Much Ado About Mulching

Welcome to my Toad Talk!

Good morning, my dudes!  It's a beautiful, sunny day here in north Alabama.  It's crisp and cool, and looks to be a spectacular week.  

So let's talk about mulch, because what else would we talk about?  😆

Your beds are clean.  Your flowers are planted.  Now you're ready to mulch. 

Mulch has more than one purpose - it not only makes your flowers and shrubs stand out in your beds, but it also keeps your weeds at bay.   

There are several different kinds of mulch that you could use, so let's talk about what kinds are available, and how they work for your beds. 

First, let's talk about organic mulches.  

This is what most people use.  It's your bagged mulches from the big box stores (but buy from small, locally owned stores if you can), and it can also be compost, sawdust, pine needles, straw, or wood chips.   You can buy mulch in bulk from your landscaper, also.  He or she can deliver it to your property in his truck or trailer, and install for you.    

Pros of organic mulch:  Well, it's organic.  That's always going to be healthier for you, because there are far fewer toxins.  It also allows you to often upcycle, as those tree limbs that you no longer need can be shredded into mulch.   Also, the darker your mulch, the warmer your soil underneath will be, and your plants can use that extra few degrees of warmth for growth.  

Cons of organic mulch:  It usually only lasts for about a year, so in the spring when you're ready to redo your flower bed,  you'll probably need to redo your mulch.  It dries out, and the color fades.  The faster it fades depends on how well your beds drain, and how much rain you get.  

Next, let's talk about inorganic mulches.

There are lots of inorganic mulches as well.   You can buy plastic or rubber mulch, geotextiles, rocks or stones, as examples.  

Plastic or rubber mulches aren't recommended by the Grumpy Toad, and let me tell you why.   It's best as far as longevity, because plastic or rubber mulch can last for years.  Instead of replacing your organic mulch every year, you'll have plastic or rubber for yeeeeears.    Guess what else you'll have for years?   Toxins in your flowerbed.   Many plastics and rubber mulches have VOCs (volatile organic compounds), plus other toxins that seep into your flower bed, as the mulch heats up.   Just doesn't seem safe to me, as far as your children, your pets, or your plants.  

Other, safer inorganic mulches could be rocks or stone.   There are many, many different kids to choose from, including lava rock.  Look how porous the lava rack is!  It's also deceptively light.  Not nearly as heavy as regular rocks and stones. 

My choice?   My choice is a little of both organic mulch and stone.  I love the way it looks!

 

Thanks for stopping by, y'all, and let us know if you'd like to set up a time to work on your flower beds for you! 

“Earth laughs in flowers.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

 Hello, my friends.    Let's talk about flowers today.  

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about getting your beds ready for the season.  Hopefully you've done so, and if not, go back and read the blog from March 21, to give you ideas on how to have a super healthy bed.  

Now you want your beds to be weed free, so make sure you prepare before you plant.   The problem we are going to run into is that for any chemicals or organic, safe weed killers we do use, they run the risk of killing your flowers and plants instead.   The best way to keep weeds out of your garden is to prevent them from getting there in the first place, and then keeping an eye on the bed.  

After your bed is ready, put down a good landscaping fabric.  You can buy them in different thicknesses, and the thicker your fabric, the better deterrent they are to weeds.  Now don't just plop the fabric down on top of the weeds and hope that the lack of sunlight will kill them.  Some weeds are far too sneaky, and far too aggressive for that.   Make sure your weeds are gone first, then lay the fabric.  Also - don't assume that you're finished with weeds.  You'll need to keep an eye on your garden, and if you do see weeds, you can pluck them out.   

Next is the fun part - flowers!   We here in north Alabama are in Zone 8A.  Look for flowers that do well in our zone.   I'm going to give you a few ideas, but please - either ask me or do your own homework.  Don't rely on big box stores with garden centers.  They are usually told what to sell by corporate, and they don't take into consideration our screaming hot sun in the dead of summer.  

You want to slope your flower bed height, starting with taller flowers in the back, and the shorter ones in the front.   I'm going to give you a couple of examples, but these are not my beds.   These images are used to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. 

This image is an example of sloping the taller flowers in the back, down to the shorter ones in the front.   You obviously don't want to put small flowers in the back, because you'll never see them! 

Now this is an example of a free-standing flower bed, set apart from your house.    The same rules apply, but this time, the taller flowers are in the center, sloping down to the outside, where the smaller ones are. 

When choosing flowers,  there are so many things to keep in mind.   First of all, do you want perennials?  They come back every year.   You may just want annuals, which usually last only one year.  

Good examples of perennials that do well in our climate? 

Irises

Lupine

Peonies

Russian Sage

Yarrow

These will come back every year if they are taken care of.  These guys do well in full sun, and also have varying heights, so you can build a flower bed with these, and it will look fabulous.  

Let me add my favorite flower - it's a perennial called hyacinth.  It's beautiful, and comes in pinks, purples, whites, and blues.  It's very tall, so it would do fabulously in the back of your flower garden, and the scent will knock you out!  

These are just a few examples of flowers that will do wonderfully in your bed.  

OK now once you have your fabric laid down, and your flowers planted, next you want to mulch.  Mulch also helps tamp down your weeds.  Also, make sure you (or your lawn maintenance professional) edge well around your beds, if they aren't hardscapes.  Edging helps keeps the weeds at bay as well.  

And that's it - that's the beginning of what could be a beautiful flower bed that will make your neighbors jealous!    Just make sure your plants stay well watered (early morning or late evening), and keep an eye out for any weeds.

Feel free to email me at grumpytoadlawncare@gmail.com if you have any questions about what will or will not work in your bed.   I'll be glad to help you!

Happy planting, y'all!  🎕

Drainage - Act 2

 Hey y'all, and welcome back to my Toad Talk!   🐸

We are going to finish up our drainage talk this week.   Last week, we talked about keeping the water off the house.  This week, we are going to talk about flower bed and perimeter drainage.  

Your flowers beds and immediate perimeter need good drainage too!  The wicking and weeping power of water is amazing.  It always flows downhill, and travels the path of least resistance.    It's our job to make the path flow away from our home, and not under the house.  

We do this by making sure that our beds drain away from the home.  There are ways to do this, some that we touched on last week.   If your beds are hardscaped, just have weep holes for the water to drain, and when you are building your bed, let your mind follow the path of the water.  Think about where it's going to come from, and where it's going to go.

Remember - it takes the path of least resistance.   

If your beds are edged, there will be an "escape," or weep hole 2 ft apart at the bottom of the edging.  That drains the water away, as long as you have weep holes in the hardscape, or your mulched bed tilts somewhat downward.  The important thing for you to remember is the water has to be able to leave the beds to get to the weep holes in the edging.  

You should make sure the soil around your house has 2" fall, 5' outside the drip edge of your home.  What that means is that you need to allow the rainwater to flow downhill.   Starting at the drip edge, until you are about 5' out, slowly allow the soil to fall 2" lower than where it begins at your house.  That makes for proper drainage.   Now keep in mind that soil will also erode, so you'll need to keep an eye on it to make sure that erosion doesn't wash your soil away entirely. 

The moral of this story is, the further we get the water away, the less damage it can do.   Remember - the Grand Canyon all started by the flow of water.  

In closing - check out these beautiful examples of ways to drain water away from your home.  It's call "rainscaping," and you can do it any way you like.  All you need is a little imagination, and a good load of smooth river rock!

Till next time!