"Rob Barrett" wrote in message
...
Newbie alert....

Being quite happy with my garden's little show of spring bulbs and with
my pruned bushes actually coming nicely back to life, I'm thinking about
my next move.

I've read in a number of places that mulching the various flower beds
and shrubs is a great thing -- better looking than bare soil, weed
control, moisture retention, etc. So I was preparing to order some bark
when I decided to look around at the gardens in my neighborhood in
Durham and I noticed that hardly any of them are mulched.

Am I missing something? What are the downsides? Why don't others do
it? Maybe I should use this as a way to meet my neighbors?

confused,
Rob

To work well what ever you mulch with needs to be kept on the garden beds
(blackbirds will attempt to flick it all off) so some sort of raised edges
are useful.
We only weed in February before topping up the mulch (although we use garden
shreddings the principle is the same) so the advantages are great.
On the down side is the expense if you have to buy in the mulch, worth it if
you don't like weeding!
detractors will tell you it will become a cat toilet, but cats will used
turned soil and since if its working you don't have to go anywhere near it,
it doesn't really matter!

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)