In its simplest terms, mulching is man's version of what happens on the floor of a forest where over the decades tree litter accumulates and gradually decays. The soft forest cushion that every lover of nature likes to walk upon is a natural mulch. It is in this accumulation of dead leaves, twigs, fallen branches, fallen trees, etc., that bacteria, fungi and other simple living organisms carry on the process of decay. It is here, in nature's scheme, that the raw materials borrowed from the earth and so dramatically "spun" into the architecture of living things, are equally dramatically released, i.e., unlocked from one another, and returned to the earth in simple form - to be borrowed again and again by generations of living things. The elements once on loan to a hemlock for its lifetime, might a century or two later be on loan to an oak, a maple, or a pink lady-slipper. In adapting this natural mulch phenomenon to his cropping practices and to the growing of ornamental plants, man uses whatever dead organic matter may be available. The principle is the same. The labor saved and other manifold advantages of the practices are the subject of this Handbook. Guest Editor Paul Frese, the authors he has invited to contribute, and the Editorial Committee of Brooklyn Botanic Garden have all concentrated on presenting the finest possible how-to-do-it Handbook on this topic.
Publication Details
- Publisher: Botanic Garden
- Dewey Decimal: 631.451
- ECHO Library: 631.451 BRO