This was my project yesterday -- mulching the garden. We've never spread mulch in the whole time we've been here, but after having that ivy cleared we were left with large expanses of bare dirt. For years we've also had a problem with black spot fungus on the roses, which apparently happens when the fungus overwinters on leaves and other debris scattered at the base of a rose bush. I'm hoping that by removing all those leaves and spreading mulch, the fungus will less effectively spread.
So I ordered ten 100-liter bags of bark mulch from Wickes, and let me tell you, that's a lot of mulch. Two guys delivered it yesterday morning, leaving it at the side of the house just inside the garden gate, and I fully intended to spread it gradually over the next week or two. But I hoisted one bag into the garden and opened it up just to see how easily it would spread and how much ground it would cover, and once I did that one it seemed like I should do the next one, and so on.
Pretty soon a couple of hours had elapsed and I'd spread eight bags full.
First I did the area under the hideous camellia, which had been full of ivy, taking care not to cover the corms of the irises that will come up and bloom in May.
Then I figured, what the heck, I'm already filthy, I may as well do the center flowerbed too. This is a little trickier because we have some plants that haven't come up yet and I had to try to remember where they are.
I only spread the mulch about an inch thick, so water can still get to the roots of the plants when it rains. I know that won't entirely stop weeds -- especially ivy -- but it should be discouraging, at least. And it smells so good! Kind of piney, or maybe a bit like turpentine. It's conifer bark chips (old Christmas trees?) so that makes sense.
By the end I was exhausted and sore and I have no idea what I'll do with the remaining two bags of mulch. Maybe just wait and see what areas need more. Or I could mulch the south side of the garden, under the walnut tree and the big hydrangea.
Another spring project more or less done!
Last night, as I was reading the NYT, Dave and I were talking about the news and I saw that Gwen McCrae had died. Dave didn't know who she was, and I said, "Oh, come on, you don't know 'Rockin' Chair'? You'd know it if you heard it." I played him this fabulous '70s video, which is so bizarrely produced that you just can't look away. Spinning color wheels, a dancing shirtless mime in green overalls -- what's not to like?!
Apparently McCrae was from Miami, part of the same music scene that produced KC and the Sunshine Band. I knew "Rockin' Chair" because I somehow had a 45-rpm single of it when I was a kid. Where I got it I have no idea. I'm sure I didn't buy it. The song is pretty obviously about sex, but as a young person I only ever pictured a chair!
I think after a bit of rain the mulch will sink and you might want to use the remaining bags on new bare spots. I used to like mulching, because it instantly made the area look better.
ReplyDeleteIt really is a huge visual improvement. We'll see if it holds off the weeds!
DeleteI did not know McCrae's name but I do remember some of her music. I only learnt today that Roberta Flack died last month too.
ReplyDeleteIs ten, 100 litre bags a tonne? It sounds a lot.
No, it's not a ton. The bags are about the size of a big bag of dog food, maybe?
DeleteI expect that mulch will settle and you’ll want to add those two remaining bags. That’s satisfying work and I love that smell. I have no recollection of Gwen McCrae. I just watched the Rockin’ Chair video and, nope, I didn’t know it. And the shirtless guy in the green overalls would have caught my attention.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Maybe it was a regional hit?
DeleteTHE MULCHING SONG
ReplyDeleteOh, a-mulching we will go!
A-mulching we will go!
Don't even need a spade or a hoe
A-mulching we will go!
Mulching here and mulching there!
We go mulching everywhere!
But how does it sound to a disco beat?
DeleteIf it is pine bark chippings then the camellia will love it as it will add to the acidity of the soil. We have a huge pile of bark chippings left over from the trees that were felled last year so our garden borders are almost all covered now. It does look much neater I agree.
ReplyDeleteThe bags say it's "conifer" chippings, which I assume means pine of some kind.
DeleteIt is satisfying to get out and work in the garden
ReplyDeleteIt is! I feel like I've accomplished something.
DeleteI do like a good mulch in the garden, but it can be exhausting putting it all down!
ReplyDeleteA lot of bending and stooping, not to mention hauling those bags!
DeleteI don't remember that song at all. Congrats on the mulching work! It looks good, Steve.
ReplyDeleteSeems like many people here don't remember it. Maybe it wasn't as big a hit as I thought it was.
DeleteMulch is magic. Good job on getting all that spread! Your garden will thank you.
ReplyDeleteVideos in the seventies were rather unbelievable. You can take that any way you want.
Ha! They really ARE unbelievable, in all senses. I guess the technology was pretty limited then, especially on a budget.
DeleteSorry ... I never mulched anything!
ReplyDeleteI never heard of Gwen nor that song!
Consider yourself lucky for the former, but unlucky for the latter. :)
DeleteI have never used the mulch you bought. I use grass clippings as we go along in the summer.
ReplyDeleteI would have used old leaves but the gardeners raked them all up and took them away! Of course that wouldn't have solved the black spot problem.
DeleteThat sounds like a big job with lots of lifting and bending. No wonder you were sore. All that work should produce great results.
ReplyDeleteThat is a song that I don't recall but I do remember when music videos looked a lot like that one.
It's funny to see videos like that now, but on old-style color TVs they probably looked fine, given that the picture quality was not what it is today.
DeleteI use pine bark mulch though I still have almost three full bags of pine needles I got from my friend Gene which I'll use around the azaleas. The pine bark will go round the spring garden once i get it planted. I used to be able to hoist the bags but now I put one on the hand cart and roll it over to where I want to spread it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I wish I'd had a wheelbarrow. It would have helped!
DeleteI don't know McCrae either so Dave is not alone! As for the mulch, I still have four bags sitting in my driveway from last year because I can't really move them without help and by the time I get it, it seems things have grown over so much it's hard to put down! No wonder you were sore. And it doesn't go quite so far as you think, does it? Well, I say three, cheers, well done and I hope you had a martini!
ReplyDeleteI thought ten bags would be enough and I wasn't wrong, but I could probably have used 15 and done the whole garden!
DeleteBe Proud Of That Manual Labor There Brother Man - But Loved That Olga Girl Lounge Lizard Act - Passing Of Icons Definitely Shocks The Nervous System For Sure - Not Looking Forward To Hearing The Dreadful News When Danny Elfman's Day Comes
ReplyDeleteStay Strong You Three ,
Cheers
I looked up Danny's age and he is getting up there! And Bridget too. Time marches on!
DeleteI haven't thought about that song in AGES, but was able to sing right along when I clicked on the video. I was old enough in 1975 to know exactly what it was about! 😂 It's now usurped the ear worm of "Your so vain" that I had from the last blog I visited this morning.
ReplyDeleteOK, thank goodness SOMEONE else has heard this song! I was beginning to think I was crazy!
DeleteWhen we lived in Issaquah, WA we had a huge yard, 100 foot set back, that was a hill. We'd have 50 yards of mulch delivered, and then spread it using wheel barrows. We were much younger then and obviously not very bright. We could have had it sprayed by the bark people. That yard was terrible.
ReplyDeleteCan you spray mulch? I've never heard of that! Mulching a hill does not sound fun.
DeleteThat sounds like a lot of work but what a sense of accomplishment on getting it done! I'm sure most of my flower beds need mulch but when I plant my annuals, I do dump potting soil in each hole. That will have to do! I've never heard of that singer but am wondering if I've heard the song. Off to listen!
ReplyDeletePotting soil will help give them nutrition, for sure, but it won't help stymie the weeds!
DeleteI do not remember that song. I am not sure it made it this far north. That is a lot of mulch. I understand not wanting to stop once you have begun something. All I can tell you is that tomorrow you will happy you worked so hard today. Even if you can barely move.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sometimes you get going with a project and you just want it DONE! I'm sure you experienced similar working on your house.
DeleteIt's funny how yard work goes like that, and then all of a sudden it's supper time and you hurt all over:)
ReplyDeleteI don't know the song but that video was very seventies.
Hilariously '70s, I would say!
DeleteReminds me of a song: 'we are mulching to Pretoria...'
ReplyDeleteHa! "When the saints go mulching in..."
DeleteThe mulch you have spread will be great for keeping weeds down and provide moisture for the plants. The mulch also defines the garden space which I like too.
ReplyDeleteSpreading mulch, like gardening, is good exercise.
I remember the song and have not heard it for many years. Thanks for the memories.
RIP GM.
Mulch really does make the beds look better and more defined, which ours needed!
DeleteWe used to mulch but found that it attracted ants here. I hope you don't have that issue. It does make a garden look lovely and it cuts down on maintenance; I wish I could have it again.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have many ants in general in the UK, at least not like we had in Florida! Time will tell if and how this changes the ecology of the garden.
DeleteDid you ache after all that work? I don't remember Gwen and her rocking chair.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I felt better than I thought I would. I was afraid I'D need a rocking chair!
DeleteIf you are ony spreadin the mulch an inch thick or even two inches there is no need to worry about anything that hasn't come up yet, they will grow up right through the mulch. You did a lot in one day! Give the rest to the walnut tree area, can't hurt.
ReplyDeleteYeah, there's not really a downside to mulching, is there?
DeleteYikes! typos!! Tsk Tsk.
ReplyDeleteWe go through a fair amount of mulch every year. It is an effective way to keep down weeds in area allowing me to more easily mow the grass and keep things orderly looking.
ReplyDeleteHow thick do you spread it? I'm told spreading it too thickly is a problem for the plants because the rain doesn't reach them, but I feel like I may have kept things a little thin.
DeleteP.S. I was very naive when I was younger when it came to the meanings of songs. I thought Meatloaf's song Paradise By the Dashboard Lights was truly about enjoying a baseball game on the radio in a car's dashboard glow.
ReplyDeleteHa! Kids just don't hear songs in the same way. I remember listening to "Afternoon Delight" and having only a vague sense that it meant something sexy -- as if there's any doubt!
Delete