Episode 49: Kath Irvine: How to Create a Living Mulch 

July 22, 2026

With Kath Irvine from The Edible Backyard

What if the best mulch for your garden isn’t something you buy, carry, and spread — but something that is already growing?

In this episode of White Strawberries, I’m joined by Kath Irvine, author of The Edible Backyard, to explore the idea of living mulch and what happens when we stop seeing plants as competitors and start seeing them as part of a connected ecosystem.

Kath has spent more than 20 years designing and managing productive organic gardens, and in this conversation she shares how living plants can protect soil, feed soil biology, increase diversity, and help create gardens that require fewer outside inputs.

We talk about moving beyond the idea of a perfectly clean garden bed, why diversity is one of nature’s greatest strengths, how plant roots feed the microbial life beneath our feet, and why sometimes chopping plants down can be more beneficial than pulling them out.

This conversation is not about creating a “perfect” garden system. Instead, Kath encourages gardeners to observe, experiment, and develop a deeper relationship with their own place.

Because often the biggest changes in gardening begin when we slow down enough to notice what nature is already doing.

About Our Guest

Kath Irvine is the author of The Edible Backyard and Homegrown Fruit: A Practical Guide. She is a passionate permaculture gardener, teacher, and designer who has spent more than 20 years creating and managing productive food gardens.

In this conversation, Kath shares lessons from years of observing gardens, experimenting with different approaches, and learning how to work alongside natural systems rather than constantly trying to control them.

Her approach focuses on practical, productive gardens that provide food while building soil health, biodiversity, and resilience.

You can find more about Kath’s work at:

Kath Irvine – The Edible Backyard

Why This Conversation Matters

Many gardeners are taught that good gardening means keeping beds tidy, removing weeds, importing compost, and maintaining clear separation between plants.

But nature doesn’t garden this way.

In forests, grasslands, and natural ecosystems, plants grow together. Roots are constantly interacting with soil biology. Diversity creates resilience. Living plants cover the soil.

Living mulch asks a different question:

What if instead of constantly adding more inputs, we focused on creating the conditions where the garden could support itself?

For gardeners wanting a lower-input, more resilient garden, this conversation offers a different way of thinking.

Not a strict rulebook.

A different lens.

How do plant roots feed the soil?

Plants and soil microbes work together to create abundance.

Through photosynthesis, plants create carbohydrates and send some of these compounds through their roots into the soil, where they support microbial communities.

That microbial community then trades for carbohydrates. The two support each other. This relationship between plants, fungi, and soil organisms is one of the reasons healthy gardens begin below the surface.

Can living mulch work in a vegetable garden?

Yes — but it does not necessarily mean abandoning rows or productive systems.

Kath explains how gardeners can introduce diversity around their crops while still keeping practical structures such as:

• rows for crops that need them
• support structures for climbing plants
• dedicated spaces for vegetables

The goal is not chaos.

The goal is cooperation.

Why chop and drop instead of pulling plants out?

One of the biggest mindset shifts discussed is the idea of chopping plants down rather than removing them.

When plants are chopped and left in place:

• roots remain underground
• soil biology continues to be supported
• organic matter returns to the system

Kath explains that sometimes the best thing we can do for the soil is disturb it less.