You got a lot down! I love the look of mulch when it first goes down, it just sets everything off.

Better you than me!

Oh wait.....I emailed and asked for more too

Arrrrrrrrrrrrgh ! You are going to make me cry. I can't purchase mulch up here and have to go out and collect it and bring it back to my garden.

I've made two trips so far this week. In both cases, my friends came out to help me and brought their guns. At Frank's, the issue was that the place where I could get the best leaves happened to be infested with rattle snakes. I got 12 bags of leaves that I had to bring home and shred with a weed wacker in an old garbage can before I could put them down. Nope, I am not going back to Frank's again this year for more leaves. I don't like rattle snakes.

When I drove down to BJ's to collect the leaves she had shredded for me last fall, I felt totally blessed. Pure gold !! and they did not need to be shredded. Yes, she carried her gun, too, because she's had bears and cougars showing up on her property this week, but mostly at night. I had to quit at twilight because she was getting kind of nervous.

I only got 14 bags at BJ's. I'll have to make several more trips, but I won't have to worry about snakes.

Smiles,
Lyn

Great stuff, mulch! Well worth the hazards of acquisition.

Christopher, just think, you won't have to go to the gym to work out for quite some time. And, it will look great and your roses will love you.

Bears, cougars and rattlesnakes - sounds like my kind of place. The rattlesnakes at least will usually warn you. Bears and cougars, not so much. Glad you made it back unscathed.

Ingrid

Lyn

Does PG&E or Edison have tree crews come by and trim the trees away from power lines? Those crews will often drop you a load or two of chips free if you ask. Our chips from from a couple of different tree trimming companies.

It amazes me at how quickly a freshly chipped pile like the one in the photo will start heating up and decomposing. Even as it came off the truck the same day as chipped it was hot. Any place I have it 4" deep even after spread out it is changing.

Our local "dump" grinds the greenwaste and will deliver it to you free of charge, but that stuff stinks and I know I put a ton of nasty weeds in our green bin so I want nothing to do with that stuff! But the neighbor has gotten several loads and other than the smell and having some trash, she has had no weed issues from it.

Porkpal .... you are so very right about the benefits of mulch being worth the labor and, this year, the risk, to collect the mulch. I've brought dead soil to life with years of mulching twice a year.

Ingrid ... The bears and cougars don't scare me as much as just the thought of the rattle snakes. The baby ones do not warn you. I'd rather not meet up with any of these critters.

Kippy ... Yes, I can get good clean wood chips from the utility pile. They have to clear the easements under the lines for fire safety. Up here, it's a case of you-want-it, come-and-get it. Wood chips are my second choice of mulch, because I have to spend time separating out the larger pieces as they decompose slower than the smaller chips and look awful by mid-season. I'll use them, if I can only get fresh leaves for mulch to keep the leaves from flying all over.

I won't touch the green waste from the dump. Too many people use Round Up for their brush control for fire safety. I don't want that stuff in my garden.

Both Frank and BJ have to clear the leaves on their properties for fire safety. Frank is going to build a compost bin for me and spray it with vinegar for next year's leaves. The vinegar keeps the snakes away.

BJ has gotten her riding lawnmower working, so she is going to shred and bag this year's leaves, so they will be easier for me to collect.

It's a win-win for all of us, because they cannot burn the leaves, but must dispose of them. I just feel very lucky that I have the kind of friends that want to contribute to my garden.

I just thought I would only drool over rose photos. I was very surprised to find myself drooling over photos of piles of mulch.

Smiles,
Lyn

Ouch, Lyn! I'd have hightailed it too. We had a bear rip open a bird feeder, bend the metal pole it was on and get into a trash can the other night. No rattlers here, though.

I am just thinking out loud, Lyn. As wonderful as leaves are, I guess you've thought about other possible sources of organic mulch? Something like sawdust from a sawmill, manure from horse stables or from dairies, tree trimming from arborists or electric company tree trimming like Kippy said?

Are there any kind of grain processing facilities that might have a by product that would work as mulch? Cotton seed hulls composted down really well from cotton gins in the south. Is there a feed store you could post a notice asking for a source of pine needles or leaves, manure? You're a really smart lady, so I guess you've thought of all of these possibilities. Surely there must be something else free or no cost besides leaves that rattlers are guarding? Shredded paper from a document grinding service, maybe? Old newspapers from the recycling bins? Cardboard? Coffee grounds from a local coffee shop or waffle house?

Great pictures of mulch, Christopher and Kippy! It is truly wonderful what it does for the soil.

I hope you find an easier source, Lyn. It sounds like you've got some good friends, though, and that's worth a lot!

Gean

Lyn, we cross posted. Sounds like you are doing fine, and I drool over mulch too! Gean

Gean...

Thank you for listing the many sources of compost material that more urban gardeners can easily obtain for their mulch piles.

We do have a saw mill in town, but they charge for their sawdust and I still have to go and get it. I already get my wood chips from the electric company's wood chip pile.

I think one of the greatest benefits of our gardening lives are the friends we make that are the true treasures of our lives ... enriching the fabric of our lives as much as our gardens.

Frank has already placed logs in a different location on his property for next year's mulch pile, and put gravel all around it to discourage the snakes. He will shred and dump mulch materials from all over his property for the new bin ... including the chipping from the downed limbs from his trees. (He will also soak the logs with vinegar, which the snakes truly hate.) The compost created will be used for both my garden and his new vegetable garden.

Frank will also go with me to another friend's property to collect rabbit poo for the compost bin with his truck. We can bring back more than I can collect.

With BJ shredding and bagging this year's leaves, it won't be quite so much work on my part to collect mulch from her property. From experience, I know the leaves will break down just fine even tho' they are bagged.

btw ... you can keep the bears out of your trash by putting meat scraps and materials used for packaging the meat in recycled plastic bags with ammonia. The bears pass right by my trash cans on the way to the neighbors' trash.

Vegetable waste buried in the compost pile keeps other critters from investigating the pile for food. Bird feeders and berry patches are always at risk.

Bless you for letting me know that I am not the only person who drools over beautiful photos of gorgeous mulch.

Smiles,
Lyn

Rattlesnakes, bears, cougars? And here I was feeling sorry for myself that I had to rely on Home Depot bags of pine bark mulch. Now I think I am thankful! I'll leave that hardy woodsman/woman stuff to you people, if you don't mind. : )

Kate

Day 2 down, and I'm exhausted again. I have about 1/3 of the pile left, and I'm at the point where I'm wondering why I thought I should get 15 cubic yards. Originally, I was planning on 12 based on measurements and calculations, but at the last minute, thought "what if I run out?" and made the order for 15.

The back is completely mulched. I'm almost done mulching the front patch of grass around the Japanese maple (stopped when I ran out of cardboard...will have to buy a few newspapers tomorrow morning). I mulched around the big shrub in front of the neighbor's house (the one which shares the back yard with mine). I started mulching the strip of mossy-grass on the north side of my house (a shady border will go there eventually), but stopped when it got too dark to see what I was doing.

After finishing those two spots, the last thing I planned to mulch was the overwintering area I put together (a box formed out of cement blocks on pavement), mulching the spaces between the pots up to the soil line. I figure this way it will be as though they're in the ground for the Winter.

But I think I'll still have a pile left over. I can thicken the layer in the back again in some spots, but I think I'll just toss the rest of the mulch under my front porch. I'm also considering asking my other next-door neighbor if he'd like some to do his tiny front yard. Whatever I decide, tomorrow's my last day off, so I'll be getting up extra early to make sure it all gets finished.

I'll take pics on Friday before I get ready for work. The beds aren't filled-in with plants, but the garden FINALLY doesn't look like it needs a sign saying "Under construction" to excuse its appearance.

:-)

~Christopher

A good-sized pile of mulch or compost is indeed a thing of beauty to any gardener who knows his stuff.

This post was edited by rosefolly on Wed, Oct 16, 13 at 21:23

Christopher

The mulch packs down pretty quickly. A little extra will blend in quickly

Man, am I envious. This kind of thing seems to be much harder to find in Italy, and it's the struggle of my life to find organic amendment for the garden.
That said, I hope you have a wonderful time with your treasure! And I enjoy the (virtual) company of a person who can get excited about a pile of wood chips in his driveway. Have fun!
Melissa

I'm "envious", too! I think this stuff IS harder to find in Italy. I myself spend hours collecting organic matter from the woods...I wind up with lots of weeds, but if it's the only way to bring my soil to life,that's OK. I have so many weeds anyway...bart

I love the days when I go and get mulch. It's hard work to put it on but I feel so happy to be doing it. The giant pile gets smaller and smaller until it's gone with a small amount saved in big trash cans for later. You ache all over but the very next day you are out there again. Nothing makes a gardener happier than a big pile of mulch.

It took three 8-hour days of work, but I'm DONE! I snapped a few pics (and I just noticed one is blurry) before going in the house and getting showered. I didn't get pics of every area -- I had to stop when Sammy started whining for me so loud that it sounded like someone was neglecting a child, and I didn't want the neighbors to start wondering. So I'll take some more pics tomorrow before work.

But here's what I've got for now:

Before putting it here, I laid down cardboard to smother the grass/weeds underneath. I sprayed it with the hose a little to help it settle. In the pic you see 'Jaune Desprez' climbing the tree. See that one long stem going up the left trunk? It's over 6' from the ground. On the other side of the tree (facing the walk to my steps) is 'Eugene de Beauharnais', which will stay small. Off to the left is 'Marie Pavie' which will also stay relatively small. There are three against the porch. From left to right are 'Souvenir du Dr. Jamain' and 'Duchesse d'Angouleme', which will be tied against the railing as they climb, and 'Archduke Charles', which will be a shorter, airy shrub.

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A quick shot of the back yard (or, as much as I can get in one picture). The mulch makes a nice solid backdrop -- and now you can more easily make out the roses planted there. Next year -- companion perennials and clematis.

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This is the shady side of the house, where just moss and some struggling grass managed to grow. I threw about 4" of mulch over the whole area. Eventually, this will be a shady border -- I'm thinking ferns, hostas, sweet woodruff, etc.

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Dang -- I didn't realize this was blurry until I uploaded it. Oh, well -- it's too dark to go out there and take another. In any case, you can see what's going on here.

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A shot of the back of the neighbor's house, with what's left of the Callery pear tree. Yes, it will grow back -- we didn't kill it. There's a wide area not planted, and that's on-purpose. I wanted to leave a path to get to the front of the house from there. The mulch is a few inches deep -- coming up to the top of the log edging. I left little "dips" around each rose to give air to the canes and prevent the stems from rotting over the winter.

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And now I'm treating myself to a sushi pig-out.

:-)

~Christopher

And a job well done! Everything looks great Christopher. What a beautiful rose garden it will be!

Speaking of Sushi--there's a fantastic place in Princeton NJ, Sakura Express--have you been? Delicious sushi--and very very afforable, full of hungry students and locals alike!

Wow! Give this a couple of years, and you will be amazed at the growth and how beautiful it will be.

You've done a great job. When I was younger would spread the mulch myself, it's very satisfying. Can't do it anymore so have to have someone put it down, but the difference over the years in the quality of soil is miraculous.

Christopher ... it's beautiful. Sometimes, gardening is hard labor, but when you reach the point where the garden is beginning to take shape, it is pure joy.

I may envy your beautiful mulch pile, but that is only part of it. Seeing what you have accomplished with your vision and hard work is so very ecouraging because it makes everything seem possible.

Congratulations for bringing your garden to this point !

Smiles,
Lyn

What a beautiful looking new garden. It will just get better and better. The shade walk is going to be nice as well. I wish we could grow Hostas here but its too warm.

I suggest some fuchsias for the summer. They are so pretty and hummingbirds love them. You could hang them up in brackets off the wall or plant in with the hostas. They grow very fast.

It is so exciting seeing a whole landscape done at one time. My gardens developed in just the opposite way--a small bed here and there, then expand this one a bit and elongate that one and add another small bed, which, over the years, grows into the largest bed in my yard, etc.

I can't wait til next spring when we see the new growth and probably some blooms in your gardens. The whole project is wonderful!

Kate

Beautiful looking gardens!

Not sure why but I am curious as to what they charge for mulch in your areas. Here we have a bark mulch plant so it is quite cheap. $20 pickup truck load (approx. 2.5 cu yards) for composted bark mulch 30 for 3-4" 40 for 2-3" 60 for 1-2" and $120 for 3/4" minus. I buy the small stuff as it breaks down faster and keeps weeds at bay better.

SCG

SouthCountryGuy -- the mulch I got was $20 per cubic yard, plust a $20 delivery charge because I was just over the 15 mile "free delivery" radius. The product is shredded tree and shrub waste (no pallets or construction materials), composted for a year, then shredded again. What I got was dark brown and steaming (sometimes uncomfortably hot as I was scooping it from the pile), but clearly composed of particles of mixed size (none larger than about an inch thick, two inches long, with about 2/3 of it appearing as "peat-moss sized"). I like it because it's a nice mulch that is already on its way to finished compost. I'll be enriching it with granular and liquid organic fertilizers, so it'll be like a spongy, chunky "soil".

Other mulch companies charge much more for more "premium" products that are actually less like what I'd want, being more decorative. I've seen some mulches offered for up to $50 per cubic yard. I'm not interested in colored mulch. I am not picky enough to say "only cedar" or "only pine" as I've seen offered. Bark mulches last longer, but I wanted to build the soil here and mulch very deeply (I put down between 4" and 8", depending on the slope of the specific spot). I WANT something that will be half-gone in a year, because I plan on continually adding stuff to the beds (manure, coffee grounds, leaves, home-made compost, etc.).

I really lucked out finding this source -- the guy who sells the mulch is the boyfriend of the bartender where I go for lunch every Tuesday. I told her about my garden plans, and she told me to check out the website (see link below). The delivery minimum is 10 cubic yards, but I think I'll wait until the next round of student-neighbors lives next door before I commandeer the driveway for a few days again. That was just too much for non-gardeners to tolerate more than once.

Incidentally, when Jeremy (the mulch company owner) came by and checked out the roses, he was very interested in how they came as own-root bands and how much they grew in a few months for me. I said he should try growing some and see how they do. I am trying to convince him to start collecting "hard-to-find" roses to plant on his family's farm. They have a nursery operation there, and I said "hey, here's another product to help you diversify...and I don't think there's another own-root antique rose nursery in New Jersey." I think if he does it, it will be only local sales at the farm. But I'm hoping that I can share some of the "Vintage Gardens' exclusives" I got before they closed, and that they'll be offered for sale again in a couple years.

:-)

~Christopher

Here is a link that might be useful: NJ Mulch

You have done an amazing job with your new garden. I must say that I appreciate the hard labor that went into this garden, but the thought in selection of your roses is exciting. You have made your own little paradise! Watching and caring for this garden as it matures will be an adventure and joy. Thank you for sharing it with us. I have really enjoyed your words and pictures. Lesley

Christopher ...

I don't know that this is true in your climate, but in my climate where we have hot and very dry summers, the woody materials stopped decomposing when the top layer dried out. But allowing it to dry out and then wetting it again, kept it working. Also, it wasn't as effective in keeping weeds at bay because they loved growing there as the wood material decomposed.

However, I didn't put down as deep of a layer as you have done and that may have an impact there. I do know that it did create beautiful soil by fall.

I am now mulching with the leaves I have collected and love the feel of the soil I am working in. I've had some second thoughts about the woody material stealing nitrogen from the roses so I probably wouldn't use this material every year. (I noticed some nutrient deficiency on the leaves of some of the roses.) I think your plan to keep adding material throughout the year may offset that potential problem.

It looks like you are well on your way to meeting your goals.

Smiles,
Lyn

Lyn, our summers are hot and WET -- July is our hottest month, and also the month with the highest average precipitation (just over 5"...our driest month is February, when we get a smidge under 3"). I know that wood mulch is basically all carbon, and that as it decomposes, it requires the addition of nitrogen. I hear that it gets it from the surrounding soil, but I also know that rain contains nitrogen (dissolved as gas from the air as it falls to the ground), and wonder if that would be a significant source -- we get a lot of rain here east of the Mississippi. Also, the nitrogen taken up as it decomposes is re-released into the soil when it's finished -- it "borrows" rather than "steals" nitrogen.

The mulch I got was rather hot and steaming when it came. It's composed of shredded fresh tree and shrub debris (not just bark or wood, but also including green leaves), composted for a year, then shredded again. While digging deep into the pile to load it into the wheelbarrow, I'd often encounter spots that were uncomfortably hot -- like hot water from the sink. For it to be getting as hot as it did, I'm assuming there had to already be some nitrogen in there.

But in any case, I wanted to use it very thickly as a "base" upon which to build soil, sort of like sheet-composting. The leaf-litter-layer that is under it is composed of leaves cut while still green, and thus still nitrogen-rich. They browned over time, but unlike Autumn leaves, the tree didn't re-absorb the chlorophyll first. The roses were also growing in a planting mix composed of 1/3 dehydrated manure, with a generous amount of Jobe's Organic Knock-Out rose food mixed in, and a few feedings with fish/seaweed emulsion. Next year, I'll be using fish/seaweed emulsion in a hose-end sprayer. The roses will be fed individually with more Jobe's Organic Knock-Out. I'll also be getting coffee grounds as often as possible (I bought a garbage can specifically for collecting the grinds from Starbucks), and I found an out-of-the-way spot for two compost bins for food-waste and Sammy's "used" newspapers from his cage. I think if I feed the mulch often with all this stuff, it will build into a nutritious organic mix to feed the roses.

As far as weeds, right now I just wanted to smother anything that was there before. Under the mulch is the tree debris, and under that is cardboard. Anything that was growing there before is (hopefully) long dead by now. New weed seeds that germinate will be in a very loose medium (relative to the clay soil here), several inches from the true soil, and will be easier to pull. When all the layers of companion plants are in-place, there really won't be much room for weed seeds to germinate, and the few that do will be easy to remove by hand. After I finish with companion perennials, I'll be planting self-seeding annuals. Hopefully they'll fill any bare spaces before weeds can get to them. By that point in time, I'll be in school again, and the weeding and general tending of the garden is what I wanted to have as a calming activity between going crazy with school and work.

:-)

~Christopher

Here is a link that might be useful: Average Weather for New Brunswick, NJ

So fun!!!! So exhausting. I'm jealous of that. I can't do it anymore with my back. It was great reading about your project. It looks so good!

I just use leaves and coffee grounds this time of year due to my back. I can ride-mow most of them where they are supposed to be, lol. I do have a ton of leaves, so hopefully that's enough.

Yours are swimming in riches! So cool.

Christopher.......

That wet summer is the major difference. We have no rain during the summer months. Even with the dry climate I experience, the woody materials do break down into a beautifully textured soil.

I think you are headed very much in the right direction. I have had to build my soil from totally dead soil, so everything is quite different. My best approach has been to use different materials almost every year, because I believe in the concept of a no-till garden. I don't like messin' with the roots of the roses.

Over the years, I have found that some roses are heavy feeders, while others tend to suffer when they have too much food ... chemical or organic. So, I don't treat every rose exactly the same. You'll learn from the roses themselves because in different situations, the roses behave differently because of all of the other variables.

I don't do much companion planting in the rose beds because I am a klutz and tend to step on things, so the plants I choose have to be able to bounce back from that. Yes, I am adding stepping stones and paths, but have to be careful about reflected heat.

For me, no matter what I am doing in the garden, hard labor or puttering, time seems to disappear and the satisfaction of working with the plants gives me the calm you are seeking. I think it's the process of creation that is so very satisfying.

What a wonderful thing to do for yourself.

Smiles,
Lyn

What a difference a (3) day(s) makes!

You are hopefully well pleased and proud.

I want to particularly compliment the use of what appear to be pear limbs as edging - it is very pleasing to my eye.

Thank you for sharing!

Thanks! Yes, the edging was made from tree limbs removed from the Callery pear in the picture, cut by hand to fit together. I haven't had to throw any of the tree debris out to the curb.

:-)

~Christopher

Mulch is the best. For anyone who does not mulch, please watch this video showing the difference it can make. The man here was inspired by a video called Back to Eden. I like that as well but because of its heavy religious content I am not putting it up here. But both are very good for understanding the transformation that a deep layer of mulch will have. As I understand it, the mulch works just as well in a wet climate, soaking up excess water as it does in a dry climate where it preserves water in the soil. I would do it just to make weeding easier. Happy mulching everyone.

Just to be clear, I am not promoting preparing for the fall of the government or anything, just wanting to share the benefits of mulching.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood chip mulch video