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| My synthetic mulch experiment. It's not very pretty, but hopefully it will keep in the moisture, and keep out weeds. |
That's why it's so hard to get a nice tomato in your garden in Texas in July and August.
The hot, dry days, and watering restrictions are rough on our favorite crop.
What's a gardener to do?
Along with starting smaller tomato varieties, put lots and lots of mulch around the base of the plant.
If you're using natural mulches like wood chips, or hay, three to four inches isn't too much!
You can get creative. I tried paper out of my office shredder last year. It worked OK, but it takes a long time to break down, and it's not the prettiest thing in your garden. I've heard of people using newspapers laid flat and wetted down, or coarsely shredded newsprint.
The idea is for the mulch to hold water as long as possible, then protect the soil from our scoarching sunshine, which bakes it dry and lifeless for Mr. T. Good much also knocks out weeds. As much as we all love gardening, I haven't met anybody that actually likes weeding.
This year I'm trying a synthetic sheet, which I laid out over my tomato patch, and cut holes in to plant the bushes. Then I used some of the dirt from the holes to weigh down the sheet. (most the hole gets filled with seriously amended materials. More about the potting soil tomorrow.)
I have some doubts about this "rug." It's black, won't that just suck up the heat from the sunshine and cook the soil faster? So, I set aside part of the garden mulched in composted wood chips to serve as a control, for my experiment.
Just one warning about mulch: be careful not to use fresh grass clippings, wood chips or sawdust. It's too "hot" (basically it's in the first stages of composting.) It will eat up the nitrogen and/or burn up your plants. Partially composted wood chips are my favorite. It's a little expensive, but it looks neat, and continues to break down and eventually improve the garden soil.
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