Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Person tending vegetable plant garden with straw mulch. Starting a vegetable garden can be a rewarding prospect for any homeowner.

Organic mulch keeps soil cool, moist, and weed-free while boosting long-term soil health. Great natural mulches include compost, chopped leaves, pine needles, and straw. A thick 3-inch mulch layer, ...

Mulching is a very important task in helping to create the best soil in a vegetable garden. By developing the soil health and structure, it means better crops and bigger yields. There are many ...

Mulching your vegetable garden with straw has a long list of benefits. Straw is inexpensive, easy to work with, and good for your soil. A layer of straw mulch between your veggie rows sets off your ...

Most people wouldn’t lament the fact that they had run out of partially rotten straw, primarily because they wouldn’t keep the stuff around in the first place. But I do and I did run out, and for me, ...

Why should gardeners mulch their gardens whether it be for vegetables or flowers? Maybe the best answer to that question is with another question. What gardener wants to save time, water, protect ...

The famous gardener Ruth Stout did not invent mulch. By her account, God did. Leaves that fall — and other organic materials — feed the soil through their decomposition, protect it from erosion and ...

The differences between substances used for mulch are mostly about the aesthetics and convenience of the gardener. “Plants aren’t so particular,” said Sharon Yiesla, plant knowledge specialist at The ...

Over the years, I’ve had many questions from readers about using pine straw as a mulch in the vegetable garden. Is it a good idea? Let’s cover some of the basics. Mulching is a long-established ...

Question. I understand mulch should be used in the vegetable garden to conserve water and help plants grow. What type of mulch is best? Answer. Perhaps there is no best mulch as successful gardeners ...