Earlier this year I ordered a truckload of (dyed black mulch and I have a few yards left. I would rather use this next spring instead of now, it's for my flower/plant garden.
Is it possible to save it over the winter, without having it break down? Do I cover it with a tarp or just leave it uncovered? Right now it's pretty wet on the inside because of the heavy rainstorms we had lately.,
I guess it depends on your local rainfall and temperatures in winter. Loosely covering it and spreading it out to dry it out would probably slow decomposition, but the fact is that the decomposers are hard at work right now. Mulch is a snack, albeit a slow moving one.
I'm in New Brunswick, Canada and I think we've had most of our rain for this year. Probably will have snow in a few weeks, it's already freezing a little bit at night.
Drying it out then storing in a cool dry place without ground contact will probably slow the decomposition. Easy enough to understand wanting to conserve relatively expensive ornamental mulch. However, I add mulch this time of year & throughout winter. So that it does break down & feed the soil for the spring garden. One of the best pieces of gardening advice I've ever received is "don't let a single leaf leave your property."
Argue for your limitations and they are yours forever.
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