Right behind mowing, mulching is the most energy-intensive, time-consuming and expensive form of yard maintenance people do on a regular basis.
Mulching has a purpose. It protects plant roots from extremes in temperature and moisture. It amends the soil by breaking down and adding carbon and other key nutrients to the ground. It creates a loose surface that inhibits weed seed from reaching the soil and germinating.
But if your idea of a garden is a bed of mulch next to a sea of lawn not only are you working too hard, but you are also not making the most of your yard.
You want low maintenance? Fill your beds. Leave no room for weeds.
Every year you garden you should buy less mulch, not more. I once worked with a young kid who declared on his first day on the crew, "I don't like plants, I just like fresh mulch." While that is a valid opinion one can have, I guess, I still may have yelled and cursed at him a little.
Mulch is there for the plants, not in place of them. Far too many people look at the mulch as the primary decoration, every year layering on more and more like icing on a poorly made cake. And don't even get me started on that ridiculously ugly dyed stuff.
Like with all good things, you can overdo it. There is such a thing as mulch toxicity. The process of decomposition pulls nitrogen from the soil. Plants require nitrogen. Especially with new landscaping, people tend to overmulch and often kill their shrubs in the first few years.
And weed-control fabric is a whole other pet peeve. Not only does it not work, but creating a barrier between the mulch and the soil defeats the purpose of mulching entirely.
Now, you might think this is just another rant from the lazy landscaper. But I've been studying this stuff for a long time, and if you'll indulge me, I'd like to explain some background.
There are two schools of landscape design in the Western world: the French and the English.
The French school is founded on the idea of imposing human control on the landscape. Think the Palace of Versailles, geometric shapes, perfect symmetry, perfectly pruned hedges and long promenades.
Now, that is all well and good if you have a nation's wealth and an army of servants to mulch it for you. But I'm willing to bet you don't, and your house isn't a palace. Mine isn't either. All the same, I'd rather pick flowers than prune hedges anyway.
Luckily there is another way!
The English style is just the opposite. Think a cottage garden, curved lines, big shade trees, perennial beds and banks of flowers. If the French style is imposing man-made control on the environment with straight lines and geometric shapes, the English style is working with Mother Nature to enhance her inherent beauty and grace.
Guess which one requires more hard work and maintenance?
As the old timers say, I told you that just so I could tell you this: There is no point in maintaining a mulch bed unless it is full of plants. Your plants can touch, they are supposed to - if they don't, you are going to spend the rest of your life trying to maintain that gap between them.
The idea of competition is overrated. Look to the woods for your inspiration. Plants come in layers, canopy, understory, groundcover. Mimic that in your own garden. Individual plants don't stand alone with a sterile buffer between each one, and different species don't segregate strictly into groups.
Fudge the edges. Mulch in the fall because that's when Mother Nature does it. Leave the leaves; they are mulch, too. Straight lines and perfect symmetry are hard to sustain. Why bother?
Gardening is supposed to be enjoyable. If you're fighting it, you're doing it wrong. With proper bed prep and plant selection, you can have waves of colors and a dynamic landscape with minimal maintenance and even less financial input.
Stick with me, and I'll show you how.
Alex Cole is a native of Fraziers Bottom who's been landscaping all of his life and currently lives off the grid in a small, solar-powered cabin he built on a 217-acre farm that has been in his family for six generations. Alex has expertise in permaculture design, maintaining vegetable gardens, repairing riparian zones and creating all new perennial and pollinator gardens. Reach Alex at alexcole989@gmail.com.