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Well I work 10-12 hour days, sometimes longer. I am a single parent of two kids that I have full custody of, which requires me taking them to sports, school activities and dr appointments. While I don’t mind physical labor, my body feels different. I broke my chest in an auto accident as a teenager. I still have back and chest issues. I hurtmy ankle this winter because it just gave out and caused me to fall. I still can’t put weight on it. I am physically older body wise than my age says...
How old are your children? Sounds like they're old enough to press into labor. And they'll work for the promise of a Pizza and Orange Soda. It is a side benefit of children that seems to be less and less utilized these days.
How old are your children? Sounds like they're old enough to press into labor. And they'll work for the promise of a Pizza and Orange Soda. It is a side benefit of children that seems to be less and less utilized these days.
One is 8 and he is a good helper, but the help is somewhat limited. My teenager has a condition similar to leukemia and has restriction what she can do. She is not able to do anything physical.
And your funny... pizza and soda. My 8 year old charges me $10 an hour.
I had a delivery guy that had a small tracked spreader tucked into his truck bed. He'll deliver whatever, roll it down and spread roughly for you, for no additional charge. This could have been the better option for you.
Bags are VERY expensive and you need A LOT of them for any meaningful coverage.
Did you consider wood chips? They definitely last long.
At 6 '' cover, I have same question. Something's not right. It should last several years.
Does your bed show soil or it's simply grey? With the initial beauty gone?
Hey, not to forget. Rocks are kewl, but weeds will grow between them and removing weeds from rocks is likely much arduous task than from mulch or bark. So if you want to be safe in that respect, before you spread your top cover, spread salt granules liberally over the bed, where you do not want anything to grow. Salt granules are sold in 40lb bags at Home Depot and 50 lb bags at farm supply stores. Here they cost respectively $7.5 and $7.5. get small granules, not the large ones. Salt prevents any growth, they actually salt ground before asphalting driveways here. Pretty thick layer of salt, but works great. Then just spread whatever your choice is over it.
I agree that it would be an awful job if you had to do both the filling of the wheelbarrow AND the spreading of the mulch. But the 8 year old could shovel into the wheelbarrow and you might get your fiance to do the rest if he knew he was going to get some help.
He wants to put rocks or rubber down. I like the traditional look of black bark mulch. But it is a lot of work.
What do you all use? Is there a compromise here?
In recent years I've stopped using the traditional wood mulch. Here's why: There's too much "repurposing" of materials. How do you know where the mulch has originated? It could have come from some swamp pit or other undesirable place, and then run through some process meant to restore it to a condition that makes it reasonably appealing for sale on the market.
I had a very unpleasant experience after buying mulch several years ago that was supposedly a high-quality product. As I was weeding the mulched area one day a swarm of angry sand flies or some type of insect that to this day I cannot definitively identify, stormed out from deep inside the mulch and stung me on my lower leg. Even now, many years later, I have scars and dry patches on the areas of the leg that were stung.
In recent years I've stopped using the traditional wood mulch. Here's why: There's too much "repurposing" of materials. How do you know where the mulch has originated? It could have come from some swamp pit or other undesirable place, and then run through some process meant to restore it to a condition that makes it reasonably appealing for sale on the market.
I had a very unpleasant experience after buying mulch several years ago that was supposedly a high-quality product. As I was weeding the mulched area one day a swarm of angry sand flies or some type of insect that to this day I cannot definitively identify, stormed out from deep inside the mulch and stung me on my lower leg. Even now, many years later, I have scars and dry patches on the areas of the leg that were stung.
It's rather unlikely that those insects came in the mulch. They would have had to survive the chipping process. Cedar mulch actually repels insects.
One is 8 and he is a good helper, but the help is somewhat limited. My teenager has a condition similar to leukemia and has restriction what she can do. She is not able to do anything physical.
And your funny... pizza and soda. My 8 year old charges me $10 an hour.
We pay a teen neighbor $10/hour to dig garden beds and spread mulch.
Gravel works in Las Vegas and other areas where there is so little rain that you need underground irrigation to keep a cactus growing. Anywhere it rains, it means weeds in the gravel.
Rubber mulch leaches toxic substances as it degrades, contaminating soil, plants and waterways. Might use it as cushioning under a swing set, but that's it.
An alternative is ground cover like Creeping Jenny, Ajuga, ...
When we had a big property and a Kubota, we got mulch by the truck load. Now, we have a regular yard and do sections with bagged mulch.
One of the purposes of mulch is to enrich the soil. No way would I ever use rubber. If you get a good layer of mulch down, you shouldn’t need to do anything but touch it up every spring.
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Cedar mulch actually repels insects.
