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We bought our house last fall, and the previous owner had landscaped two small beds flanking the front steps and bordering the porch with black cedar bark mulch around some boxwoods and ornamental shrubs. This spring and summer, we've been focusing on other things related to maintaining an early 1900s home, and vegetable gardening in the back, and didn't pay a ton of attention to the front yard landscaping. As a person who has rented for years, and previous to that, grew up on a farm where decorative landscaping was at a minimum, I have no experience with mulch.
I've now turned my attention to the front yard, and I've noticed that a lot of weeds have grown through the mulch...mostly dandelions and lamb's quarters, along with a few tiny rogue maples that have sprung from whirligigs off a nearby tree. I suspect he (seller) did the landscaping on the cheap...doesn't appear to have put down any black plastic or landscaping fabric, first, nor is there any sort of border separating the edges of the mulched beds from the lawn...no pavers, no edging at all. Consequently, grass and clover has also encroached upon the mulched area, and is taking over.
I got replacement mulch over the weekend to top off the existing mulch, which is somewhat faded, and I've gone through and weeded and dug out all the big weeds, but what about the places where the grass and clover is encroaching? Can I just lay the mulch down and choke it out, or do I need to pull all that up, too? I'm assuming chemicals like roundup can't be used without it being to the detriment of the existing shrubs that are there? I'm not likely to remove all the existing mulch to put down the barrier that never got put down in the first place, but what do I need to do in regard to the encroaching grass and clover? Bury it, or dig it out? Appreciate the help, as this is new to me.
It takes a very thick layer of mulch to smother weeds, at least six inches. And although mulch is a good discouragement to weed growth, it will not stop some weeds from popping up anyway. Mulch needs to be replenished every year or so to remain at an effective depth.
Grasses, especially bent grasses like bermuda and St. Augustine which grow by underground stolons, are extremely invasive. They will creep into flower beds and shrub borders, under mulch and edging, and anywhere else they please. To keep a neat border between your yard and the mulched beds you will need to go through every so often with a shovel or other edging tool and dig along the edges of the lawn to keep the grass from sneaking away.
Even with good gardening techniques and mulch, some periodic maintenance is required for any kind of landscape to get rid of unwanted weeds, tame invasive plants, and maintain a well groomed appearance.
It takes a very thick layer of mulch to smother weeds, at least six inches. And although mulch is a good discouragement to weed growth, it will not stop some weeds from popping up anyway. Mulch needs to be replenished every year or so to remain at an effective depth.
Even with good gardening techniques and mulch, some periodic maintenance is required for any kind of landscape to get rid of unwanted weeds, tame invasive plants, and maintain a well groomed appearance.
Totally agree-even with a good amount of mulch plus plant cover there is always maintenance-debugging-decrittering/weeding to be done.
Unfortunately all true. Be aware too that too much mulch left alone can sort of become an impenetrable barrier to moisture - you really need to sort of moosh it around periodically and keep it loosened up. Mulch in general will soak up a lot of moisture and hold on to it - good and bad. Bad if you don't water enough to also soak the ground underneath it, good in that if you do manage to get everything nice and soaked you then don't have to water as much.
The large deep 'moat' (without water) between lawn and bed is probably the best thing to keep grass from encroaching.
Be thankful they didn't use landscape fabric. All that happens is that eventually weeds start growing in the mulch and the tougher ones through the fabric and then you go nuts trying to weed all that without disturbing the fabric which will eventually pull up and show through the mulchand become unsightly. Under say rocks, its not such a bad thing.
Yeah, regular maintenance is assumed. So you're saying I CAN put the mulch down over the top of the shorter grass/clover that's grown in? All the big, noxious stuff, dandelions, etc. is stuff I've taken out already.
What I'll do sometimes when I want to mulch over a section of grass is lay some newspaper (1 or 2 sheets) down over the grass and then put the mulch on top of that. The paper helps kill the grass but it decomposes pretty quickly under the mulch.
If it's just a small amount, I'd yank the grass up and put down the mulch directly.
Agree that the moat is the best way to separate beds, but creepers will grow into that as well.
Awesome, putting down paper seems like it will fit the bill really well for something like this.
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