Mulch is spread

Beautiful mulch, organic material to enhance the productivity and biodiversity of our soil. I just noticed that I never wrote about the adventure of spreading the mulch and yesterday was the International Day for Biological Diversity.

2011 is the Year of Forest Biodiversity, but nevertheless, improving the soil of any environment is right up the aisle.

Mulch saves water and keeps the moisture in the ground. Now it finally has commenced raining and the first showers strong enough to penetrate the mulch. We want the water to stay in the ground as long as possible and nourish a healthy plant and animal live. (Only the breeding of the slaters should be exempt from that process.) The impact of mulch on biodiversity is well documented.

It took a while to spread the pile of mulch. We did not count the total number of wheel barrows that were needed to shift the 25m3 of shredded trees. We set an easy task and focused on lots of around 15 wheel narrows at a time. We used early mornings or evenings to work, as the days in March were still very hot and the work turned out to be quite intense and sweaty.

All of the front garden was covered. We also filled up two raised garden beds and spread lots of mulch in the backyard under the trees and shrubs. Not long and it will be time to order the next lot!

Mulch, mulch, mulch

The pile of mulch that was delivered on Monday is 1.5m high and about 6 metres long by 3 m wide. I think it is at least 20m3! It's a big pile! We will shift it by wheelbarrow. How many wheel barrows are needed for the lot?

People busily walking past on their morning walk take pity on me and make respective comments, such as "Big job at hand!" or "Oh my god!" Nobody says the magic words: "Ah, what a big pile, let me help you!"

But I see that this as a task if spread over a few weeks will bring me in good physical shape. I think of it in lots of 10 wheelbarrows. So, whenever I take the shovel into my hand I move at least 10 wheel barrows and if I still feel like it a few more. If possible, I work wrice a day, mornings and evenings. The first days I did not see any difference to the pile, but now it is getting considerably smaller, especially since Julian lend a hand today before lunch.

We have got lots of room on the block. The mulch is composting too, with especially parts of the mulch that have a high green leave component developing considerable heat. Will do wonders for my garden. The slaters will probably like it too. The cat has already embraced the soft bedding for her daytime sleeps. I don't think I need to put the sign up "Free mulch". But that would be my last option if all fails.

I put up a post on the Great Gardens network regarding what treatment the sandy soil would need before the mulch is put down, but I have not received a response yet. They are probably busy preparing for more gardening workshops around WA. The workshops are great, not to be missed.