It can be exceedingly hard to keep mulch and gravel in your garden beds and landscaped areas in place. From disturbances like leaf blowers to foot traffic, it seems like our ground covers and borders are always getting knocked around.
I have often longed for a product to stick mulch in place and eliminate this landscaping nightmare forever.
Key Points:
- Mulch and gravel in gardens are hard to keep in place due to disturbances such as leaf blowers and foot traffic.
- A product is needed to hold the mulch securely in its desired location.
- Mulch glue can be easily made at home with common kitchen items like flour, sugar, salt, water, and cornstarch.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that as little as a cup of glue dissolved in water would be all it would take to address this problem. Of course, not all glue is created equal, and excess glue that looks tacky, as well as industrial glues that are not environmentally friendly, should be avoided.
If you do have non-toxic adhesives like Elmer’s glue or any other safe glue mixture, then you can toss that glue mix into squeeze bottles, sprayers, or any other glue gun you can concoct. Read on below to find out how to make your very own mulch glue.
In This Article:
What Is Mulch Glue Made of?
It is possible to find glue in landscaping and garden sections it is specifically formulated for use outdoors. Most of these solutions will hold up to water better but may not be practical or affordable for your situation.
Any gallon of glue can technically be mixed with water, including milky glue used for crafts so filling a plastic spray bottle full of what you have and spraying it where you want is an option as well.
Pre-Formulate
Products like Max Mulch Glue or Mulch Glue Plus will keep mulch and gravel in planters and preserve your pea gravel border but may not be available to you. If you only need a little glue to hold things in place in a small area of the yard, buying a commercial product may be unnecessary.
If you want to hold a fair share of loose gravel or mulch in beds that get constant traffic or disturbance and would like that glue mix to hold for about a year, pre-formulated mulch glue is the way to go.
Homemade
A gallon of glue mixed with water will make a huge batch of a sticky substance that can hold landscaping components in place. Make sure to use non-toxic white glue and not toxic contact cement or other biological disasters.
Things like Elmer’s glue will need to be reapplied when the mulch begins to shift or after extreme weather conditions. Homemade mulch glue is best used for small projects like planters.
What Is Mulch Glue For?
Mulch is a crucial component of a healthy yard. Some areas of law do not support turf growth, and to avoid weeds and other undesirable lawn issues on bard earth, mulch can come to the rescue. But if that mulch is constantly mixed in with lawn grass or strewn along footpaths and driveways, then you will need mulch glue to hold your ground cover in place.
Pea gravel and border plants often serve as erosion control when it rains or when our water spouts are flowing too aggressively. It is important to keep these control methods affixed firmly in place, and mulch glue can help with that.
Depending on the amount of rainfall, you may need to reapply the glue more often under these extreme conditions.
Glue Mulch Ingredients and Materials
If you want to mix up a batch of glue for garden mulch adhesion, you can do so easily. Most of the materials you will have access to at home, and the good thing about working with non-toxic substances is that even if the cleanup is a bit tough, the materials can be used for other purposes after you finish this garden project.
Make sure to gather all the material and ingredients to avoid stopping, as mulch glue works best when used immediately after mixing with water.
| Item | Ingredient or Material | Use |
| White Glue | Ingredient | The adhesive that binds mulch together |
| Quart Spray Bottle | Material | For finely detailed glue spraying |
| Hot Water | Ingredient | Melts glue to make it more fluid and easily sprayable |
| Garden Sprayer | Material | Good for larger spraying jobs and to cover a wider area with glue at a higher rate of distribution |
| Mixing Stick | Material | Helps to speed up the process of melting glue into hot water |
How to Make Glue for Mulch?
Once you have the materials and ingredients, it is very simple to make mulch glue. Pour your desired amount of glue into a bottle, a squeeze bottle for small jobs and a larger garden sprayer for landscaping projects.
Add hot water, near boiling, to the bottle and use the stirrer to mix it until an even consistency is achieved. Once the glue is fully liquid, you can spray it on the mulch you want to stay in place.
Tips for Apply Glue Mulch
Some resources suggest mixing your mulch glue in a bucket, but that leads to more of the sticky solution staying on the sides. Since you will want to work fast and it is easy to mix up new batches, I find it best to mix the solution directly in the sprayer.
This technique also allows me to shake the sprayer to mix the solution rather than relying on a mixing stick that can then get stuck to the dirt, ground, or even on me. Once I am done spraying, there is less to clean up. Also, keep glue off trees and ornamental plants when spraying, or you may cause unintended problems.
Glue mulch is easy to make and easy to use to keep your mulch in place for most of the year.
Last update on 2024-07-11 / Affiliate links / Somes Images and Data from Amazon Product Advertising API
