A good job of mulching your garden usually offers these benefits:

 

• Inhibits weed germination and growth. (Weeds are not only unsightly, but they also steal resources from desirable garden plants!)

• Holds in soil moisture, protecting your plants from drying out quickly

• Moderates soil-temperature fluctuations (This benefit is especially valuable during that turbulent-weather period in spring when you don't want your plants to be stressed.)

• In cold-winter areas, protects plant roots from winter cold and helps prevent frost-heaving, in which plants are literally pushed out of the ground by the natural expansion and contraction of the soil as it cools off and heats up

• In hot-summer areas, helps keep plant roots cooler

• Depending on what you use, adds a bit of welcome nutrition to your garden as it breaks down