Bloomin Amazing mulch review

Bloomin Amazing mulch has a memorable name! I’d heard lots of positive reports about it before I decided to go ahead and buy. In fact a very large amount!

I negotiated a generous discount on this. I achieved this partially because I had ordered over 100 bags but also because I promised to write a review.

Just so you know, this discount in no way influences my review of this or any product that I use.

This is a local product and a renewable one too! And so that’s a great start as far as I am concerned.

 

 

 

 

What is Bloomin Amazing mulch?

Bloomin Amazing mulch is the by-product of an anaerobic digester. It’s what’s left after gas has been produced to heat Dorchester.

A group of farmers – along with the Duchy of Cornwall – are producing green renewable energy by growing forage maize. Instead of turning this into silage to feed cattle the energy in the plants is turned into power to heat homes.

Bloomin Amazing claims to suppress weeds, enrich the soil and to feed plants too.

It claims to be suitable for so called ‘no dig’ gardening too.

So this is finely chopped maize that is clean and easy to handle.

 

 

 

How good is it?

Well I like Bloomin Amazing mulch and it did – and continues to do – what I hoped it would for me.

I was looking for a mulch that would improve the texture of my heavy soil.

In particular I wanted something that would really bring the earthworms back. Knowing that earthworms are vital to healthy soil I was keen to encourage them as I’d noticed that there were remarkable few in this new garden of mine.

Whilst it’s early to see much change in the soil structure, I can already see a massive improvement in the worm population. And with that I’m confident that the soil will be better drained, be easier to work and ensure healthier plant root systems in the future.

I used Bloomin Amazing mulch on large new flower borders but also on a very wide range of vegetables too.

 

 

 

 

No Dig

With a heavy loam soil I am keen to practice ‘no dig’ gardening as much as possible.

This soil is heavy to dig and requires patience. After rain it becomes very sticky to cultivate and during prolonged dry periods it sets hard like concrete!

I’ve laid lots of cardboard sheets to smother weeds and then covered this with a generous layer of Bloomin Amazing mulch. This has been extremely effective and even perennial weeds have been effectively smothered.

I’m very optimistic that this mulch will enable me to be a successful no dig gardener.

 

 

 

 

Weed Control

Having ensured that the pernicious perennial weeds were under control I was especially interested in keeping annual weeds under control. Bloomin Amazing mulch did a great job of this.

Flower borders remained almost weed free right through the spring, summer and autumn.

A few weeds did appear which were either where I had spread the mulch too thinly or where weed seeds had blown in and germinated. These were easily pulled out.

I spread the mulch at just 3-4 cms deep. I think that spreading it a bit deeper in future would be beneficial.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other effects

It seems clear to me that not only is this an effective mulch but it also has quite a lot of nutrients too.

Where I used the mulch all plants grew larger and stronger. In fact they just kept on growing!

I didn’t need to add any extra feed to any of the plants I grew.

 

 

 

Any draw backs?

I did notice that a few young plants were ‘burnt’ by being in direct contact with the mulch.

This is especially in the first few days after spreading the mulch.

I would therefore recommend caution when applying close to soft young bedding plants and vegetable plants.

My advice would be to avoid direct contact with soft plant tissue.

 

You might also be interested to read my blog about the importance of soil pH here.