Mulching mimics the natural action of plants and how they slow the rain, save the water and protect the soil by dropping their leaves and seed cases on the ground. It’s a great example of simple actions leading to big benefits.
Mulch helps calm and cool the earth in two main ways:
Mulch is a layer of material put on the surface of bare soil. It includes man-made materials, such as plastic sheet, but it is the natural materials that help keep the soil healthy and full of life. This includes non-living plant material, such as shredded bark.
Natural mulch acts as a ‘skin of the soil’, protecting the soil just as skin protects the human body. It slows rainfall and helps it soak into the ground rather than running off the surface. It keeps the ground cool, supporting plant roots and the millions of organisms that make a living soil.
If you were to watch rain fall on mulch (how can you resist?) you would see how the irregular shapes of the material disperse the water drops as they fall. At the same time, the air pockets in the material fill with water. Both slow the flow of water into the soil which puts the water where we and the plants need it; in the ground.
The surface of a bare soil makes a crust from the impact of rain drops falling and from drying out in hot weather. This makes it harder for water to soak in and it runs off instead. This is a major cause of floods and loss of soil which gets carried away in the water. It wastes a vast amount of water down the drain, treating it like a waste product rather than the precious resource that all life needs.
Hot weather heats the soil, usually after a few days, and when the temperature climbs above 300C this starts to damage plant roots and soil life. During a prolonged heat wave, this damage can be devastating.
Mulch acts as a layer of insulation. It creates a buffer between the sun’s heat and the soil by reflecting and absorbing some of the heat. This protects roots and organisms from being damaged by the combination of high temperatures and lack of moisture.
Mulch also moderates the temperature in cold weather, protecting plant roots and soil life from the cold.
A practical guide to using mulch as a way of keeping water where it is most needed, in the ground.
We are demonstrating how working together with a focus on water and plants offers affordable, accessible opportunities to cool and calm the climate.