3 Advantages Of Hardwood Mulch
Mulch is a common landscaping material that is installed in flower beds and around the base of trees for a variety of different purposes, but primarily to ensure the strong and healthy growth of nearby plants. Hardwood mulch is by far the most common type of mulch available on the market, and for a good reason: the material qualities of hardwood give it a number of distinctive benefits that it can provide to your yard. Understanding the advantages associated with hardwood mulch can help you figure out if you should install it within your own garden.
1. Composting Qualities
One of the largest advantages of using hardwood mulch over an alternative type of mulch material, like gravel or shredded rubber, is the fact that hardwood mulch is an organic material. This means that it will break down over time, and release the nutrients trapped within the wood into the surrounding soil. This is extremely beneficial to the surrounding plant life, especially younger plants that can use every boost they can get to establish their root networks.
2. Absorbent
Hardwood is also an ideal choice for use with young and newly planted plants because of its extreme absorbency. Other types of mulching materials will have trouble holding onto moisture: gravel and rock chips, for example, are specifically designed to improve drainage. Hardwood mulch, on the other hand, can and will hold onto rainfall and keep the soil underneath moist and fertile, preventing plants from drying up as quickly during heat waves and making hardwood mulch the best choice for hotter climates.
3. Aesthetic Considerations
Another important reason to think about choosing hardwood mulch over other types of materials is the fact that hardwood comes in a wide range of different colors and styles. Hardwood can be shredded, in larger chips and flakes, or can simply be a collection of bark instead of the actual wood of trees. Beyond the different textures, hardwood mulch ranges from dark earthy tones to light and sandy shaded colors, allowing you to customize your mulch installations to match the rest of your landscaping design very easily.
However, there is also a practical benefit to hardwood's coloring: it will break up the colors of your garden and make it much easier for you to spot new weed growth as a result, as these weeds will be unable to blend into their surroundings as well. This makes maintenance and weeding a much more straightforward process, cutting down on the time commitment required.
For more information, contact a company like Oliver's Landscaping & Garden Service, LLC.