When Should you spread mulch?

As you’re wrapping up your spring cleaning and feeling the weather warm up, you’re likely ready to head outside and make sure your yard is summer-ready. Those flower beds and gardens need some attention ahead of summer – weeding, cleaning up the beds, and mulching. But when should you mulch? Here are some APE Mulch tips!

best times for mulching

When the weather is consistently warm.

Mulch is designed to slow soil’s warming and help with nutrient retention. If you add the mulch before the soil has warmed up on its own, you’re too early, and you lose the warming benefit that mulch provides. If you add it too late, the mulch loses its chance to help retain nutrients that the soil already had. Early May is a great time for mulching.

After a bit of rain.

Mulch’s job is to retain moisture, so after a spring shower makes for a great time for mulching. If you are putting down mulch when it hasn’t rained for a while, be sure to water the plants and soil to add moisture.

After weeding.

Once you’ve cleaned out those flower beds from overgrown weeds, spread your mulch. If you put mulch down before weeding, it will just allow the weeds to grow more.

>>Not sure how much mulch you need? Try our mulch calculator!>>

worst times for mulching

Before stripping away existing mulch.

You should aim for around 3 inches of mulch so that your plants will have support, but still room to grow. You’ll want to get rid of some of the top layer of mulch from last year before putting down the new mulch to keep this depth consistent.

Before your perennials emerge.

If you haven’t seen your peonies pop up, wait on mulching. Putting mulch down on your perennials before they have emerged will bury them!