The Joslin Garden—All Hands on Deck with One on the Concrete—April 1, 2021—April Fool's Day
Ostrich fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris. We will have several of these for sale at our plant sale, April 22nd. Stay tuned. At home, I’m totally going for this look. I have a puny patch at home. I want my patch to look like this! Don’t worry, you will have first pick. I’ll only buy what is left. But this is my goal. Frankly, this should be everyone’s goal. Mass plantings ROCK!
Today may be April Fool’s Day, but we didn’t fool around, albeit we worked at a slower pace, or at least I did.. It was all hands on deck! As we get closer to opening the garden for groups, and for our plant sale, we were focusing on the entrance area and the Formal Garden. So what did we do? Mulched! I’m crazy about mulch. We weeded and mulched the Formal Garden and the Entrance Beds, both sides.
It was ALL due to our dedicated volunteers. I wasn’t able to help much, but I did what I could. Why? While working Tuesday in Moore Square, I tripped and face-planted on the concrete. Ouch!
Unsuspecting volunteers arrived only to find, we (I) had a steely focus. It scares my husband when I get like this! haha My focus didn’t scare them away, tho. (David, honey, come take a lesson!) We needed to be all hands on deck to weed beds and lay compost, which we are using as mulch.
Volunteer Ailene potting-up orange form ginger lilies, Hedychium aurantiacum between spreading compost
Ailene’s handy work before potting up! Be sure to come early. Times will be announced soon!
Volunteer Nell weeding The Formal Bed, quadrant 2.
Chris, our Executive Director, helping out again. We agreed the edge of the driveway would benefit from a weed barrier. You see, even with a manufactured weed barrier down, we still had tons of weeds. We hope blocking sunlight with mulch will stop or slow germination.
Next week, I promise to get pictures of our volunteers upright!
Before we could do this, Bin 1 needed clearing out. There were still to many stick slowing things down as we stuck a fork in the compost to retrieve. Since I’m on light duty since the accident, I thought I could best help by removing sticks from the compost pile. This made it easier for the volunteers, particular Art who took charge of the retrieval, to access. I was remiss in getting a picture of Volunteer Art hard at work. But I did have some lovely conversations with him.
Volunteering in The Joslin Garden is a great way to some meet very interesting people! Wont you join us?
Then Nell and I decided it would be a good use of my time to do an educational component. Read on.
Do you know the importance of mulch?
SOIL NUTRITION
It shouldn’t be a surprise to know organic mulch nourishes your soil. As mulch breaks down overtime, it will also need to be replenished, typically annually. Your plants benefit from the healthy soil, and you benefit from a healthy landscape.
WEED SUPPRESSION
Two to three inches of organic mulch suppresses weed growth by blocking sunlight which geminates weed seeds. Not always, but better than no mulch, weeds are not strong enough to push through the mulch layer.
WATER RETENTION
A good layer of mulch helps retain water retention, keep plants moist for longer between watering. During the heat of the summer, this becomes very important.
TEMPERATURE REGULATION
Mulch regulates soil temperature, keeping soil cool in the summer and warmer in the winter, preventing the ground from heaving.
PROTECTION FROM EROSION
Mulch acts as the first line of defense against the elements that threaten to wear away your precious soil.
TYPES OF MULCH
The range of organic mulch varies from shredded tree bark and trees, to composted leaf mulch, which is my preference. Compost is also very useful, and is what we currently have on hand.
I truly believe in the power of mulch!
Until Soon,
Helen Yoest
Horticultural Specialists
Environmental Scientist, M.S.