I'm in mid Michigan and I had some mulch from a maple tree we cut down covering my raised garden beds over the winter. I've noticed that the mulch has been breaking down because the height has been slowly dropping. Should I leave the mulch in place when I plant, so it can continue to decompose into the soil? Also, I've been collecting earthworms from my yard and adding them to my beds. Buying worms seems really pricey, so is it effective to do this?
3 Answers
When you talk about mulch from the maple tree, are you using leaves, bark, or wood chips? I’d suggest removing the mulch before planting your veggies or flowers. You could add some organic compost and then cover everything with straw or hay, which keeps moisture in while still allowing air circulation. And yes, relocating those earthworms is fine; whether they stick around is another story. If there's enough organic matter, they should thrive!
Just a heads-up, wood chips can take quite a while to break down fully. What you're seeing might just be normal compaction from winter. It’s perfectly fine to leave them there and even work some into the soil—especially the moist stuff that’s starting to darken.
I usually get arborist chips from my landscaping neighbor, and I top off my garden beds with them. I just dig a hole for planting and might shift some of the chips out of the way depending on how deep they are.
That sounds great! I plan to do something similar. I just wasn’t sure how much the worms would contribute. I toss every worm I find into my beds since I really don’t want to pay for them!
It was leaves and bark, pretty much everything that wasn’t usable for firewood. It’s been cool to see how it breaks down. The mulch has been in the boxes since early October, about 7 months after we cut the tree down.