Can i plant annuals in mulch

Seeds and small annuals buried beneath mulch have a very low chance of growing, but bulb flowers can sprout through a thin layer of mulch. Seeds buried in mulch have a far lower chance of growing than ones planted on soil without mulch. Leave the soil mulch-free and wait until the plants are large enough to put mulch around them. If you want to grow plants from seeds in a mulched garden, try sprouting the seeds in an indoor pot. Mulch is a massive benefit to your garden. It protects soil and plant roots, retains moisture, slowly decomposes into nutrients in the case of natural mulch , and keeps out weeds.

That said, most plants struggle to grow through a mulch ground covering. Some plants, such as bulb plants lilies, irises, etc. The best practice is to add mulch once plants have grown tall enough that they can stand above the mulch layer and receive air and sunlight. Search Search for: Search. Small sprouts need sunlight and oxygen. Plants grown from bulbs will grow through up to 2 inches of mulch. The problem with this method, though, is that soil clumps end up on the surface of the mulch.

Carefully remove the mulch and place it in a pile. Once you reach the soil, dig a hole with a hand cultivator and place the removed soil in a bucket. This keeps the soil from spreading over the mulch. Plant the flower and replace the soil from the bucket. The mulch can be moved back into place and smoothed out.

Always keep 1 to 3 inches of space between the flower stem and the mulch. Karen Carter spent three years as a technology specialist in the public school system and her writing has appeared in the "Willapa Harbor Herald" and the "Rogue College Byline. Home Guides Garden Gardening.

By Karen Carter Updated August 30, Related Articles. Mulch usually holds in moisture and being that it is not the height of summer, the plants would live. Location Cove City, NC. Yes,this works i've done it alot even in my own yard. Bam, these guys werent replacing the dead ones to cover contract clauses, they had removed all the old ones from fall and replacing with new ones for the spring.

Around here now is the time to install annuals. Location morristown, nj. Hello, The answer is in two parts. First, horticulturally No, they should be planted in soil, not the mulch, and then a light mulch cover applied. Second, Real world I've been planting annuals directly in mulch for years now and have never had much of a problem. Do a lot of wax begonias for summer, and they always do fine directly planting in mulch.

If you ever go to a nursery, look how long and how nice annuals look sitting in the plastic trays. The key is watering. If you water regularily, especially during the hot days of summer, planting directly into the mulch is fine most of the time. Also have instances where ground covers such as pachysandra or myrtle were planted directly into mulch and have had excellent long term results.

Again, I think proper watering has a lot to do with it. Lanelle LawnSite Bronze Member. Location No. VA, zone 7. Planting spring pansies now makes sense. They won't last through the summer though, so they will be replaced when the weather becomes truly warm. It is too early to plant the warm season annuals in this area.

That should happen at the end of April, beginning of May. Lanelle, the property manager at this apt complex would like begonias to be planted for the annuals in the spring.

Are begonias good to plant for the heat stress and im sure they will last longer than pansies yes? What do you personally plant, she wants these to last well into the summer. So if the begonias are good when should i throw them in? Pansies are a cool season annual. Begonias like the hot weather and will last until fall frost.