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Old 22-06-2004, 01:03 AM
Warren
 
Posts: n/a
Default Use Weeds Killer to Keep Weeds Out of My Flower Garden?

Jay Chan wrote:

I know I could have put mulch to suppress weeds and to ease the task
of pulling out weeds. In the first year after I put mulch in the
flower garden, I found that the mulch really helped me to reduce weeds
in my flower garden. But a couple years later, the mulch is pretty
much rotted and decomposed to be similar to soil. This means it no
longer functions as mulch.

If I keep adding mulch, I will do more harm than good. The reason is
that the flower garden is a rised bed around the house foundation.
There is only 8" clearance between the mulch and the wooden structure
of my house. I am afraid that putting more mulch will reduce the
clearance to a point that I will invite termites into my house.


Unless your raised bed around the house is sitting on a slab of
concrete, the soil and mulch will settle over time, and by the time the
mulch "no longer functions as mulch", you'll probably have enough
settling that you'll be able to put new mulch right on top.

You could also use a stone or gravel mulch right next to the house --
like the first 6-12" from the foundation, and start the organic mulch
away from the house. You shouldn't be planting that close to the house,
and you can probably find a stone that goes well with your organic
mulch. For example, red lava rock would work well in the back of a bed
mulched with a red or brown bark mulch.

--
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.
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