Fertile Mulch

Promoting Fertility

Replicating an Old World forest floor, Fertile Mulch promotes an increase in fertility throughout the soil it covers.  Great soil dosen't come into being in a day.  However, if you bring the correct conditions together, harsh, complicated, lifeless soils can be nurtured into fertility.  Abundant biology, friable organic matter, nitrogen and trace minerals found in our Fertile Mulch recipe work together to transform the soil it covers from average to bountiful.  Fertile Mulch begins with the traditional benefits of mulch, then leverages those benefits to propagate abundantly rich, productive soil.  This unique product contains a form of certified organic nitrogen, a trace mineral package and biological stimulants.  Unlike composts that are tilled into the soil, Fertile Mulch is a highly productive media that rests on your garden bed surface, interacting with the soil beneath to transform its structure and biological activity.

42
00

1-5 cubic yards purchased

Out of Stock

35
00

6 plus yards, volume discount

Out of Stock

Considerations on Color

Fertile Mulch is a natural alternative to color-enriched mulch.  If you want a rich dark color yet want to know that your mulch was colored with a biological process, then Fertile Mulch is for you.

Benefits of Fertile Mulch

  • Replicates an Old World forest floor
  • Promotes biological activity on the soil surface
  • Partially composted carbon particles do not draw nitrogen from the soil
  • Turn in at the close of the season for a soil amendment
  • Reduces water loss
  • Supresses weeds
  • Insulates against hot & cold

Recommended Uses

  • Garden pathways - use on paths that will be incorporated into the soil at the close of the gardening season
  • Beneath spreading plants - examples include tomatoes, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, pumpkins, zucchini, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe , etc.
  • Flower beds - not only for the general benefits of mulch, but also to stimulate soil fertility
  • Transplanting - reduces transplant shock by gaining the benefits of mulch and also inoculate with diverse biology and trace minerals
  • Trees & shrubs in low water areas

Directions for Use

Confirmation - Be sure to cross reference the product on your receipt of purchase to confirm you are reading the directions of use for the correct product.

Location of use - Our Fertile Mulch is unique in usage location because it blurs the line between mulches and composted soil amendments.  Fertile Mulch should be used in a location where the benefits of a mulch are desired.  Fertile Mulch is also a welcome benefit anywhere a soil amendment of high organic matter is desired.  Some of the places where Fertile Mulch offers distinct advantages are, but are not limited to, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, any perennial planting bed, and beneath evergreen and deciduous trees.

Weed barrier - Barriers are not recommended for use in conjunction with Fertile Mulch.  The goal is to encourage interaction between the biology in the soil and the biology living in this rich mulch.

Depth - We recomend a depth of 1 - 3" of Fertile Mulch.  In areas where the soil is shaded by foliage, we recommend that you error on the lighter side of 1 - 3".  In areas of full sun, error on the higher side of the recommendation.  Keep in mind, our goal is to maintain an ecosystem that will transform your garden bed soil.

Surface cover - Fertile Mulch is meant to begin its service in your garden as a mulch, by remaining on the soil surface.  As the season progresses, even passes, then the rapidly decomposing Ferile Mulch may be incorperated into the soil.  The one exception to this guideline is in the planting of trees and shrubs.  In this application, up to 20% of the total volume of the hole may be backfilled with Fertile Mulch. This will help the native soil to drain, breathe and will stimulate woody root growth.

Using color - The color of fresh Fertile Mulch is dark brown.  Because this is the first season that we have offered this product, we are unsure as to the longevity of the color retention.

Using texture - Texture is always a consideration.  You may want the texture of your landscape to be complementary.  A fine grind mulch brings with it a smooth refined texture.  The consistenly elegant particles may complement your home design or the texture of the foliage growing nearby.  For example, a pine tree has a fairly rugged texture for its foliage.  If you want to tame the pine's texture, using a fine grind mulch would help to that end.  If you want to accent the pine's rugged foliage or magnify it, then a coarser medium grind mulch would be more appropriate.  A second example of where a fine grind mulch produces a wonderful complement of textures is in a flower bed.  The smaller mulch particles channel the viewer's attention to nuanced foliage and delicate blossoms.  If your landscape, home, or even personality is on the formal side of the scale, then fine grind mulch will aid wonderfully to enhance that structure.  However, if you are working to achieve a more rugged or untamed texture, then a medium grind mulch would be better suited to that end.