Mulching à la Verey

With the Genus borders planted up with tulips and wallflowers we were finally able to get on with mulching. This has been an annual operation  since we moved here over ten years ago and has improved the soil no end. It’s a task championed by the well known garden writer Rosemary Verey whose award winning and well documented garden at Barnsley House is just up the road from us.

We have our own recipe that we like to use here, comprising one part leaf mould to one part coarse sand and two part compost. Mixed in a barrow it’s spread in the beds to a depth of about 3cm. Any dahlias left in the ground are given extra special treatment with up to 15cm added over their cut down crowns.

A mulch 'recipe' isn't always required. Compost straight from the heap or pure leaf mould is equally good. If you have nothing of your own available then mushroom compost, manure, or a product such as Strulch are available commercially.

A decade of following this regime every year has given us beautiful soil: well drained, well fed and a joy to work with whatever the weather.