Mulch in flowerbeds- change in Fall?

[I-Hawk]

Should a person replace the mulch in flower beds and at the base of trees in the fall, or wait until spring? I notice some of my neighbors are doing this and I was wondering the benefits of doing it now.

[rander]

When you say "replace mulch" do you mean removing what is there now and adding new? Frankly, I can't see any advantage to doing that. However, if you live in an area subject to deep freezes I can see the advantage to adding more now in order to give added insulation for tender bulbs and perennials to prevent from freezing.

Rander

[Lawn-Scapes]

What rander said.. Other than insulation your neighbors may just want it to look nice for the holiday season. I have a few clients that mulch spring and fall so it looks nice year round.

[I-Hawk]

Sounds like it's an appearance thing then. It rarely freezes hard here, and if it does it rarely lasts long, unlike the northern states. I'll hold off and make it pretty next year. :) Thanks guys.

[Ben UK]

I would not remove the mulch as it will rot down over time and and provide vital nutrients to the soil (and plants). A couple of times a year i top up my mulched areas to make it look nice as over time some gets dug in and some gets blown away.

good point about insulating. Worth noting that bulbs lie dormant until the spring when the soil temps rise. If you insulate the soil with mulch to keep up the ground temp you may find in some temperate areas that your spring bulbs may start showing earlier than expected! In deep freeze areas then it sounds a good idea - i live in temperate Uk so have no experience.

worth remebering that with bulbs you have to plant them at the correct depth or they come up as 'blinds' (green shoots but no flowers). a deep mulch may have an effect on this.

Ben

[simsy71]

I also agree it is for appearance. I bet the mulch was looking a bit dull and homeowner wanted to spruce things up abit

[Coffeecraver]

Trees and Flower beds have different needs
Follow the links

http://landscaping.about.com/cs/compostandmulch/f/landscape_mulch.htm

http://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/mulching.asp