Now you have started planning the mulching of your landscape for March or a bit later into spring. You have picked a weekend out, you know where to go to get the mulch and now you are planning out the delivery and application onto your landscape.
What is the first thing you should? We recommend you plan on setting up a tarp on your driveway or some other strategic spot to put the mulch on once you get it home. You don’t want it spread on your grass as it will get messy, you will waste a portion of what you purchased and you will have the additional pain in the butt of cleaning that area up once you are done applying the mulch.
Next, make sure to get yourself a decent pair of garden or work gloves. The mulch may have just arrived on our lot, and if you purchased any of the dyed varieties that dye very well could start coming off onto your hands. The gloves will help you avert dealing with scrubbing your hands after you are done.
APPLYING MULCH AROUND YOUR LANDSCAPE
INITIAL APPLICATION, YEAR #1:
The first time you apply mulch to your flower beds, gardens and any other areas in your landscape that you plan on laying it down, follow this procedure:
- Clean out old mulch, weeds and any other debris you want to remove.
- Water the areas IF we have not received an overabundance of rain in the winter. We mention this because last year was a particularly wet winter and as a result most of the ground in our area was close to or fully saturated, so no watering would have been needed.
- Apply the mulch – as we mentioned in our previous article, the optimal amount in our area is around 3” (three inches).
- OPTIONAL: you can consider watering the areas where you just applied the mulch to help it settle. Do not over saturate though.
SUBSEQUENT YEARLY APPLICATIONS:
After the initial application you will be happy to know that this yearly chore gets significantly easier every year thereafter if you stay consistent and do it every year.
- You only need about ½ the amount of mulch as the 1st year.
- Ex.: If you purchased 4 yards of mulch for your 1st application, you only need 2 yards every year after that.
- When applying, just top off over the old mulch. You do NOT need to remove the old mulch, as it will act like compost product as it decays. THIS WILL SAVE YOU MONEY, TOO.
ADDITIONAL POSITIVES FOR FOLLOW UP YEARLY MULCHING
- You do not need to water the new mulch if you are leaving the old mulch. If the old mulch has done its job and conditions were not extremely dry then there will be plenty of moisture already present.
- Our personal experience also tells us that you should not need to lay down any herbicide either. Some recommend it, but we believe that in most cases unless you have a specific invasive plant species issue you are best to remove any unwanted weeds or other plants by hand during your mulching process.
There you have it… your comprehensive plan for applying mulch. In the first year, and every year thereafter.
Are you thinking about undertake the important job of mulching your landscape this spring? Then come on into Stone Distributors now to get properly prepared. If you have any questions about how much mulch you will need, which color will best suit your landscape or how to best apply the mulch on your property initially or in subsequent years, just come right on up and ask any of our knowledgeable, friendly staff and we will be happy to help you.
We are conveniently located at 1675 Bells Ferry Road in Marietta. Come right onto our lot, contact us at (678) 354-0566, or visit us online at https://www.stonedist.com. You can also follow us at or our Stone Distributors Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/stonedist/ or on Instagram. We are open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays (today) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; closed on Sundays. #Stone_Distributors #SpringMulch
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