Mulch Ado: Bringing a Little Order to Wild Beauty

FARMER’S MARKET

We went to the market in the early day. It’s always good to wake up on Saturdays, get going doing stuff, so you can have a full day. We got some local goods like cut kale and a kale plant. We got what the vendor described as “Mexican-style Giardiniera,” which is EXTREMELY hot (apparently. My wife is the only one who’s had some as of now.). My daughter got some homemade, organic lip balm.

THE PARK

We went to the park and had a nice time after our shopping.

HOME DEPOT: Trip 1, Trip 2 and Trip 3

I went and got a bunch of bags of mulch. Brown mulch and red mulch. Got back and then started the WeekendGardenSoldier session!

MULCHING

The best things I like about mulching are that it helps identify and isolate the plants that I actually planted. Of course, there are the known benefits of mulching: Retaining moisture and keeping weeds down.

FERTILIZING

CURRENT AFFAIRS: The Garden

What we did to Recycle the Tree Stumps on our Property

TREE STUMP RECYCLING: Raised Bed Framing the Leftovers

We’ve had several trees cut down on the property. Storm damage was a problem. Many of the types of trees we had on the property (Siberian Elm) were susceptible of tree diseases and parasites. So we got the idea to build raised beds around the stumps. The were among the first woodworking planter projects I did. In pictures, the oldest planters and raised beds are the ones featuring the spire finials or ball caps. They’ve lasted the longest. I think that’s because of the full sun exposure. I recommend that you put your planters in places where they will have full sun. The ones we have in the backyard where they get less sun are falling apart and requiring repairs quickly. Obviously if you use cedar for the planks and the posts that should make them last longer.

POPULATING ONE OF THE RAISED BEDS FRAMING AN OLD STUMP

We never really had anything that great in it. Last year we put Daylilies in. I tried to put yarrow in. But there’s been lots of weeds in it. I think it’s because of it’s distance from the house. But, obviously (given the southern exposure of the front yard period) I thought I may as well put the rose clones out there.

TREE STUMPS: Other Options

My wife says that you should always pay to have your tree stumps ground down. Unless the insurance company is paying, which is what happened when a storm knocked a tree down (onto our house); I would not pay to have a stump ground down. My advice would be to wait awhile; drill holes in the stump; and then, pour some of that stump-killer into the holes.