Mulch

I love to read gardening blogs. I was reading one the other day, and the lady was talking about going out to "fluff" her mulch. She claimed that mulch that had been down for a couple of years got hard and didn't let the rainwater trickle through. How, exactly would one go about "fluffing" their mulch?

What kind of mulch was she using? Some of my flowerbeds are mulched with cedar chips and some with pine straw. I've never "fluffed" either and haven't had any problems with rainwater not getting through. In fact, one reason I'm swapping from cedar mulch to pine straw is because after a couple of years, wood chips have begun to break down badly enough that I have to add a new layer which gets pretty costly.

LOL! I don't know what type of mulch she was using, but everything I use is pretty much unfluffable after one season. I use organic materials and just add a new layer every spring - it's necessary here for water retention.

She really didn't say what kind of mulch she was using. I used to use 2-3 inches of bark mulch. But the last couple of years, I've started laying down 6-8 pages of wet newspaper, then put down the 2-4 inches of bark mulch. I have a good-sized yard and am getting older. And the weeds didn't seem to have a problem popping thru 2-3 inches of mulch! They are very persistent.

You and me both, gramma! I've been using the newspaper or cardboard layer for starting new beds, and it sure does work well for me, too.

Me three! I still love working in my gardens (flower and veggie) but age is definitely catching up with me! Too many aching joints, LOL. I'd be very tempted to try something like Preen but I have cats who think my flowerbeds are one big cat box! If y'all can get pine straw, I've discovered that it lasts longer than bark mulch because it breaks down more slowly. That's a good thing for those of us who have a little more trouble doing the physical work involved in gardening :-}

My favorite mulch is a mixture of grass clippings and shredded maple leaves. The leaves keep the grass clippings from clumping and the grass appears to prevent the little leaf particles from blowing away. Both add nutrients and tilth to the soil, without using a lot of nitrogen, as wood mulches do. Every fall I vacuum the leaves from my yard and store the shredded leaves in big plastic bags under my deck. Then in the spring and summer, I mix the leaves with grass clippings for my flower gardens. In the vegetable garden, I simply layer the leaves and grass clippings ... sometimes I use a small lawn rake to mix the two components together. This method is cheaper than buying wood mulch, and overall I think it's better for the gardens, too.

I have been putting my mulch down every other year as our $$ isn't as plentiful as it once was ^_^. I use natural hardwood mulch untreated...and yes I have to "fluff" it because it becomes ugly and compacted down. All I do is run my small gardening rake/claw through it back and forth till it loosens up and level it all out nice and even all over again. It works well however, I suggest taking some motrin if you can before going out as it's a bending down, kneeling on your knees and stretching kind of job...and don't forget your kneeling pad ^_^....

My experience has been that almost any mulch will compact over time, whether in the garden or in nature. While compacted mulch will hold moisture in, it also holds rain out! I, too, occasionally break up my mulch. I use an old canoe cushion as a kneeler, when absolutely necessary. But, I prefer a long handled tool, so that I don't need to do so much bending.

I do as others have mentioned, going through and disrupting the matted mulch, mixing it in with the first couple inches of topsoil and then smoothing it back over. By doing this, I have managed to almost eliminate the grasshoppers which previously invaded my yard and ate everything in sight. I read that their eggs/larvae whathavya are in the mulch and that hand tilling will kill them by exposure.

Heck to tell the truth, I am generally planting, moving, and rearranging stuff so much that the soil and mulch get disrupted fairly often!

And my cats think my flowerbeds are litter boxes too! I'm starting to get a little testy about it! Nasty trying to plant things and move stuff and you put your hand in a pile of it!!!! ARGH

One of mine is feral and if I walk into the yard he bolts through the LILY stalks, busting them in half as he goes! I hate that cat!

ughh time for the BB gun ^_^