Mulching the soil surface in your potted plants or garden does a lot more than provide a nice, finished appearance. Reasons to mulch and some alternatives to chipped wood below the jump:
Why mulch?
- Mulching holds moisture in the soil. This can really help with potted plants, where small soil quantities can lose moisture quickly.
- Mulch protects the earth from the sun, thus reducing weed growth.
- A thick layer of mulch can actually insulate plants from freezing temperatures in winter gardens.
Some mulch ideas:
• 1 river rocks, via Centsational Girl
• 2 sea glass, like this from Maritime Girl's Etsy shop
• 3 seashells, via Eden Makers
• 4 colorful glass from Apartment Therapy Los Angeles' Make Your Own Succulent Garden
• 5 marbles, via Soul of the Garden (image by Tom Spencer)
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I like to use broken crockery.
I've heard about using corks. The seashells are prettier though!
I have sea glass in one of ours. I find it myself though.
I "mulch" my favorite houseplants with a mix of stones, shells, and other small objects -- broken ceramic figurines, coins from foreign travels, junk bits from the junk drawer, then add a dusting of sand to unify things. Some end up being little environments, running in effect from "zen" (like the pictured bamboos) to full-on forest Voudou.
The problem with seashells from the sea (instead of Eden Makers) is that they are loaded with salt. Unless very well cleaned, inside and out, you're going to have dead plants. Ditto for driftwood or porous sea pebbles.
word. Our dog was digging in the plants at night, so we bought some black river stones to mulch with. It worked well to keep the plant safe, and our home clean.