Much Better Mulching

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - It's that time of year…MULCH MADNESS. For weeks I've seen crews everywhere removing old mulch, raking away leaves and piling on new mulch like thick carpet! Yikes.

First of all, you shouldn't mulch while the ground is still frozen. And you don't need to remove old mulch – good quality mulch should break down into compost and improve your soil over the years. Just loosen the old mulch with a rake so it's not matted down, which can actually repel water.

Then, crush up and mix in those leaves from last fall; they're your tree's favorite food and best fertilizer – plus, they're free mulch! Measure how much old mulch and leaves you have combined. Then top that off with an inch or so of fresh mulch until you have 2 to 4 inches TOTAL - including the old mulch and leaves. That's all you need!

Mulched areas around trees and shrubs should be very WIDE not very DEEP.

Spread a couple of inches of mulch out as far as the tips of the branches reach; that's how far tree roots go! Most of all, never let the mulch touch the trunk - keep it several inches away. Mulch against the trunk can rot the tree, give critters who chew bark a place to hide, and encourage disease.

I know, you see those tall mulch volcanoes wrapped right around tree trunks in every parking lot - but they're all wrong. Do it right instead!

Read more about mulching properly at Rutherford-NJ.com and PennLive.com.