Mulching is the best way maintain a healthy, weed free garden – and your vegetable garden is no different! In this post you’ll learn about the benefits of mulching vegetables, what kind of mulch to use, when to mulch, and get lots of great tips for mulching a vegetable garden.
For many gardeners, weed control is a huge chore, and one of the biggest challenges they face while growing vegetables. Weeds can quickly take over your garden, and your summer.
Some people even give up on gardening all together because the weeds are incessant. But weeding the garden doesn’t have to be so time consuming.
Before I started using mulch in my vegetable garden, keeping up on weeding was a nightmare. One summer it was so bad that I couldn’t even find my tomato plants in all those weeds.
Once I discovered how easy it is to use mulch to prevent weeds in my vegetable garden, I’ve never looked back.
Can You Use Mulch In A Vegetable Garden?
Yes! In fact, one of the best ways to control weeds in the garden is to add a thick layer of mulch over the soil. It’s standard practice to use mulch for weed control in flower gardens and other landscaped areas, but many people skip the vegetable garden.
I think one of the reasons for this is because common landscaping mulches, like wood mulch and rock, are too heavy for the vegetable garden.
Beds in the vegetable garden need to be dug and planted every year, and heavy garden mulches would need to be removed before tilling or they get in the way, which adds much more work.
My vegetable garden covered with straw mulch
Benefits Of Mulching A Vegetable Garden
Mulching a vegetable garden has many benefits, and using mulch to control weeds is a major one. But not only does it prevent weeds in a vegetable garden, it also prevents water evaporation. A thick layer of mulch helps to keep the soil moist longer, which means less watering.
Mulching vegetables also keeps the soil and plant roots cooler so plants are less susceptible to drought conditions in the heat of the summer. And it can even help to lessen the chance of many common vegetable pests and diseases.
Organic mulches add nutrients to the soil as they break down, improving the soil quality and attracting worms. Plus, it adds a nice, finished look to the garden. All of these benefits add up to a healthier, more attractive vegetable garden and less maintenance for you!
Using leaf mulch in vegetable garden
What Is The Best Mulch For A Vegetable Garden?
There are lots of different types of mulch that would work great in your vegetable garden. But as I mentioned earlier, materials like hardwood mulch or wood chip mulch are too heavy.
You want to use natural, organic materials that will break down quickly and can be tilled or turned into the soil each year.
The best part about using natural mulch is that you can mix the different types of materials, and use whatever you have on hand.
Plus, most of the time you can find the items around your yard, or even get it from all of your neighbors… and you can’t beat free mulch!
Here are a few examples of the different types options…
- hay or straw
- grass clippings
- cardboard or newspaper
- sawdust
- pine needles
- leaves
- compost
Learn all about choosing the best mulch for vegetable gardens here.
Straw mulch in my vegetable garden
When To Mulch Your Vegetable Garden
The best time to mulch your garden is in the spring before the weeds have time to become established. I also like to add a layer of fresh mulch over my vegetable garden after I’ve pulled all the plants in the fall. This helps to prevent fall and early spring weeds.
Don’t worry though, you can add it to your vegetable garden at any time. Just be sure that you remove any large, established weeds before spreading mulch so that they can’t grow back through.
Tips For Using Mulch In A Vegetable Garden
The steps for mulching a vegetable garden are the same no matter which types of materials you choose to use. Here are some tips for how to use mulch in your garden…
- For best results, add a 2-3” deep layer. Anything less than 2″ won’t prevent weeds from growing, and mulching much deeper than 3″ could keep water from getting to the soil.
- When mulching plants, avoid piling it around the trunk or the stems. Piling it around the base of plants can cause the stems to rot, or hinder the plants growth (especially seedlings). Try to keep it about an inch away from the stems of plants.
- Natural, organic materials will break down much faster than heavier types of wood mulch. So, you may need to reapply more than once or twice per year. I use straw for mulch in my vegetable garden in the spring and then apply leaf mulch over the top in the fall.
To learn exactly how to mulch a garden step-by-step here.
Spreading mulch around vegetables
Mulching a vegetable garden is the best way to save time and energy in your garden. Once you get the hang of gardening with mulch, you’ll be hooked! Your vegetable garden will be healthier, and you will have more time to enjoy the summer. After all, who wants to spend all their free time weeding and watering the vegetable garden?
More Posts About Vegetable Gardening
- How To Design A Vegetable Garden Layout
- How To Prepare A Garden Bed For Planting Vegetables
- A Beginner’s Guide To Companion Planting
Share your tips for mulching a vegetable garden in the comments section below.
Julie hall says
Hi! Great article thank you. It’s always nice to hear of tips for a lower maintenance garden! It’s my first year gardening and my dad is helping me and swears that tree mulch is too acidic for the plants and the soil. I would like to put wood chips (oak mostly, we had some trees taken down a few months ago) in between the planting rows where we walk and then the lighter mulch or straw maybe were the plants are. Thoughts?? Thanks!!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Some types of trees (mainly pine trees) are acidic. However, it would take a lot of material to affect the acidity of the soil. Yes, putting a hardwood mulch on the paths, then a lighter mulch around the veggie plants is the way to go. As long as the paths in your vegetable garden don’t change from year to year, then hardwood is a great choice for them.
Brandon says
I have brown died mulch left over can I use it around the out side of my raised garden beds to keeps weeds and grass from growing up beside my garden beds?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, I use natural hardwood mulch around my raised beds because it lasts longer than the mulch I use around the plants. It does a great job of keeping the weeds down, and I only have to refresh it every few years.
However, keep in mind that dyed mulch is not organic. They use chemicals to dye it, and those chemicals leach into the soil. So, if being organic is important to you, then I wouldn’t use the dyed mulch in your veggie beds. The mulch I use on my vegetable garden paths is an un-dyed hardwood cedar mulch.
Alyssa says
Lazybones here. Before I get out there and dig up + till my lawn for more veggie space, what are the odds I could just snuff out weeds with mulch and pop in vegetable starts in Georgia? I’m assuming too high of clay content but never hurts to ask 🙂
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, and that is called a “no dig” garden. But mulching alone probably won’t be enough to keep the grass and weeds from growing through. Plus it won’t give your veggies enough nutrients to grow their best for the first year. So, I recommend layering on lots of compost before mulching. Here’s a step-by-step instructions to help you out… How To Make A No Dig Vegetable Garden.
don says
I have 18 5′ x 5′ raised bed boxes that I have been using straw mulch on. For tomatoes, peppers & eggplant. Can I reuse the straw or will it promote disease?
Amy Andrychowicz says
You can keep the straw mulch on your veggie garden beds, and just pile more on top. Or you can turn the old stuff into the soil before adding fresh straw on top. Plant diseases live in the soil, not the mulch.
Gina says
If a person uses straw as mulch, is it possible to use the tiller on the garden the following spring? I am caring for a neighbors garden who has never used mulch, I also put cardboard down first, but I am concerned about next spring since they like to use a tiller. Lots of clay and first garden at this house.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, that’s the great part about using lightweight organic mulches in the vegetable garden. You can simply till them into the soil every year. They break down quickly, and add nutrients to the soil as they decompose. That will also help to break up that clay soil over time. The cardboard will be gone (or at least mostly gone) by spring too, so no concerns there. Win, win! 🙂
Suelizbe says
I am starting to use comfrey leaves, they will fertilizer the plants and be a weed barrier
Planning to use borage branches to do the same
Amy Andrychowicz says
Great, thanks for adding your favorite vegetable garden mulches. So fun to hear some new options!
Ron says
But be very careful with borage and comfrey as mulch – make sure there is no flowering on plant
Because of seeds . Same family and very invasive . Flower of borage eatable attract good bugs borage
But borage easy to pull but plenty grow . Be careful
Comfrey queen of the garden. I planted comfrey that is seed infertile .
stacia says
so do you plant first and then add the straw mulch keeping the area of the plant mulch free? sure wish I had known this earlier. we put in a green house this past summer (trust me NOT much of a gardener) and also a shed. greenhouse took a couple hours, shed took all summer. that being said the tractor we used pretty much dug up the grass killed it and then just left a large area of mud. for the winter we covered it with straw. tossed it so that we could seed. DARN!!!!! will try it next spring.
Amy Andrychowicz says
You can mulch your vegetable garden before or after planting (or both!). If you mulch it before planting, you can just move the mulch out of the way in each spot as you plant stuff. I always add leaf mulch to my vegetable beds in the fall, then add the straw mulch in the spring. Sometimes we spread it early in the spring before planting, and sometimes we wait until after.
lois morton says
still concerned on using cedar mulch on my vegetable garden? I worry that it will get too hot for the plants… any insight to this?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Actually, the mulch will help to keep the soil and plant roots cooler!! It also helps to hold in moisture longer, so the soil won’t dry out as fast. Using rock mulch is what bakes plants. 🙂
kklose says
I use shredded paper as my mulch in the garden. When it rains, it becomes wet and makes a great barrier. This barrier breaks down perfectly for the following year. In the spring, birds use it for their nests.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Wonderful idea for vegetable garden mulch, thanks for sharing!
Keesha Loraine says
What a great way of recycling paper. Thank you for the suggestion I will be busy mulching my vegetable garden today without worrying about having chunks of wood mulch in the way next year. Awesome!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Awesome! 🙂
Shaun Wapplea says
This is my second year with my vegetable garden and mulching has helped me enormously !!
I thought the weeds would just take over otherwise and by myself pulling the majority of them up would of been so back breaking and boring.
As I have a lot of grass cuttings I will continue and it also helps break up the clay soil.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Awesome!
Brigg Franklin says
The problem I had last year with straw mulch was that it had lots of Hay seed heads in the straw, so this year I have a large crop of wheat in the garden. It’s worse than my regular weeds.
Amy Andrychowicz says
I’ve had the seeds of the straw grow too, but they aren’t a huge problem for me. But the straw dies over the winter here. It must be warmer where you live that the straw is still growing this spring. Bummer! You can buy seedless straw bales. They are bit more expensive but something to try. Check your local garden center to see if they carry it.
Capt. Brigg Franklin says
This year I am using a layer of compost as mulch. The local WSU extension office and the Master Gardeners both recommend a compost mulch.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Awesome, let me know how that goes for you! I always wondered how they keep the weeds from growing in the compost, but maybe it’s a natural thing.
Capt. Brigg Franklin says
When properly handled, the compost itself has been internally heated to about 180 degrees through the decomposing process, killing all the weed seeds. If two inches of compost are applies as mulch, the weed seeds in the ground under the compost mulch are inhibited from reaching the surface.
Capt. Brigg; Master Composter Recycler:
John says
Great article on mulching. I’m a firm believer in the positive powers of mulching and agree with your insights into all the benefits.
I don’t till my vegetable garden, or really even turn it over, so I use wood chips and heavier mulches amongst my veggies as well as the shrub and flower beds.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Awesome! Do you find that you have to refresh the hardwood mulch every year after planting your vegetable garden? I had that problem when I put mulch into my annual garden, and that’s why I decided to use lighter mulches in my vegetable garden. I suppose it’s not any harder to refresh the hardwood mulch every year than it is to spread straw or leaves though. 🙂