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Garden Dirt

April 27, 2026

MULCH MANIA!

LOL!  You guessed it, last week was our yearly Mulching.  We have several areas and paths where the ground cover is simply Mulch.  And while we constantly chip and apply natural Mulch all over the place, once a year we head to the store and buy multiple bags of the commercially chipped stuff.  So many bags.  It comes in color variations and has larger chunks than our little chipper makes.  That’s important because it breaks down much slower than the ‘in-house’ stuff and gives us the color blocks to break up all the green.  You want to make the green stuff easy to see.

In addition to the areas and paths we already Mulch yearly, we decided to add some new ones.  We’ve been working on expanding our walking paths to include a large loop around the back.  My Mom is in training for her Australia trip later this year.  Mulch was a good easy way to connect the new Rock Path section to the back Pine Needle area.  Kill the weed grass, level, and lay Mulch.  We added a few branch borders for shape, and done.  Now, if we can keep the raccoon from digging around in there, we’ll be golden.

Then there were the areas.  We expanded the Red Mulch Area around the entire Shell Circle.  It’s been years of weeding and adding grass, to the side that was supposed to be grassed, with no results.  My Nemesis weed took hold, and no matter how many times we completely killed it off, it came back.  The same happened to the one area we’ve kept grassed in the dry detention up front.  So, no grass or weeds.  Mulch.  Woo-Hoo!  It actually looks so clean and nice.  But that’s the magic of Mulch.  It makes everything look spiffy.

Around Our Garden

Well, there was Mulching, lots of it.  And spraying weeds and grass.  Not in that order.  There’s no ‘right’ way to spread Mulch.  Some people dump it on the ground and use a rake, tools, or their hands to spread evenly.  You can lay the bag on its side and open down the center and do the same.  You can toss it from the bag.  Whatever.  Personally, I like the ‘grab a big ball with both hands and shake/sift’.  It gives me some control over how much and how evenly it shakes out over the ground.  It takes forever, but it’s super even.  LOL!

A couple of tips, Mulch is much harder to spread wet.  It sticks together.  If it’s colored, it will transfer to hands and gloves, worse if wet.  If you pick the bags up wet from the store, let them dry out in the sun for a couple of days.  Make sure you do not set the bag you are trying to dry or plan on spreading in the irrigation spray.  LOL.  

Mulch needs to be laid thick enough to do its job.  Think, 2 inches minimum.  Natural wood, pine needles, leaf, etc will break down.  The thicker it goes down, the less likely it will break down enough to expose soil.  You don’t want exposed soil.  That’s how weeds and grass come back.

Harvest

We took 3 more Peaches.  Woo-Hoo!  The anti-bird and critter measures seem to be working with more ripening on the tree.  We go out there every day, usually more.  It helps the new walking path runs right next to it.  LOL.  By design?  Absolutely.

There were quite a few Orange Pear Tomatoes.  Those are a cherry or small variety.  So by nature they come in clusters.  Broccoli, Cabbage, Black Beans and Swiss Chard were also on the menu.  Unfortunately, something munched around the edges of one of the Cabbage heads.  Dang.  That’s why we plant many.   It’s also getting pretty hot out there.  We’re considering some shade cloth.  

Flowers

Last week the Purple Water Lilies went a little crazy.  From the 1st moment I laid eyes on one, it was worth the effort.  A huge cluster of them, absolutely breathtaking.  It’s been years and despite the constant work, we still think they are worth the effort.  It doesn’t hurt they bloom most of the year and the pollinators love them.  The iridescent purple petals, the yellow pollen glowing in the sunshine.  Amazing.

The Amaryllis is still going.  We love them.  Easy and pretty.  Unfortunately, I snapped the Picotee flower stalk off and had to take it in the house.  Luckily, it made another.  The Zinnias are starting to make big flowers, and the Yellow Daylies have so many flowers.  Woo-Hoo!  So golden and lovely.  Enjoy!

Check out What’s Bloomn’ slideshow for more flowers or visit Garden Dirt Diary to catch up on what’s been going on around Our Garden.