Monday, April 13, 2009

How mulch is too mulch?

Last year's mulch has done a disappearing act from the bermed areas of the garden. I blamed gravity and the mow-and-blow guy, but apparently it's because it was composted vegetable matter and it's now completely broken down and is busy enriching our soil. As a result, Mr. MulchMaid is having a gob of new mulch delivered this week, and the MulchMaid will get a chance to show her stuff. Since the truck can't get past the driveway, it will all need to be wheelbarrowed into the back yard.

The Mulchman wanted to get a "unit" delivered. I wasn't so sure: 7-1/2 cubic yards is one big-ass pile of mulch to move. We compromised on four yards. That should still keep me out of trouble for the next few weekends.

5 comments:

  1. OMG...4 cu yards of mulch! Instead of the Sunday hikes perhaps we should help carry the load. Cheers! Alan

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi! Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog. Now I'm here to check out yours - looks great so far! I'm going to learn a lot about PNW plants here, I can tell. We are in completely different zones (I'm in So Cal, and I think in zone 10), but I love gardening, so it's all good!

    My one request - photos of the HOUSE! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Jane, looks like you're off to a good start on your new blog, I'm looking forward to seeing how your garden develops, and glad to see what other Portland area gardeners are up to.
    And yes, 7 1/2 yards is a huge pile. I think I usually go with about 4 yards of compost yearly, and it goes a long way, and covers every inch of exposed soil I have, which grows all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am coming around to mulching as opposed to digging in compost in planting areas, due to reading Linda Chalker-Scott's book debunking many of my gardening practices. What is your favorite type of mulch? Plain compost or some kind of mix? I keep thinking I'll rent a truck and go get some, since the delivery fees in Seattle are pretty steep.

    ReplyDelete
  5. On seeing your blog, I've started to wonder what Vita Sackville-West and Gertrude Jekyll would have done with photographs. Much better, I'm sure. I'm finding it great fun to follow what you're doing and I'm so glad you took pictures all the way.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you in advance for jumping through the annoying but necessary word verification hoop to leave your thoughts!