In Neil wrote:
I like it as is also, but the strip in question eats over 5 truckloads
of mulch a year. Too much for me to put down.

I know pretty much what I have.
The stubby green bushes are Forsithia that have been pruned against
their natural habits.

There are some sickly azeleas, probably due to the lack of light from
all the trees.

A number of large burning bushes (hard to see in the picture) which
grow well but never turn red in the fall, again due to lack of light.

There are lots of bulbs, but what the squirrels don't dig up, the deer
decimate so I'm not going to plant anymore.

Again, the idea is low maintenance. Removing all the fallen leaves is
hard enough, having to lay down 9000 sq ft of mulch is just too much.


i'm afraid what people are (sort of) saying to you is that it just
doesn't get much more low-maintenance than what you have. are you
hoping someone will tell you to cut down and remove all those beautiful
old leaf-dropping trees? you'd get more light and fewer fall leaves, i
guess, but weeding that 9000 sq ft will be a whole lot more work than
the mulching you just did. do you want to asphalt over the strip?

it sounds like the expense of the mulch is what you want to avoid. are
you sure the area "eats" all that mulch every year?

sam
pnw z/8