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I had 15 yards of mulch delivered this morning and have been hauling and spreading all day long.
My question is this...how deep should I have the mulch if the landscape is very mature? The trees and boxwoods are over 60 years old.
Just wondering. Thanks!!
I see that no one has answered you and to tell you the truth I don't really know either. I know that I think that is where I go wrong is that I don't put it down thick enough and I get weeds through it.
Here is an article I googled. I hope it is okay to post it.
I prefer at least four inches. I've been putting down mulch of one type or another (always wood) for 20 years and have turned clay into 4" of loam. Sweet!
Wow, I typed in six the first time. Don't know why....
Oh I should say that last year we got the mulch with the weed killer in it and it worked great. It was a little bit more expensive but it was worth it.
Tree roots want to breathe! I killed a tree (Bishopwood or beshovia) in Florida by covering the area around it with a fairly thin layer of topsoil for some bedding plants. My wife almost killed our laurel oak by mulching it heavily enough that termites began to infest it. I literally was injecting insecticide into holes in the trunk to save it.
Use a landscape fabric under a thin (3 to 4 inch) layer of mulch. That will provide the weed barrier, while allowing tree roots to breathe.
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Some peeps swear by land$cape fabric but personally I prefer newspaper. I do a thick layer of newspaper then I put 3-4 inches of mulch on top. The thick wet newspaper is an excellent weed block and it holds in moisture too. Also after a few years it kinda melts into the ground. You can start all over without having to deconstuct your beds. AND its free. Well kinda. Anyway its a great way to recycle your newspapers. B&W only no color pages. Colored inks have bad chemicals.
Theres a whole web site on something called Lasagna Gardening. You layer newspaper and other various things to build up your soil. Im a lazy one so all I do is mulch and newspaper. Works for me. Besides my dirt has been here since 1850. Mostly undisturbed so its pretty well amended already.
Please dont do those mulch volcanos around your trees. They need to breathe and youre suffocating them. Also tree roots grow close to the suface so they will just come up in the mulch gasping for air anyway.
Last edited by Cecilia_Rose; 04-17-2008 at 06:56 AM..
I am also a big fan of using newspaper. I find that it helps to attract the earthworms.
If you want to use the fabric in beds that you won't be making any changes , make sure you get the professional stuff I have found it at Costco & Sams. I just spent 2 days getting up the cheap thin fabric that almost disintegrated. I use the "if you can tear it with your hands" way to determine.
You never want to have the mulch up against the tree trunk or the branches of your woody ornamentals.
3" to 4" is a good depth
It helps keep the soil cool and helps to retain the moisture
around 4 inches is a good depth. if you do that much this year, you should be able to get by next year with just raking things around to freshen it up. We also have a lot of mature trees etc and this is our approach..kill ourselves hauling and spreading every other year!!!
I have never heard of mulch with weed killer in it! I'll remember that next year.
Thanks for all of your input. The mulch is still a work in progress. I have put it on about 2" think. It looks pretty good.
The brand name is Preen.
Preen Mulch Plus - How it works That's the website for the mulch. No, I do not work for preen. I've used it in the past with great success. I did have problems with seeds for the plants I wanted. I believe Preen includes a chemical to prevent germination. Now, I use cypress mulch to about 3-4" deep. No termites and it keeps its color until winter.
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Works for me. Besides my dirt has been here since 1850. Mostly undisturbed so its pretty well amended already.
