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The previous owner of our house considered herself a master gardener, according to my neighbors. Of course, this has resulted in me yanking out yards and yards of english ivy, loads of invasive bushes and vines, trying to tame what she considered to be a "wild, nature garden" - which I would like, if the azaleas weren't 12 feet high in the front of the house
Anyway, I can work on that sort of thing slowly but surely. My issue is the amount of mulch necessary to keep down weeds in the beds she planted. We live on 1/3 acre, but the front yard ALONE requires 23 cubic YARDS of mulch (assuming 2" depth). The back yard is at LEAST that much, no joke. We have lots of trees (bradford pear, ugh, some sweetgums, bigger UGH), I am fighting moss in the backyard though I have somehow gotten some cool season grass to gross there (and I live in SC), and I don't have it in the budget to lay down sod over everything (what grass we do have in the front, that isn't being overtaken by clover, is Palmetto St Augustine, think I am fighting a losing battle there). The problem is, the only mulch that even sort of works to keep down weeds is a sort of brown wood chip, which I am fairly certain runs $27/cubic yard. We seem to lose plenty of this over time due to decomposition and raking up leaves, so IMO, the bill just for mulch is astronomical.
I'm trying to research other options - one being perennial ground cover, but preferable a mix of it, and stuff that may flower. I bought a few seed packets, some are already sprouting - creeping thyme and speedwell, sedum acre, roman chamomile - but will this, interspersed among bushes, perennial plants like hydrangeas, etc, reduce the need for mulch significantly? Is this an incredibly odd approach to the "problem" I have? Any alternatives that won't give me a $1000 bill every year?
Starry,
I live in Aiken country, we live on a sand hill, wooded lot, and boy, I totally
understand what gardening is like here. A lot of work. But worth it.
Moss grows where there is poor drainage. Tilling and adding composted
cow manure greatly improves drainage.
English Ivy is a nightmare.
Round Up on the Ivy is your solution, and cuttin the vine, as much
as you can get, then ROund up the last 3 inches of the vine near the gorund.
Don't bother planting anything in SC without mulch.
Mulch is your friend.
Order it from a local nursery, call around, they will dump it and you can
gradually spread it where you want it during the year. I still have some
from last fall, but I will eventaully use it all. Buy a wheel barrel.
Try to buy cement edgers to keep the mulch where you need it so it
doesn't disappear. Our storms are really windy and bad sometimes in the
summer, so this way it will stay put.
St Augustine grass will grow in partial shade, that is why people down here
use it. It also does well in sand.
Centipede grass needs 1 1/2 inches of water per week during June, July and August,
but grows slowly and spreads real nice in the sun. It only needs fertilizer once
a year and loves sand. Very low maintaince.
It grows slowly, which means less frequent mowing when it is 100 degrees
out.
The more mulch you get delivered, the cheaper it is.
THe cool season grass will definately die in the summer.
Centipede grass for a nice big area will cost you about 50.00
You have to water it alot til it grows in, but it's worth it, in SUN.
Get a soil test, your soil is missing something if you have clover
growing, you may have to add it.
Hydrangea LOVES water. That is why I don't have any.
DOn't rake your leaves, get a mulching lawn mower and mulch them
into the soil. Leaves are better than manure and rot fast down here.
Mulch, Mulch, DOn't rake leaves, and composted manure.
And more mulch LOL!
And so it starts again.....
Can you divide the hydrangeas? If they're somewhat large, you can dig them up and make root divisions and spread them around. Voila, free hydrangeas, and you'll cover more ground. I bet you can at least split them in half.
My mom gave me root divisions of hers and they got pretty big in one year. These were serrata and macrophylla hydranges, but it probably works for any hydrangea. She divided the plants when they were leafing out in Spring.
If you have patience and can take another year, you may be able to make new hydrangeas using stem cuttings. I did this and got the hydrangeas to root...but the first year, I put them out too soon and they died over the winter. I have another lot that I put out, and I'll see how they've done once it warms up.
The previous owner of our house considered herself a master gardener, according to my neighbors. Of course, this has resulted in me yanking out yards and yards of english ivy, loads of invasive bushes and vines, trying to tame what she considered to be a "wild, nature garden" - which I would like, if the azaleas weren't 12 feet high in the front of the house
Anyway, I can work on that sort of thing slowly but surely. My issue is the amount of mulch necessary to keep down weeds in the beds she planted. We live on 1/3 acre, but the front yard ALONE requires 23 cubic YARDS of mulch (assuming 2" depth). The back yard is at LEAST that much, no joke. We have lots of trees (bradford pear, ugh, some sweetgums, bigger UGH), I am fighting moss in the backyard though I have somehow gotten some cool season grass to gross there (and I live in SC), and I don't have it in the budget to lay down sod over everything (what grass we do have in the front, that isn't being overtaken by clover, is Palmetto St Augustine, think I am fighting a losing battle there). The problem is, the only mulch that even sort of works to keep down weeds is a sort of brown wood chip, which I am fairly certain runs $27/cubic yard. We seem to lose plenty of this over time due to decomposition and raking up leaves, so IMO, the bill just for mulch is astronomical.
I'm trying to research other options - one being perennial ground cover, but preferable a mix of it, and stuff that may flower. I bought a few seed packets, some are already sprouting - creeping thyme and speedwell, sedum acre, roman chamomile - but will this, interspersed among bushes, perennial plants like hydrangeas, etc, reduce the need for mulch significantly? Is this an incredibly odd approach to the "problem" I have? Any alternatives that won't give me a $1000 bill every year?
I don't understand. You need that much mulch for 1/3 acre? Do you have any lawn? When we had a half acre, I never got more than 8 cubic yards in a season, and now that we have three acres and extensive berms and foundation plantings, the most we have ever gotten for all of it was 30 yards in a season.
I don't understand. You need that much mulch for 1/3 acre? Do you have any lawn? When we had a half acre, I never got more than 8 cubic yards in a season, and now that we have three acres and extensive berms and foundation plantings, the most we have ever gotten for all of it was 30 yards in a season.
The majority of my front yard is mulch - at least 3/4 of it. I'd say at least half of my back yard is. In the front there's about 10 feet of grass, then mulch till the front path which runs parallel to my house, and mulch past that up to my house. The back has at least 15 feet of mulch (more in several areas), depth-wise, along two sides, which runs the entire length of the backyard, and mulch surrounding all of the trees and bushes in the center. Would it help visualizing it if I posted pictures tomorrow? It's just overwhelming to maintain.
Tina, this is a google maps picture of the front from before we bought the house - where the bushes, etc starts, it pretty much goes straight back to the house with room for a small path, and all the way to the driveway on the left. The backyard has this amount of space mulched on two entire sides.
Edit to add, the circles just show where I removed some bushes. It looks a bit different now, because I felt there was a jungle in my front yard, lol. Still, just more to mulch, or cover with ground cover.
It sounds like you have a few woody plants and tree's. Why not buy a small wood chipper and run your cuttings and trimings thru it. I picked one up for about $500 at a discount hardware store a couple of years ago and have been chipping my own mulch since then. This may not be a total solution for you, but it should help.
It sounds like you have a few woody plants and tree's. Why not buy a small wood chipper and run your cuttings and trimings thru it. I picked one up for about $500 at a discount hardware store a couple of years ago and have been chipping my own mulch since then. This may not be a total solution for you, but it should help.
uh
That is something I suggested to my husband a while back, but we can't have a shed (HOA thing), and he prefers to keep the cars in the garage, lol. I might push for it again in the future, though I'll keep an eye on how much wood we do actually see through fallen limbs, etc. I know it won't cover the amount of ground we need to deal with.
The majority of my front yard is mulch - at least 3/4 of it. I'd say at least half of my back yard is. In the front there's about 10 feet of grass, then mulch till the front path which runs parallel to my house, and mulch past that up to my house. The back has at least 15 feet of mulch (more in several areas), depth-wise, along two sides, which runs the entire length of the backyard, and mulch surrounding all of the trees and bushes in the center. Would it help visualizing it if I posted pictures tomorrow? It's just overwhelming to maintain.
Yes, photos would help a lot.
It would be so much easier and I imagine way easier to maintain if you scaled back on the mulched areas significantly and put in some turf. That amount of mulch is just insanely expensive, and you won't be doing it just this one time. It biodegrades. And though mulch does suppress weeds, it doesn't eliminate them. You'll be doing a lot of weeding. Wow. I get tired just thinking about that.
That is something I suggested to my husband a while back, but we can't have a shed (HOA thing), and he prefers to keep the cars in the garage, lol. I might push for it again in the future, though I'll keep an eye on how much wood we do actually see through fallen limbs, etc. I know it won't cover the amount of ground we need to deal with.
In my experience, chippers are expensive and unreliable. Everyone I know who has had one cusses at them constantly.
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Making more Hydrangeas for free
