After 3/4" rain my mulch is wet but soil below COMPLETELY dry.How do I get the rain to go through to the soil?

Question

Large area garden. I used bush mulch which is shredded waste limbs,leaves etc bought from a landscape supplier.

Answer 1

put soaker hoses underneath the mulch. make small holes spaced apart for the rain to go down. be creative. the mulch will help to retain moisture and level temperature swings, and to an extent keep weeds out, but it's real easy to over mulch and block water and oxygen from getting to the roots.

Answer 2

One of the benifits of using landscape mulch of any type is its ability to absorb and retain moisture. Until its completely moist itself, water will most likely not pass through to the underlying soil. This is true no matter how thickly you place the mulch. as a rule of thumb, you will need an equal amount of rain/moisture as is the amount of mulch that has been laid. 1" mulch=1" of rain, 2" mulch=2" rain etc.

Answer 3

If your mulch is compacted, the water won't go down to the soil. Try to rake it up and around a bit to break it up. After that, the water will be able to penetrate the mulch layer.

Answer 4

just a corn ball idia probly but hey it could work, get the spikiest cleats you can find and run around outside a little. or you could take a ho and not till but chop into the dirt every 1 foot in that square distance or take a 1 inch thick pice of plywood and put 4 inch nails thrue it and inch apart in rows and abolt on a 4inch by 4 inch by 2 foot long wood beam and make a punch of sorts that you could slam down into the ground with a sledge hammer.

Answer 5

Just gonna take more water