1:26 PM Thu, Jun 07, 2007 | Permalink
Pat Feinstein  Email
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Organic mulches keep the soil moist and cool. Mulching helps making the task of weeding a bit easier. I have used quite a few truckloads and countless bags of mulch over the years. Now, I try to do ‘spot mulching’ or ‘area mulching’ after planting in the spring and after bulb planting in the Fall.
1990: Yellow wood chips.
I have tried many kinds of organic mulches including colored wood chips that used to come in red and yellow. Now I'm using mostly cedar mulch, black in color, as in the photo below.
Cedar mulch.
It is difficult to mulch a whole lawn with flowering plants that grow very close together.
However I keep adding mulches, hoping that the plants will benefit from the breakdown and added nutrients.
Red mulch, blue stones.
In 1995, I used red cedar mulch on the left, and white stones in the section that's just visible on the upper right.
I used a thick layer of rocks, perhaps 4 inches or more, in depth, in part of my front garden. The bottom layer was larger blue stones and I added smaller stones, first the blue ones and now mixed with the white and off white colors. The rocks kept the weeds away for a year or two, but that did not last.
The persistent nature of weeds always find their way to grow, spread and multiply, as if to test our patience and stamina. Planting, weeding and mulching will always be the essential elements of gardening.
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In some of the Blithewold gardens we use a gorgeous mulch made of buckwheat hulls. It slightly resembles cocoa shell mulch but is non-toxic (dogs can become seriously ill from ingesting cocoa shell mulch), organic and mold resistant. It makes a bed look dressed for the party!
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Thank you, Kris. I must try that.
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Pat, what is that gorgeous blue flower in the cedar mulch picture?
Where I lived before I was lucky enough to have some big trees in the yard. When they shed their leaves, I raked the leaves into a big pile in the back of the yard, and over the course of the year, would use the leaves for mulch. Meanwhile the bottom of the leaf pile was slowly turning into compost. I never have learned how to do compost "right," turning it and all.
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Be careful with too much mulch--woodies can be harmed if the mulch builds up high up on the bark of trees and shrubs. Give the trunks of such plants a couple inches of space away from mulch.
Also be wary of the black mulch. Last year one South County landscaper had his stockpile of black mulch "turn" on him, producing toxins that killed many of his customer's plants when he applied it in their flower beds. The black coloring absorbs more of the sun's heat resulting in a hotter pile.
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Thank you very much, Rudi, for the info. I hope that doesn't happen to anyone else. I have not seen any actions from the Gladiolus bulbs I planted earlier this season. Now, I'm beginning to worry, if the black mulch could be the cause of the problems.
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Karen,
The blue-purple flowers are Fritillaria persica.
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