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for a Mother Jones News article on this topic). Peat moss is essentially a mined product, and decades of peat moss use in the garden have depleted many peat bogs. Peat isn't a great mulch anyway since it sheds water when it is dry.

INORGANIC MULCH
Rock gardens are often mulched with several inches of fine pea gravel. This looks great with rock garden plants, keeps weeds down, and keeps the roots of the plants cool while retaining moisture.

Colored gravel is sometimes used as an ornamental mulch. If using rocks this way, lay down some water-permeable landscaping cloth first as a weed barrier and layer the rocks over it. Be sure to put the rocks in a place where you really want them, because it's difficult to take them up later. Use rock mulches only with plants that prefer rocks as mulch. Many plants do much better with organic mulches.

Black plastic is sometimes used as a mulch and a weed barrier under bark dust, gravel, or other material. However, black plastic is impermeable to water. It smothers the soil underneath, killing the soil food web. Black plastic is best used in vegetable gardens early in the season, before planting, to warm the soil while preventing weeds from shooting up. Remove the plastic before planting. Some colored plastic mulches are used for specialty crops. For example, red plastic mulch is used with tomatoes to increase the amount of red light to the plants. If you use these materials, use only a small amount around the plants themselves.

APPLYING MULCH
Before applying mulch to an area, remove all the weeds that you can find. Rake the soil smooth. If you're not going to plant anything in the area, apply corn gluten as a safe pre-emergent weed control. Do not apply pre-emergent herbicides to vegetable gardens, newly-seeded lawns, or around newly-planted perennials, shrubs, or trees. If you have serious weed problems, or weeds have gone to seed, lay down a biodegradable weed barrier. Several layers of newspaper or some old cardboard will do.

Spread the mulch over your area. Lay it on two or three inches thick for best weed control. Straw should be piled even higher. Six or eight inches will do. As an extra precaution, you can sprinkle corn gluten over the top of your mulch to keep weed seeds from sprouting on top of the mulch, as they will sometimes do.

Once your mulch is laid, you can kick back. The hardest part is done, and all you have to do now is check now and then for a stray weed that dares to try to grow on your mulch.

Learn more about this author, Karen Bledsoe.
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