Posts Tagged ‘mulch’
Wood Chips As Mulch
Q: I am having some trees removed and would like to have them chipped up and spread around my plants and flower beds. Is this a good idea? A: Arborist wood chips are an excellent landscape mulch! Unlike other mulch...
Repurposing Pine Pellets
Q: I have recently switched my cats from clumping clay litter to pine pellets. How can I repurpose the pellets somehow in my yard? A: I don’t see a reason not to use the “enriched”pine pellets as mulch underneath your...
Cuttings, Perlite, And Peat Moss
Q: I have rooted several cuttings from an oak leaf hydrangea in a mixture of perlite and peat moss. I’m not sure what to do next. A: In a sheltered spot outdoors dig a trench six inches deep and a...
Leaves/Needles – Don’t Acidify Soil
Q: I’ve heard that pine needles and oak leaves cause soil to be acid. Is this true? A: This is a gardening myth that should be put to rest. While needles and leaves from all trees may be acidic initially,...
Mulch Leaves – Don’t Rake
Q: I am tired of raking! Is there any reason I can’t shred lawn leaves with my mower and not rake them into piles for removal? A: There are two good reasons to let your mower do the work. One...
Mulch – More Myths
It is hard to mess up making macaroni and cheese from a box, but somehow I did it. During a recent kitchen foray, I mixed in a handful of my son’s other favorite food, bacon. This immediately rendered the entree...
Mulch Myths
One day he’ll finally crack. My across-the-street neighbor, Carl, has a roof covered with pine needles. I need pine needles right now to mulch my newly-planted shrubs, trees and pansies. My hope is that Carl will make the decision to...
How to Mulch Correctly
You can’t have a productive,long-lived landscape without mulch. WHY MULCH? The right mulch in the right place can be a real blessing. It conserves moisture, keeps down weeds, keeps the soil cool and makes your yard more attractive, among other benefits....
Stone Mulch – Bad for Trees
Norm Mittleider, owner of The Art of Pruning (770-407-1511) read my comments about using stone mulch in a landscape. He comments: “You could not have said it any better when addressing the question of using stone as mulch. I have...
Oak – ‘Sudden Oak Death’
Q: I read in the newspaper a few weeks ago about a “Godzilla” fungus that is attacking oak trees. My husband and I were taking a walk recently and we noticed that our neighbor has some type of black lesion...
Stinkhorn mushroom – Identification and Control
Q: A mulched area under one of my trees has a large number of stinkhorns in it. It is beside my children’s bedroom windows and it certainly has the correct name of “stink”! Is there any way to kill them...
Flower bed – conditioning soil
Q: I have an existing flower bed that was tilled with soil amendments at the beginning but maybe not enough. Will top dressing the entire area with soil conditioner this fall help areas that are lacking in amendments? The bed...
Iris – Propagating with seed
Q: I have several beds of small purple iris. All the stalks have seed pods. They have dried up and there are several seeds in each one. I have about all the iris plants I can handle, but would like...
Cherrylaurel – Leaf Spot
Q: We have a Carolina cherrylaurel in our backyard. It has some brownish-gold spots as well as some small holes in the leaves. It gets early morning and afternoon sun with spotty shade most of the rest of the day....
Scorpion – Control
Q: I know a couple who purchased a large piece of country property recently. They are experiencing an infestation of scorpions. The pest control companies they’ve contacted say they can’t help them get rid of the problem. Isn’t there something...
Pinecone Ginger
Q: I was recently in Bainbridge. A lady was making a flower arrangement with “flowers” I have not seen before. The flower looked like a six-inch tall pine cone on a very thick stem. She called this a pine cone...
Mulching – Correct Procedure
Q: I’m confused about “proper mulching”. I see references everywhere that I’m supposed to mulch but no information on how to do it correctly. I’ve been told by a fellow gardener that I’m mulching too close to my plants. Could...
Tomato – Planting in Same Spot
Q: I’ve always heard that you shouldn’t plant tomatoes in the same spot two years in a row. I had a great, sunny spot for tomatoes last year and they were plentiful. I’m limited in space and would like to...
