Ways & How

How to Make Mulch for Seeding Lawn

How to Make Mulch for Seeding Lawn

Mulching your seeding lawn is important if you want to protect the topsoil against erosion and excessive temperature. It is also used to conserve moisture so as to give your seeds the best chance to grow in a healthy environment. You can make mulch out of many organic materials such as bark chips, leaves, and grass clippings. Here are the steps on how to make mulch for seeding lawn:

  1. Identify how much mulch will be needed for your seeding lawn. Generally, mulch should be two inches deep when applied to garden walkways and flowerbeds. However, for seeding lawns, it is important that the seedbed is still clearly visible through the mulch, since the lawn needs to receive plenty of sunlight for the grass to grow.

  2. Choose a site where you will keep the mulch pile. The site should be out of the way and clear of any bulbs, shrubs, trees, grass, and bushes; otherwise, these plants will die. The mulch site should also be easily accessible just in case you want to add more materials to your pile. For instance, you can put your mulch pile behind the garage, where it cannot be disturbed by the wind.

    You can also contain the mulch pile by creating a ring around it, such as building a fence with chicken wire. There are also mulching bins available at most home and garden stores in which to keep your mulch.

  3. Start collecting materials for your mulch pile. The best time to do this is during the fall since leaves make a good base for a mulch pile. Simply rake the leaves and put them under a mulching lawn mower to chop them into smaller pieces. Other things that you can include in your mulch pile are wood chips, grass, twigs, bark, farm waste, straw, and hay. For harder materials such as wood pieces and twigs, you can chop them using a wood chipper. To carry these things to your mulch pile, you can either rake them or use a wheelbarrow.

  4. Leave the mulch to set over the winter so that you can use it during spring. To help decompose your mulch, stir the materials every now and then to ensure even distribution and decrease the clumping of materials. Decomposed mulch looks dark and crumbly. You should also cover up the pile with a large plastic or cloth sheet. This will retain the moisture and heat, speeding up the decomposition process. You can secure the cover using bricks and rocks that are easily removed every time you need to add more materials and stir them.

  5. Once you have planted the seeds on your seeding lawn during spring, add the mulch to the surface. Using a rake, spread the mulch over the seeding lawn, again making sure that the surface can still be seen to allow the seeds to receive enough sunlight. You can add more mulch during the fall to protect your plants from the cold weather during the winter season, and this needs approximately 8-inch thick mulch. Unused mulch will turn into compost, which can also enrich the soil.

Learning how to make mulch for seeding lawn can save you money instead of having to buy mulch by the cubic yard. It might make more work for you, but at least you can make use of the leaves and twigs that litter your garden during the fall season. Remember that if you are applying mulch over seeding lawn, you always have to keep the area moist in order to start the germination process. Water your seeds often, especially on windy days that can dry out the seedbed more quickly.




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