# How to Mulch Small Perennials
Mulches improve the appearance and health of perennial beds. An attractive organic mulch, such as wood chips, minimizes weed growth and provides a natural backdrop to your perennial foliage and flowering plants. The mulch also retains moisture and insulates the soil. As mulches decompose, they provide the soil with nutrients that help the perennials remain healthy. Mulching is especially beneficial to smaller perennial plants, as these compete poorly with taller and quicker growing weeds. Careful mulching is necessary so the mulch materials don't suppress the small perennials along with the weeds.
Instructions
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Weed around perennials by hand as they begin to emerge in spring. Pull the weeds while they are still small so they don't establish extensive root systems or go to seed.
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Apply a 1-inch-thick layer of mulch to the bed after the perennials reach 3 inches in height and after the soil begins to warm in late spring or early summer. Mulched soils warm up more slowly than unmulched beds, and most perennials grow best in warmer soils.
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Increase the thickness of the mulch up to 2 inches as the perennials grow. Avoid installing a mulch layer taller than the small plants, otherwise the mulch may suppress and kill the perennials.
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Pull the mulch back from the base of each perennial plant. Leave one to two inches of space between the mulch and plant stem, otherwise the moisture in the mulch may damage the stem and crown of the plant.
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