You know your yard is too big when they deliver mulch by the pallet!!!!
Time to Mulch.............
I usually have mine delivered by the truck load, but the free kind from tree trimmers.
that is a LOT of mulch,lol. Thank goodness I am surrounded by pine trees!
Really, Josephine?? Who do you use?
Our soil and water here is so alkaline that we use Pine Bark Mulch to give the area just a bit of acid. Can't get that by the truck load.....I wish we could. If you know of someone....let me know! I would be ever so appreciative.
lizzie - send me some Pine needles!!! Ha ha!
We use a shredded pine bark mulch in our flower beds, except for the one under the big oak tree in the front of our house. When we first moved in, we dug up the bed (it's just a little strip of a thing) and added all kinds of amendments to it. I must've raked up 3 years of dead leaves! We planted some stuff and put down a nice thick layer of shredded mulch. The first good rain washed it all away down the driveway!! We went back to mulching with the leaves from the tree. LOL I do have to rake out half the year's leaves though, which we run over with the mulching lawnmower, then put on our veggie bed for mulch. What we don't use in the veggie garden goes to the compost pile.
In the 7 years we have lived in Texas I have learned so much about soil, mulch, and water, I feel like a farmer!!! We moved from California where you threw something in the ground and it grew. Not so here......FIRST it has to take the heat!!! Plant in full sun directions on plants always gets a laugh from me now. And we learned early on, if you didn't mulch, your plants either died, or your water bill was atrocious!
And we still love it here! Go figure...ha ha.
Full Sun on plants = partial shade in Texas.
Stephanie, we call our local tree trimming service called Tree Top Tree Service, and they are very happy to deliver.
You can find them on the web, although I don't know if these guys would deliver to Fort Worth, but you could check.
There must be some in Fort Worth who do the same, they are happy to give you the load because the landfill charges them $75 to unload there.
Some plants can take full sun here, the really crazy one! But you are right, most prefer a bit of afternoon shade. I do have plants growing in full sun.
C
Here in Ok the inmates clean up the roadsides and chip most of the smaller branches which is blown into strips about a foot deep and maybe 10 or 12 feet long and I just go up on the mountain near my house and fill a couple of garbage cans and use quite a lot of that plus all of the debris from 5 large sweet gum trees I don't put on much of this until the ground is getting very warm ..If I apply too soon it holds back the warming process..BTW the reason for the cutting and cleaning of the right of way is to help protect the deer from animal/auto collisions
In my small town, they shred the plant & tree cuttings from the roads then leave the stacks of mulch in front of City Hall for anyone to pick up. Free mulch! Check with you local tree trimmer who has the contract with your city. It's natural,undyed and fresh. The only thing I have to watch for is poison ivy clippings.
Yes, we can get it free from the city as well. However, I know what I send in to be composted and mulched and I'm not sure I want to deal with that! LOL
So when is the best time to start mulching? I got six bags out there waiting. :)
Sylvia
As soon as you can, if the plants are up mulch around them.
One year my DH and I decided to mulch early just to get that chore out of the way. That was when we learned about the Oak trees molting! OMG....it was such a mess. Now we wait for the leaves to be ON THE GROUND before mulch comes out!
I could write a book on the garden mistakes we've made!