Mulch madness

After my sad chick news, I mourned for a few minutes, then moved on to plan B, mulching the new flower bed near the deck.

Of course, it wasn't that simple. First, I wanted to create a nice sharp edge, and I needed to weed again, as last fall, this area was full of broad leaf plantain and my weedly nemesis, ground ivy. I'm hoping the edging will help prevent weeds creeping in from the lawn. I had watered the bed the night before to facilitate weeding. Once weeding was complete, I again watered thoroughly, as the top 1 inch of soil was already quite dry. This area gets full sun, and another reason I wanted to mulch was for moisture retention. Then, along the deck where there are many persistent weeds coming in from under the deck, I laid a thick layer of newspaper, and soaked that thoroughly with water.

Finally, I was ready to mulch. It took an entire yard of shredded bark mulch, and most of the day. It looks good, and I know mulching is an excellent weed and water control strategy, so it was worth it. The plants still look a bit sparse in the bed but it will fill in over the next couple of years as the plants mature.

I just need to be patient, or I'll have an overgrown desperately needs dividing perennial garden like this one along the NE edge of the lot.

Yep, that's on my list, too.... I'll be dividing perennials and moving some of them to the other new bed across the path from the bed by the new deck.