WHY YOU WANT THIS MULCH

Mulch is typically used to retain moisture during drier months. In our garden, it also allows excess water to run away from mounded garden beds in times of high rainfall, soaking into the pathways that run between them. It also forms a barrier that prevents weed seed germination and makes any that grow easier to remove.

We mostly make ramial mulch. It's made from freshly cut branches, up to 7cm in diameter. These are mulched while the cambium layer is still green. Often leaf matter or tree buds are included, adding more nutrients to the soil as it decomposes.

Ramial mulch provides more nutrients and helps change the characteristics of the soil to a less weed-friendly environment compared to normal woodchips. Scientists aren't sure why but believe it may have an allelopathic effect, releasing compounds that inhibit weed growth.

This younger, fresher wood has the optimal balance of carbon to nitrogen, becoming higher in carbon as it ages. Mulch made from older wood can result in a ‘nitrogen deficiency' where the woodchip and soil meet. Some scientists believe that because the wood is already high in carbon, microbes breaking it down compete with plants for the available nitrogen in the soil. You can negate this by adding nitrogen to the soil before you mulch (eg, blood and bone, aged manure) when you add the mulch or use ramial mulch instead.