Hi folks! I planted my first gardens last year and mulched over both of
them with stuff I got at Lowes. The garden in the back yard has pine bark
nuggets and the one in the front yard I covered with a shredded mulch (which
I believe was cypress) that had been colored a rusty reddish brown (I used
it because it matched my shutters :-). Needless to say, after the winter
we've had here in the DC metro area (zone 7b for me in Northern VA), the
mulch doesn't look too pleasant. So, I'm wondering if I can turn the soil
over and till the mulch into the beds and then mulch again on top, or should
I rake up all the mulch that's there now and replace it with new? Any
suggestions for me? Thanks in advance!

the mulch doesn't look too pleasant. So, I'm wondering if I can turn the
soil over and till the mulch into the beds and then mulch again on top, or
should I rake up all the mulch that's there now and replace it with new?

Your screen name intrigues me. I received my MSW in 1969. What kind of work are
you doing? You will find gardening very good burnout insurance.
You can either even the mulch out with a rake & mulch over it, or till the
mulch into the soil & apply a fresh layer. As it breaks down, the old mulch
will improve your soil.

Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

"Iris Cohen" wrote in message
...
the mulch doesn't look too pleasant. So, I'm wondering if I can turn
the
soil over and till the mulch into the beds and then mulch again on top, or
should I rake up all the mulch that's there now and replace it with new?


Your screen name intrigues me. I received my MSW in 1969. What kind of
work are
you doing? You will find gardening very good burnout insurance.
You can either even the mulch out with a rake & mulch over it, or till the
mulch into the soil & apply a fresh layer. As it breaks down, the old
mulch
will improve your soil.

Hi Iris! It's nice to know another social worker here! I'm working at a
not-for-profit human services organization overseeing a continuum of health
care "safety net" programs that assist low-income individuals and families
to obtain affordable healthcare, almost like a small-scale health plan. We
partner with one of the local county governments and with private medical
providers in the community, who offer our clients their services at a
reduced rate; the families pay a nominal co-payment and we pay the balance
of the reduced rate to the provider. I have a staff of 16 who help our
folks get hooked up with medical care and provide on-going family case
management. What about you? What's your area of interest? I
wholeheartedly agree with your comment about burnout insurance...I bought my
first house back in 2000, and I *never* thought I would get into digging in
the dirty, but I *love* it! I can't wait for spring to come so I can get
back out there! Thanks for your ideas about what to do RE my mulch
question!

Cheers!

On Fri, 14 Mar 2003 21:45:17 GMT, "Natty_Dread"
wrote:

Hi folks! I planted my first gardens last year and mulched over both of
them with stuff I got at Lowes. The garden in the back yard has pine bark
nuggets and the one in the front yard I covered with a shredded mulch (which
I believe was cypress) that had been colored a rusty reddish brown (I used
it because it matched my shutters :-). Needless to say, after the winter
we've had here in the DC metro area (zone 7b for me in Northern VA), the
mulch doesn't look too pleasant. So, I'm wondering if I can turn the soil
over and till the mulch into the beds and then mulch again on top, or should
I rake up all the mulch that's there now and replace it with new? Any
suggestions for me? Thanks in advance!


You could turn the old mulch into the soil or you could put the old
mulch into the compost bin. The old mulch is "brown" so by adding
green material you will have a well-heated compost heap. Or you
could put the old mulch under shrubs, around trees, etc.

Natty_Dread wrote:
Hi folks! I planted my first gardens last year and mulched over both
of
them with stuff I got at Lowes. The garden in the back yard has pine
bark
nuggets and the one in the front yard I covered with a shredded mulch
(which
I believe was cypress) that had been colored a rusty reddish brown (I
used
it because it matched my shutters :-). Needless to say, after the
winter
we've had here in the DC metro area (zone 7b for me in Northern VA),
the
mulch doesn't look too pleasant. So, I'm wondering if I can turn the
soil
over and till the mulch into the beds and then mulch again on top, or
should
I rake up all the mulch that's there now and replace it with new? Any
suggestions for me? Thanks in advance!


In the areas where the old mulch was thick, but just looked bad, I
redistributed it to places where it was thin, or to the out-of-sight
parts of the beds. Then I put a thin layer new stuff on top.

Of course raking it out, some of the old stuff came to the top, but that
just means I never get those couple of weeks that it looks brand new,
and go right to the nice, but not excessively fresh look that it'll have
later in the season.

If you really want, you could rake up the old stuff, compost it, and put
down all brand new decorative mulch. It'll look fresh and brand new for
a couple of weeks, but by mid-summer it's going to look the same as if
you just refreshed the top layer.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.

I found the last few years that I will pull it up... For me it just
takes to long to decompose in the beds. When I'd work with the bed
I'd stick my hands with larger pieces of cypress. Plus it seemed the
soil would be dense in some areas and not it others (where there was
more mulch) I'd rake it off and lay new, and put the old somewhere
you can't see it...

Kevin Miller
Zone 5


On Fri, 14 Mar 2003 21:45:17 GMT, "Natty_Dread"
wrote:

Hi folks! I planted my first gardens last year and mulched over both of
them with stuff I got at Lowes. The garden in the back yard has pine bark
nuggets and the one in the front yard I covered with a shredded mulch (which
I believe was cypress) that had been colored a rusty reddish brown (I used
it because it matched my shutters :-). Needless to say, after the winter
we've had here in the DC metro area (zone 7b for me in Northern VA), the
mulch doesn't look too pleasant. So, I'm wondering if I can turn the soil
over and till the mulch into the beds and then mulch again on top, or should
I rake up all the mulch that's there now and replace it with new? Any
suggestions for me? Thanks in advance!

That old mulch is superior to new stuff. Bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes
are all hard at work in that partially decomposed mulch. Don't waste it
now. Its good stuff. Reuse it on your property.

J. Kolenovsky
http://www.celestialhabitats.com


Natty_Dread wrote:
=

Hi folks! I planted my first gardens last year and mulched over both o=
f
them with stuff I got at Lowes. The garden in the back yard has pine b=
ark
nuggets and the one in the front yard I covered with a shredded mulch (=
which
I believe was cypress) that had been colored a rusty reddish brown (I u=
sed
it because it matched my shutters :-). Needless to say, after the wint=
er
we've had here in the DC metro area (zone 7b for me in Northern VA), th=
e
mulch doesn't look too pleasant. So, I'm wondering if I can turn the s=
oil
over and till the mulch into the beds and then mulch again on top, or s=
hould
I rake up all the mulch that's there now and replace it with new? Any
suggestions for me? Thanks in advance!

-- =

J. Kolenovsky, A+, Network +, MCP
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - commercial
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html