At any time of year, a layer of pristine mulch makes the garden look complete. It’s the perfect backdrop, adding cohesiveness to the plants whose roots it covers, turning a collection of plants into a garden. There are lots of pluses to mulching in late fall, and very few minuses. Organic mulch (made from wood or other material that eventually breaks down) protects plants from winter weather.

What: Mulch Types and Uses

Organic

This type of mulch breaks down over time, while inorganic materials (like rock) do not. Organic mulches include shredded or chunk bark. I switched from chunk bark, which breaks down slowly, to shredded mulch when I couldn’t train my dog not to chew the wood chunks when she was in the yard. She found the shredded bark to be a lot less gratifying. Either way, I have found wood mulches of any kind to make the best garden mulch.

Bark and shredded hardwood are by-products of the lumber and paper industries. Shredded bark is available in natural or dyed varieties. Dyed varieties are often a mix of hardwood or recycled wood waste containing artificial dyes.

One of the best—and cheapest—mulches comes from on high. That is when the leaves fall from large shade trees. I have mostly oak leaves and needles from white pines. Oak leaves don’t break down in just one season, however, they’re on the crispy side, so they don’t tend to compact like, for instance, maple leaves. When using oak leaves as mulch, there are two options: After leaves fall, and when the soil is dry, mow over the leaves on the lawn a couple of times until they’re shredded and gather them to use in your beds, or make sure the leaves aren’t piled high enough on plants (under two inches deep) to compact and hold in too much moisture.