[suziequeue]

OK OK ... I hold my hands up and say I don't really understand mulch. It's a real blind spot with me.


Is it supposed to provide a layer of nutrient rich somethingorother around the base of the plant? or it is just to stop weeds growing? or what?


What should it consist of? - manure or straw or compost or......


Any advice/tips would be gratefully received.

[Fleecewife]

All of the above 
 
Mulch just means something spread over the surface of the soil.  It can be anything from newspapers to a layer of manure, and all stops in between.  It can be to keep the light out (to kill weeds or keep potatoes from going green), to smother weeds, to keep the soil beneath moist, to provide nutrients, to keep the rain off.
 
In low intervention growing, a thick mulch of garden compost or well rotted manure will be used to both keep the weeds down and provide nutrients, allowing earthworms to do the work.
I use an overwinter mulch of black polythene or a tarpaulin, to keep the weeds down and to keep the soil dryish.  I often put a layer of strawy manure under the polythene so it breaks down by spring and the soil beneath is lovely and friable.  So that would qualify as a double mulch.
I use a mulch of pine needles around my strawbs to keep the fruit off the soil and for their acidic effect which strawbs love.
I use a mulch of fresh grass clippings around my potatoes for both the nutrients and the weed suppressing effect.
When I hoe my soil between rows (on the rare occasions it's actually dry enough) I leave the chopped leaves as a mulch to wilt in the sun, protect the moist soil below and provide some nutrients.
 
Possible mulches and their functions are endless