the trees! As the leaf mulch breaks down - which is full of thousands of small insect, invertebrate and worms, all munching away and pooing - birds, animals and reptiles come in to feed and poo also, and eventually die naturally. In the meantime that mulch has turned into a beautiful cocktail dessert fertilizer. All created by itself, the tree.

Pretty smart, you would have to say? Now for the slow people, the word is "Mulch" and "Mulch" again.

It can come in many ways, such as a hard static mulch of stone, gravel or pebbles. Or an organic such as wood chips, tee tree, sugar cane, animal manures, grass cuttings or general garden waste.

Now get to it, right now!

You may have noticed, that we have just come through one of our longest droughts, it is quite common to our part of the world, but look around, we are still here and not much has died. Maybe a few exotics here and there, and the sick and the weak, which probably would have died anyhow. But mostly everything survived and all with out the aid of "tap water".

Isn't nature grand?

Neville O'Connor Oct, 2008

This article is brought to you by Neville O'Connor of United Home Services. Contact United Home Services for all your landscaping needs on Ph: 9838 0444 or 0418 405 670. For more local information view our My Local Guide Business Directory listing in Garden Maintenance, Landscaping and Lawnmowing or the national website: www.uhs.com.au