The Few Types Of Outdoor Plants That Will Not Respond Well To Mulch

Mulching is a popular garden practice. In many situations, it helps people reduce how much water they use, stops erosion, fights off weeds, prevents soil from freezing as easily, and looks nice on your lawn, depending on the type you get. It can even help to balance the pH of the soil. However, it's also hard to get the correct thickness and know what the best type for your yard is, which is why you have to carefully research it so you understand the common mulch mistakes that will ruin your garden and avoid them. 

You also need to consider what type of plants you have. While some thrive with mulch, self-seeding annual flowers, certain shrubs, and even vegetables sometimes are going to struggle if the mulching conditions aren't perfect. That doesn't mean you have to entirely avoid mulch, but you need to know which plants won't do well so you can take steps to help them grow. Sometimes, this means removing the mulch entirely, but not always. On occasion, using thinner layers of mulch or even a different type can still give you the benefits you want, while allowing your flowers and produce to grow. For example, it's easy to transform fall leaves into fuel for your garden, but it might not work with all plants.

The plants that struggle the most with mulch are the ones in a category known as "self-seeders". These are generally annual plants that will release seeds before they die. It creates a wonderful cycle of flowers blooming every year. They also have the added benefit of being some of the first flowers to bloom annually, bringing in plenty of important pollinator species. Unfortunately, having mulch on the ground sometimes prevents self-seeders from reproducing again, as it stops germination.

Also, mulch, especially thick layers, holds in moisture. While this sounds like a good thing, in some areas, it leads to overly wet soil. Plants that don't do well with constant moisture will also struggle in mulched beds. Irises, liriopes, and daylilies are some of the most obviously affected, but plants like azaleas and Indian hawthorn might also fail to grow properly if you use mulch. If your soil is holding too much water, adding another layer is only going to make the problem worse and can lead to rot and mold.

Because of the push and pull of nitrogen in soil, vegetable gardens don't always do well with mulch. It pulls a fair amount of nitrogen out of the soil, which is part of why it works so well as a weed prevention method. However, this also means it ties up nitrogen for other plants, like vegetables. It's not always a big deal, as it should mostly only pull nitrogen on the top level of your garden, but some may be more problematic than others. This is why it's important to choose the best mulch to use in your vegetable garden if you want to continue using it, or you could just go without.