Mulching dahlias

Listening to GQT this afternoon there was strong advocacy for mulching dahlias and overwintering them in situ rather than digging them up and faffing.

Cover with 3-4” of mulch was the advice. My questions: how wide an orbit should the mulch be spread? A dinner plate? A tray? A patio table? Second, is 6+” better than 3-4”? Third, should the mulch cover the crown of the plant or is a ring doughnut arrangement better? Fourth, I have plenty of wood chip, compost and leaf mould but would Strulch, with its mollusc repelling properties, be better for when leaves emerge in the spring?

Thanks for any wisdom.

 

As I have mentioned before in another thread we haven't dug up our dahlias for about 5 years now. We haven't mulched them either. Each year the plants produce more foliage and even more flowers. We also (and don't ask me why) don't have slug/snail problems with the emerging or mature foliage or flowers.

 

I'll add, that I am an absolute garden novice, who two years ago had no idea you were supposed to mulch them (or dig them out). They come back bigger and better each time. I'm on well well drained soil in NW England..

 

As long as the ground doesn't freeze the tubers will be unaffected, I still think rot and underground slugs are the main reason for tubers not growing the following years.

I can remember many years ago nearly breaking a garden fork trying to get parsnips out the ground, its never been that hard recently.

I can guess that the new shoots in spring will be "hardened" already so less likely to slug damage above ground in spring.

So I believe it depends on your location a soil type, drainage, they usually reappear around here each year even without a mulch.