Lawn Care Service in Baton Rouge: The Benefits and Tips of Mulching

Spring is here and in full swing, and many gardeners are gearing up for the new growing season. One essential task that should be on every gardener's to-do list is mulching their flowerbeds. Mulch not only helps to improve the appearance of your flowerbeds, but it also provides many benefits to your plants. In this blog, we will discuss the benefits of mulching flowerbeds and some tips for mulching your flowerbeds for spring.

Benefits of Mulching Flowerbeds

Mulching your flowerbeds provides many benefits such as weed protection, moisture retention, erosion control and aesthetics. Mulch helps to retain moisture in the soil by reducing evaporation due to sunlight and wind exposure, which is especially important during hot summer months. Weed control is another capability of mulch as it helps to suppress weed growth by blocking sunlight from warming up the top layer of the soil thus causing germination of seeds. Proper depth of mulch can also offers temperature control by regulating your soil’s temperature, protecting plant roots from extreme heat or cold. One longer lasting benefits is over time, your soil’s health can also be improved as the mulch breaks down and adds organic matter that promotes fertility. Lastly, freshly mulched flowerbeds add an aesthetic punch to any landscape that help your landscape look fresh, clean and well maintained.

Tips for Mulching Flowerbeds for Spring

Here are some tips for mulching your flowerbeds for spring. Begin by clearing out any debris, including dead plants, leaves, and weeds, from your flowerbeds before mulching. Once you have everything clean, now is a great time to put down both granular fertilizer and granular pre-emergent weed control to help lock it in and protect it from erosion due to heavy rains. The next step is more critical in terms of the finished look which is choosing which type of mulch you want to use. There are many types of mulch available, including wood chips, dyed bark, straw (dyed straw is relatively new), and natural mulches such as leaves or hay. The choice in mulch will be dictated by both your personal preferences and you budget as some mulches are far pricier than others. Once selected, apply the right amount of mulch (we recommend the mulch be a final depth of 2-3 inches) to ensure the mulch can lock in to hold up throughout the year. Applying too much mulch can suffocate plants should it stay too high around the trunks, while too little won't provide enough benefits as mentioned above and easily washes off during heavy rains. When spreading mulch be sure to keep it away from the weep holes of your house and below your foundation to ensure insects don’t use it a tunnel to move into your house unseen. We recommend mulching annually to every 6 months depending on the type of mulch used. The goal is to ensure that you keep a consistently thick layer of mulch but also that its able to be added to for years to come without having to rake it all out and redo things every time!



The experts at Kyle’s Lawn and Landscape can make sure that your flowerbeds are ready for spring and look great all year long. They can also handle all of your other residential or commercial mowing and landscaping needs.