What Is Sweet Peat Mulch?

What is Sweet Peat Mulch?

• Sweet peat mulch is an all-purpose gardening material that helps to suppress weeds and keep garden soil moist. It is an organic product composed of virgin wood shavings and composted manure which has a uniform texture, making it easy to spread and ensuring that a little bit goes a long way. This mulch is safe for use around young children and pets, and it can be used in the vegetable or flower garden to enhance growth and production.

Benefits

• Sweet peat mulch will benefit your garden in four different ways: protect your plants, beautify them, provide nourishment and enhance growth. This mulch naturally buffers soil with a high acidity and encourages the growth of beneficial microbes which will help protect your plants against disease. Sweet peat mulch naturally suppresses weed growth and enriches the soil while retaining water so that your plants never go thirsty. At the end of each growing season, the mulch can be tilled into the soil to enrich it for the next year.

Disadvantages

• Sweet peat mulch is a very effective gardening material but it can also be very expensive. If you have a large garden or a number of small gardens, you could spend hundreds of dollars on mulch alone. While one of the benefits of peat mulch is that it forms a crust on the surface as it dries to retain moisture, this crust can also prevent the absorption of new water. Once this crust hardens, rain cannot easily penetrate and further moisten the soil to provide water for your plants.

How to Use Sweet Peat Mulch

• To use sweet peat mulch in the garden, spread it around your plants to a thickness of 3 or 4 inches. This depth is the most effective for suppressing weeds but less mulch can also be used. When spreading peat mulch around trees, include the area within the drip line of branches. Spread the mulch to within a few inches of the trunk or roots, decreasing the thickness of the layer near the trunk. Do not place any mulch in contact with tree trunks or the roots of shrubs. Spread a new layer of peat mulch every year.