Hemp Mulch Mats are designed to suppress weeds and retain moisture to help your seedlings get a good start to life. They are 1/2" thick allowing them to suppress weeds and protect roots from frost. They can also hold up to 10 times their weight in water helping retain moisture during drought.
We have trialed these at Nutcase Nursery and believe they are a great time saving option for providing natural mulch for young trees. However, they are not weed proof, and some quick weeding will still be needed from time to time, although it will be much easier to pull out the weeds that are stretching to grow from under the mulch mat. Read our Mulch Musings page for a more thorough discussion of mulch options for your little nut trees.
Important installation instructions: The mulch mats are pretty self-explanatory to install, slide the trunk into the slit and weigh down the corners with stones or insert little tent peg sized stakes on the two corners with pre-punched holes. If it is a windy site we recommend using stakes or large rocks to prevent the mats from blowing around. To prevent rot, insure that the trunk does not touch the hemp mat by shaping the mat around the base of the trunk. The mats are easily shaped when wet!