Homeowners can use outdoor power tools to create mulch out of natural items from their property. These mixes will prevent weed growth and soil erosion while keeping your landscaping moist. Here’s some advice for creating mulch at home.

What to Consider When Making Mulch 

1. Decide on Materials

Most mulch features a mix of materials, including traditional wood chips. Consider adding leaves and hay to provide nutrients to the soil as they decay. Mix in sawdust, chipped wood, bark, and grass clippings to enrich the dirt while absorbing moisture. 

2. Use Machinery

Collect grass clippings from the yard by raking them into a pile or removing them from the lawnmower clipping collector. Some people spread out these pieces and mow over them several times to ensure they’re dime-sized. Smaller sections will encourage faster decomposition and nourish the plants.

Create wood chips by purchasing or renting a wood chipper from an outdoor power tools store. Use these machines to turn tree trunks, bark, and branches into quarter-size chunks.

Mix the materials with sawdust from your garage or yard. Finally, place all of the ingredients in a wheelbarrow for easy transport to the parts of the yard where you’ll apply the mulch. 

3. Ready the Ground

Always remove old mulch and check the ground for weeds and fungus so that you can remove unwanted growth. Place old mulch in a compost pile and add fertilizer to the dirt. Use a variety that’s specific to the plants, like slow-release pine tree fertilizers with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. 

4. Spread the Mulch

Use a shovel to pile mulch around the plants before raking it out into an even layer. Leave a few inches of space between the plant base and the mulch to allow air circulation. Apply around two inches of mulch to limit sunlight that can encourage weed growth and to provide ample material to hold water and keep the plants hydrated. 

If you’re interested in purchasing outdoor power tools to create mulch, contact L & R Power Equipment, Inc., in Fairfield County, CT. The independent Stihl® dealer offers machines and tools to maintain yards, plants, and trees to customers throughout Monroe, Trumble, East End, Shelton, and Fairfield. Call (203) 268-8400 or visit their website for more information on their inventory of equipment and replacement parts.