Getting ready for mulch

Thursday, April 3, 2008

I finally got all of my major plants in the ground in my back landscape bed and my spring bulbs have also popped up, so it's time for mulch.

Mulch is important in the Florida garden because it helps conserve moisture and keep weeds to a minimum.

I decided to lay a thick layer of newspaper underneath the mulch for extra help supressing weeds. The brown stuff you see on the newspaper is composted cow manure, as suggested by The Wicked Gardener -- it helps make the newspaper less noticeable if it peeks through the mulch, and it adds nutrients for the plants to use.

I'll post a photo once I get the rest of the bed mulched (I ran out of time and supplies).

3 comments:

Wicked Gardener said...

Oh! The danger of offering advice is that someone might follow it! Well, this method has always worked for me. And it has majorly increased the worm count in the beds I've done this with, so I must be working. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

The newspaper method is a new on on me but I'm always willing to try out a new idea. Most of the newspapers now days are so full of ads they should be buried...haha
I ran across yoru blog while doing a search for Hakonechloa 'beni-kaze' on google images and I'm sure glad I did. I'll be back.
Rees Cowden

Kim Taylor Kruse said...

Thanks, Rees! It's nice to know that people stumble across my blog through Google (the omnipresent Web tool that it is).

Wicked Gardener -- no worries. You're not the only one recommending newspaper. In fact, I just found a yellowed newspaper clipping in my office from 1998 that suggested the same thing! I thought your addition of cow manure was a nice touch, though.