Edging and Mulching!

When we bought our house 17 years ago we inherited a landscaping nightmare.  The first floor of the house was covered with overgrown evergreens and there were no decent plants to be found anywhere.  A row of unkempt privet hedges bordered the side of the yard and a whole section of the yard near the garage had been used to dump old motor oil!!

Little by little I have worked to turn that mess into something beautiful.  Now that I've got nice plants and bushes in place, I take some time every spring to cut the edges of the beds and then lay down a thick layer of mulch.  I used to cut all my edges with a shovel, but last year I bought an electric edger that cuts that whole process down to 20 minutes!

I even cut a 6-8 inch border around the edge of my rock-bordered gardens.  That way when I put down mulch I can mow that grass easily and not ever have to use a string trimmer!

A thick layer of mulch serves many good purposes:

1.  It cuts down on weeds significantly because it stops the sun from reaching the soil where the weed seeds are.  If you just sprinkle a little mulch, you aren't going to stop many weeds!

2.  It breaks down and eventually composts itself into the soil.

3.  It keeps the plants' roots cool and helps them to thrive in the heat of the summer.

4.  It makes a beautiful backdrop for your flowers and foliage!

I'm not a fan of black plastic/canvas under mulch because it encourages bugs (that love darkness and heat-yuch!) and you will eventually have weeds on top of the plastic.  Plus, the ground underneath will turn so hard it resembles rock!

So, get out there and do some edging and mulching!!