Mulch (perennials)

So I talked about mulch for annuals. 
Perennials are a bit different.

So for perennials, you need mulch that will last longer... Wood chips work, they need to be refreshed every couple of years.
Rocks never need to be refreshed, but they don't break down to be used as a soil amendment.

But that is only part of the story... the other part is a weed barrier...

What you use, and if you use a weed barrier under the mulch depends on the plants.

If you have plants that have one exit point from the ground, like a tree or a woody bush, you can put down some plastic, or something that won't ever break down, because the plant never needs to grow through it... or if it might occasionally need to send up a new shoot weed cloth with a large hole cut around the planting site, so it has space to grow up shoots....

But if it is something that sends up new shoots frequently, or dies back to the ground annually, you want something that is going to break down and let those shoots come up.... I suggest cardboard or news paper... you probably have plenty of it, or access to plenty of it cheap... it will serve as a decent barrier to slow down weeds for a year (news paper) or two (cardboard) before it breaks down.

The same goes for things like strawberries where you want the runners to take root every year... you  can't block off access to the soil completely, but something that breaks down quick can provide enough of a temporary solution that long term you'll be in a better place while the long term solution (3 inches+ of mulch) starts to work.

Just put the news paper or cardboard down before you cover it with your new mulch... I don't bother with these weed barriers on annuals because it all just gets tilled into the ground each year anyhow.

Next time, "What are we growing?"