Garden

[Another new name Sue]

We use mulch extensively to conserve water and keep down the weeds in my arid zone. A host was bashing mulch to promote the sale of a ground cover.  Silly!

Maybe I'm being silly, but I found it annoying that someone on a gardening show would criticize an effective technique used by millions of gardeners. She also complained about hours of weeding. Try mulch!

[Trix]

 @Another new name Sue ITA.  While groundcover can be an attractive element to a landscaping, it does not completely choke out weeds.  I have have Pachysandra in all of my garden beds around the property, but still have to pull weeds out of it in order to keep the weeds from overtaking the groundcover.  Aside from applying a chemical such as Preen, mulch is the most effective anti-weed method I know of as a gardener.  Your point about water conservation when mulch is used is absolutely something we gardeners should take into account.  At my favorite local garden center they promote groundcover for what it is -- a carefree plant which is also good for areas where other plants tend to fail; quick cover for bare spots; to use around trees; as a border... but never as a substitute for using mulch.  

Oh well.  It's not the worst offense, but rather another wonderful example of the statements which the hosts resort to in order to sell the item they are hawking at the moment.  

[software]

Not every solution works for everyone.

There are alternatives.

[Icegoddess]

Was it the sedum they have been pushing this year?  

I also mulch extensively.  I just put down 14 bags Monday and that was just 2 beds.  Still have a three level rock garden and 4 or 5 more beds to do.  I buy the bags because I have a short bed truck and we don't really have anywhere to put a large dump load to have it delivered.  So, I wait for the Lowes mulch sales which, at least last year, seemed to come every two weeks.

If I mulch after the plants come up out of the ground I do get to use less.  It's a little more difficult because I have to use care to get it around the plants but not cover them up vs just dumping and spreading in the areas where there are no plants.

I am trying to get some periwinkle started in the back corner of the rock garden in front of a stand of Solomon's Seal, but it's not for mulch conservation. Nothing much grows back there.  

Besides weed suppression, mulch also keeps roots cool, conserves water, and it decomposes to feed the soil.

[JustJazzmom]

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@Icegoddess wrote:

Was it the sedum they have been pushing this year?  

I also mulch extensively.  I just put down 14 bags Monday and that was just 2 beds.  Still have a three level rock garden and 4 or 5 more beds to do.  I buy the bags because I have a short bed truck and we don't really have anywhere to put a large dump load to have it delivered.  So, I wait for the Lowes mulch sales which, at least last year, seemed to come every two weeks.

If I mulch after the plants come up out of the ground I do get to use less.  It's a little more difficult because I have to use care to get it around the plants but not cover them up vs just dumping and spreading in the areas where there are no plants.

I am trying to get some periwinkle started in the back corner of the rock garden in front of a stand of Solomon's Seal, but it's not for mulch conservation. Nothing much grows back there.  

Besides weed suppression, mulch also keeps roots cool, conserves water, and it decomposes to feed the soil.

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Plus it keeps soil temperatures even, so plants are less likely to heave during frozen/thaw cycles.

Remember though if you use fresh, unaged mulch to add a nitrogen fertilizer over it so as it decomposes and ages it doesn't take the nitrogen from the soil when your plants are.

[Icegoddess]

A few years ago we had a silver maple tree taken out.  Those roots are a mess, plus it was always growing down.  I was continually lopping off low-hanging branches.  The whole top just fell out into the street one day with just a gentle rain.

Anyways, when the tree guys came I kept looking at them grinding up all those branches and mentioned that I would like to have the mulch.  Oh no,  they said, there's 3 trees worth in there.  I took the guy around the yard showing all the areas that had to be mulched.  So, when they were done he said "Back it up boys" and they dumped it in the back of our driveway.  I didn't spread any of that until the following year though because I knew not to use fresh mulch.  The money I saved on mulch though more than made up for what we had to pay to take the tree down.  Just my labor spreading the stuff.  We still have a mound of what is left which is nothing but compost now that we are going to till into the dirt on some bare spots in the yard before putting down some Bermuda sod.

[Julie928]

Our backyard is set up with a koi pond, flower beds, a shade garden, deck & patio.  The rest is mulch.  Flagstone paths and mulch.  We have three large dogs and lots of mature trees.  I gave up a long time ago trying to grow grass.  I love it!  I get compliments all the time from guests and neighbors about how nice our yard looks.  So far this year, I've used 106 bags of mulch!  I take a lot of pride in our yard and love looking out the window and thinking to myself ~ 'hey, I did all that!'  :-)

[cookie16]

We have used mulch around our home but now realize it throws mold spores onto the siding, windows, trim etc. We purchased this home and it was stained brown with brown trim as well.  I hated it and last year we had it stained a medium grey with white trim. I love it,  however, now little spores are on the exterior. They even get on our window glass.  This is mulch used around the front of the home.  Anyone else have this problem?  Looking for suggestions.

[JustJazzmom]

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@cookie16 wrote:

We have used mulch around our home but now realize it throws mold spores onto the siding, windows, trim etc. We purchased this home and it was stained brown with brown trim as well.  I hated it and last year we had it stained a medium grey with white trim. I love it,  however, now little spores are on the exterior. They even get on our window glass.  This is mulch used around the front of the home.  Anyone else have this problem?  Looking for suggestions.

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Was a mildewicide added to the product you used to stain the wood? Mulch has never caused mold spores to occur on glass. You may need to use a bleach based cleanser to remove the mold from those surfaces. How shady is the area? Lack of sun and moisture can cause mold to grow on surfaces.  

[Icegoddess]

I have never had a problem with mold from mulch as far as showing up on the siding and I have a very shady back yard.  We have green mildew going down the chimney on the north side of the house, but that's up high and there's no mulch over there.