Sheet mulching facts for kids

Sheet mulching is a cool way of gardening that helps build healthy soil without digging! It's a technique used in permaculture, which is all about designing gardens and farms that work with nature, like a forest. Imagine how leaves and branches fall in a forest and slowly turn into rich soil – sheet mulching tries to do the same thing in your garden.

It's also called "composting in place" because you're basically making compost right where you want to plant. The simplest way to do it is to put a layer of cardboard or newspaper on the ground. This helps stop weeds and adds nutrients as it breaks down. On top of that, you add a layer of other organic stuff, like leaves or wood chips. You can use sheet mulching to turn all sorts of areas into great places for plants, whether it's a grassy lawn, a weedy patch, or even a hard surface like pavement!

How to Sheet Mulch

Sheet mulching involves putting down different layers of materials to create new, healthy soil. Here are the basic steps:

Typical layers of natural soil.

• Prepare the Area: First, you might trim down any tall plants or grass in the spot where you want to sheet mulch. This makes the area flat and ready.
• Check the Soil: Sometimes, people check the soil's pH level (how acidic or alkaline it is) and adjust it if needed. This helps plants grow better.
• Moisten the Ground: If the ground is very dry, you might water it a bit. This helps tiny creatures and microbes start breaking down the materials you're about to add.
• Add a Weed Barrier: Next, you lay down a thin layer of material that breaks down slowly, like cardboard or newspaper. This layer is super important because it blocks sunlight, which stops weeds from growing. As the weeds underneath die, they add nutrients to the soil.
• Build the Soil Layer: On top of the barrier, you add a layer (about 10 centimeters thick) of good, weed-free soil that's full of nutrients. This layer acts like the rich topsoil you find in a natural environment.
• Create the Forest Floor: Finally, you add a layer (up to 15 centimeters thick) of woody and leafy materials, like wood chips, leaves, or straw. This layer is like the forest floor, where organic matter is constantly breaking down. After these layers are in place, your new garden bed is ready for planting seeds or young plants!

Tips and Tricks for Sheet Mulching

• Give it Time: Sometimes, it's best to put down your sheet mulch a few months before you plan to plant. This gives the layers time to settle and start breaking down, making it easier for plant roots to grow through.
• Not Too Thick: Be careful not to make the bottom layers too thick, especially the cardboard. If it's too thick, it can stop air from getting in, which isn't good for the soil.
• Boost Nutrients: Before you add the cardboard, you can put down a layer of nutrient-rich material like compost or manure. This gives the soil an extra boost and helps everything break down faster.
• Other Materials: Instead of just cardboard, you can also use old newspapers or even old cotton clothing as your bottom barrier layer.
• Hügelkultur: A cool variation of mulching is called Hügelkultur. This involves burying logs and branches as the very first layer of your garden bed. They slowly break down, holding water and nutrients for a long time.

Why Sheet Mulching is Great

Sheet mulching has lots of benefits compared to traditional gardening methods like tilling (which means digging up the soil) or using chemicals to kill weeds.

• Healthier Plants: It helps your plants grow stronger and produce more.
• Saves Water and Nutrients: The layers help the soil hold onto water and important nutrients, so your plants get what they need.
• Better Soil: It makes the soil structure better, helps soil life (like worms and microbes), and stops soil from washing away.
• No Harmful Chemicals: You don't need to use potentially dangerous pesticides or weed killers.
• Less Work: Once set up, sheet mulching can actually reduce how much work you need to do in your garden over time.
• Low Cost: Many of the materials you need for sheet mulching, like leaves or cardboard, can be found for free! You can use what's available in your area, like leaves from your yard or spoiled hay from a farm.

Things to Watch Out For

While sheet mulching is awesome, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Pesky Weeds: Some tough weed seeds, like those from Bermuda grass or bindweed, might still try to grow through the barrier or from seeds already in the soil.
• Termites: Termites can be attracted to the wood and cardboard layers as they break down. While they help turn the material into soil, if you have a wood-framed house nearby, you might want to be careful.
• Slugs: You might see more slugs at first, especially when the materials are fresh and moist. But there are ways to keep them away or manage them.
• Needs More Material: In the beginning, your sheet mulch system might need a steady supply of new organic materials to keep it going.
• Animals: Sometimes, curious animals might dig into your sheet mulch layers and mess things up a bit.

See also

• Agroecology
• Ecoagriculture
• Ecological design
• Ecosystem approach
• Forest gardening