All of a sudden, the heat is on deep in the heart of Texas. Temperatures this past week have been in the mid 90’s and higher. To make it worse, it has also been humid. Oh, how I wish I had finished one of the basic chores I tell everyone in our stores to do. Mulch! I have been putting off this yearly task. Now it has become a necessity.
Bare soil is a no-no, especially in the hot blazing Texas sun. No plant’s roots like that kind of heat. Early in the morning, bag by bag, I will work on this - my plants are telling me it needs to be done.
These beds have had lots of compost, organic fertilizer and mulch added to them over the years. The soil is no longer compacted and there is no run-off as they are watered. They take less watering as well - we can water long, deep and much less often.
Meanwhile, in all this heat it is time to plant fall tomatoes - can you believe it!
August 9th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Mulching is, indeed, mandatory here in Texas, whether purchased mulch, home-made mulch, or a “friendly” ground cover (over roots of trees and large shrubs). One tactic I’ve used that’s been successful thus far is to salvage all the fallen leaves from our numerous shade trees each autumn and pile them deep over the roots of our shrub borders and decorative trees such as dogwood, redbud, and plum. Since I started this practice several years ago, our dogwood rarely looks wilty, even in the hottest weather, and has tripled its size.