Hi,

I'm a novice who prefers doing almost anything besides pulling weeds and
grass out of my mulch beds. The weeds aren't so bad since they are sporatic
and I can easily pull them. At this point I'm more worried about the grass
that keeps encroaching into the mulch beds.

I've been in this house for about a year. I added about 3 inches of hardwood
mulch in the spring and plan to do this every year. It looked OK until about
a month ago. In various places the grass is now getting into it. I don't
have any sort of border between the mulch and grass. Should I be adding more
mulch over the course of the year? If I bury the grass with more mulch will
that kill it? As you know grass is very hard to pull since the roots are so
thick.

Walking thourgh my neighborhood I see some houses that look better than mine
and some worse. Some of the mulch beds have a channel cut on the border,
about 3 inches wide and 3 inches deep. This seems to stay clean. Any idea on
how they do that? What are some other ways? Chemicals? Any advice is greatly
appreciated by myself and my aching back.

Rick

Rick wrote:
Hi,

I'm a novice who prefers doing almost anything besides pulling weeds
and
grass out of my mulch beds. The weeds aren't so bad since they are
sporatic
and I can easily pull them. At this point I'm more worried about the
grass
that keeps encroaching into the mulch beds.

I've been in this house for about a year. I added about 3 inches of
hardwood
mulch in the spring and plan to do this every year. It looked OK until
about
a month ago. In various places the grass is now getting into it. I
don't
have any sort of border between the mulch and grass. Should I be
adding more
mulch over the course of the year? If I bury the grass with more mulch
will
that kill it? As you know grass is very hard to pull since the roots
are so
thick.

Walking thourgh my neighborhood I see some houses that look better
than mine
and some worse. Some of the mulch beds have a channel cut on the
border,
about 3 inches wide and 3 inches deep. This seems to stay clean. Any
idea on
how they do that? What are some other ways? Chemicals? Any advice is
greatly
appreciated by myself and my aching back.


There are a couple of approaches you can take. But at the very least,
get an edger.

A good landscaper with a really big edger is probably the best thing if
the lawn hasn't been edged in some time. If you want to change the
position of the edges, that would be a good time to do it, too. They can
put in a deep, v-shaped edge for you to start with.

I would then pull-back any existing mulch, and lay down newspaper a few
layers thick all long the edge, and in any other gaps or places where
the grass has been encroaching. Cover that with the old mulch, and any
new mulch to bring it up to two or three inches. Just mulch isn't going
to stop the grass.

Then with your new edger, refresh the professional's edge at least every
second mowing.

Other approaches involve installing edging. Either something that goes
down deep enough to stop the runners, or tall enough that you can change
your beds to raised beds with more soil and mulch than the grass can
grow up through. (I'd also put down newspaper before filling it up.

One thing that's being hawked on TV alot here is installing a permanent
edge: concrete curbing. They can say this looks good until the cows come
home, but it still looks like too much to me.

--
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.
Blatant Plug:
Support me at: http://www.holzemville.com/mall/

"Rick" wrote in message ...
Hi,

I'm a novice who prefers doing almost anything besides pulling weeds and
grass out of my mulch beds. The weeds aren't so bad since they are sporatic
and I can easily pull them. At this point I'm more worried about the grass
that keeps encroaching into the mulch beds.


Install an underground barrier, which you will find at Home Depot or
any other garden center.

On Tue, 05 Aug 2003 18:01:09 GMT, "Rick"
wrote:
Hi,

I'm a novice who prefers doing almost anything besides pulling weeds and
grass out of my mulch beds. The weeds aren't so bad since they are sporatic
and I can easily pull them. At this point I'm more worried about the grass
that keeps encroaching into the mulch beds.

I've been in this house for about a year. I added about 3 inches of hardwood
mulch in the spring and plan to do this every year. It looked OK until about
a month ago. In various places the grass is now getting into it. I don't
have any sort of border between the mulch and grass. Should I be adding more
mulch over the course of the year? If I bury the grass with more mulch will
that kill it? As you know grass is very hard to pull since the roots are so
thick.

Walking thourgh my neighborhood I see some houses that look better than mine
and some worse. Some of the mulch beds have a channel cut on the border,
about 3 inches wide and 3 inches deep. This seems to stay clean. Any idea on
how they do that? What are some other ways? Chemicals? Any advice is greatly
appreciated by myself and my aching back.

Rick
Yeah, I'm in pretty much the same boat. I'm biting the bullet and
edging the borders using an edger, and then making a v shaped trench
about 3" across. Not sure if I'm going to install an edging material
yet. I'm dropping newspaper and then mulch on existing grass.

Swyck

wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Aug 2003 18:01:09 GMT, "Rick"
wrote:
Hi,

I'm a novice who prefers doing almost anything besides pulling weeds and
grass out of my mulch beds. The weeds aren't so bad since they are
sporatic
and I can easily pull them. At this point I'm more worried about the
grass
that keeps encroaching into the mulch beds.

I've been in this house for about a year. I added about 3 inches of
hardwood
mulch in the spring and plan to do this every year. It looked OK until
about
a month ago. In various places the grass is now getting into it. I don't
have any sort of border between the mulch and grass. Should I be adding
more
mulch over the course of the year? If I bury the grass with more mulch
will
that kill it? As you know grass is very hard to pull since the roots are
so
thick.
snip
Rick
Yeah, I'm in pretty much the same boat. I'm biting the bullet and
edging the borders using an edger, and then making a v shaped trench
about 3" across. Not sure if I'm going to install an edging material
yet. I'm dropping newspaper and then mulch on existing grass.

Swyck

I have four inch steel edging around all my beds, but I also have a bermuda
lawn, which find that edging height a minimal challenge. Every three to four
weeks I mix up a sprayer full of RoundUp, which I use to beat back the
invading grass. Occasionally a stray weed comes up through the mulch, but I
pull them or spray them with RoundUp if I happen to be edging the bermuda at
the time. This is effective when I am diligent about staying ahead of the
invading grass or weeds.

John

Hello again and thanks to all who have responded. The consensus seems to be
that a trench should be dug to separate the mulch from the lawn. The lawn
should then be edged to keep the trench clean. This should be do-able for
me. I can start small with a couple of the worst mulch beds. I have quite a
few some don't seem to have the problem.

I've seen the Black and Decker LE750 hog edger. This is an electric edger
that can supposedly dig trenches as well. It seems to go for around $89. Has
anyone used this thing and can I cut the trenches with it or should I get a
professional to do that? Maybe I'll start a new thread asking about this.

A few people mentioned using newspaper to smother the grass and then mulch.
I'll try this as well since digging the grass out is very difficult.

Thanks again for all responses.

Rick

"B & J" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Aug 2003 18:01:09 GMT, "Rick"
wrote:
Hi,

I'm a novice who prefers doing almost anything besides pulling weeds
and
grass out of my mulch beds. The weeds aren't so bad since they are
sporatic
and I can easily pull them. At this point I'm more worried about the
grass
that keeps encroaching into the mulch beds.

I've been in this house for about a year. I added about 3 inches of
hardwood
mulch in the spring and plan to do this every year. It looked OK until
about
a month ago. In various places the grass is now getting into it. I
don't
have any sort of border between the mulch and grass. Should I be adding
more
mulch over the course of the year? If I bury the grass with more mulch
will
that kill it? As you know grass is very hard to pull since the roots
are
so
thick.
snip
Rick
Yeah, I'm in pretty much the same boat. I'm biting the bullet and
edging the borders using an edger, and then making a v shaped trench
about 3" across. Not sure if I'm going to install an edging material
yet. I'm dropping newspaper and then mulch on existing grass.

Swyck

I have four inch steel edging around all my beds, but I also have a
bermuda
lawn, which find that edging height a minimal challenge. Every three to
four
weeks I mix up a sprayer full of RoundUp, which I use to beat back the
invading grass. Occasionally a stray weed comes up through the mulch, but
I
pull them or spray them with RoundUp if I happen to be edging the bermuda
at
the time. This is effective when I am diligent about staying ahead of the
invading grass or weeds.

John

You don't need to buy an power tool if you have a strong back and a weak
mind 8-). I edge my beds using an ordinary spade, a shovel with a flat
blade. I keep it sharpened with a file. Go along the bed, cutting into the
soil with the spade and pushing away from the edge. You can then lift out a
wedge shaped chunk of sod and soil. (The chunks make good compost.) Line
the edge of the bed with newspaper, then add mulch, keeping the mulch a few
inches below the height of the lawn. You can run the wheels of the
lawnmower inside the bed, which will tend to "scalp" the edge and help keep
the grass from straying.

It doesn't take all that long, and I only need to do it once a year, with a
few touchups later in the summer if it's been a wet year. Best of all, no
power tool to purchase, maintain or replace.

Cheers,
Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA

"Rick" wrote in message
...
Hello again and thanks to all who have responded. The consensus seems to
be
that a trench should be dug to separate the mulch from the lawn. The lawn
should then be edged to keep the trench clean. This should be do-able for
me. I can start small with a couple of the worst mulch beds. I have quite
a
few some don't seem to have the problem.

I've seen the Black and Decker LE750 hog edger. This is an electric edger
that can supposedly dig trenches as well. It seems to go for around $89.
Has
anyone used this thing and can I cut the trenches with it or should I get
a
professional to do that? Maybe I'll start a new thread asking about this.

A few people mentioned using newspaper to smother the grass and then
mulch.
I'll try this as well since digging the grass out is very difficult.

Thanks again for all responses.

Rick