mulch

See also: Mulch

English

Mulch made from shredded yard waste.

Etymology

Probably from Middle English melsche, molsh (“soft”), from Old English melsc, milisc (“mellow; mild; sweet”, literally “honeyed”), probably from Proto-Germanic *mili (“honey”). Compare Icelandic milska (“a honeyed beverage”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mʌltʃ/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌltʃ

Noun

mulch (countable and uncountable, plural mulches)

1. (agriculture, horticulture) Any material used to cover the top layer of soil to protect, insulate, or decorate it, or to discourage weeds or retain moisture.

   An organic mulch is a mulch made of natural substances such as leaves or grass clippings.

2. (countable, agriculture) A material used as mulch, as a decorative redwood bark mulch.

Derived terms

• inorganic mulch
• mulch depth
• organic mulch

Translations

shredded matter for covering the soil

• Catalan: encoixinat m
• Dutch: mulch, muls (nl), bodembedekking
• Estonian: multš
• Finnish: lehtikate
• French: paillis (fr) m, paillage (fr) m
• German: Mulch (de) m

• Irish: móta m
• Italian: pacciame (it) m
• Polish: mulcz (pl) m
• Portuguese: manta (pt) f
• Russian: му́льча (ru) f (múlʹča)
• Swedish: komposttäckning

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} capote (es) m, ^{(please verify)} mantillo m

See also

• compost
• humus

Verb

mulch (third-person singular simple present mulches, present participle mulching, simple past and past participle mulched)

1. (agriculture) To apply mulch.

   Mulch your vegetable garden to retain moisture and keep weeds down.

2. (agriculture) To turn into mulch.

   I decided to mulch the grass clippings.

Derived terms

• mulcher
• mulching mower

Translations

to apply mulch

• Dutch: mulchen
• Finnish: peittää lehtikatteella
• French: pailler (fr)
• German: mulchen (de)

• Italian: pacciamare
• Polish: mulczować (pl) impf, zmulczować (pl) pf
• Russian: мульчи́ровать (ru) impf or pf (mulʹčírovatʹ)
• Spanish: cubrir con capote, cubrir con manitllo, abonar (es)