Category Archives: Mulch

Wood chips, wood mulch, and decorative stone are a great way to enhance your landscape, particularly where it’s difficult or impossible to grow grass. I can’t tell you how often we see decorative rock or wood mulch that is not properly installed. In order to keep weeds and grass from growing through wood mulch alone, the mulch needs to be at least 10cm thick if it is a heavy mulch, and 16cm thick for lighter mulches. Keep in mind that both light and heavy mulches will settle by as much as 20%. New mulch should be added after one year to insure the proper depth is maintained. If you prefer not to use such a large volume of wood mulch, a weed barrier may be used. Heavy duty weed barrier is available at most garden centres. It comes in rolls either four feet or five feet wide. Simply measure the…

The answer to this question depends on how much time you have to dedicate to your lawn. Mulching is the better way to go. Mulching returns nutrients to the soil regularly and evenly. However, mulching must be done properly! During periods of excessive growth, your lawn may need to be cut as often as three times a week! If you are mulching your lawn and notice the clippings on the surface of the lawn, you are well on your way to a mess of problems. To mulch correctly you must cut the clippings into small enough pieces that they fall into the lawn. You should not see any clippings on the lawn. If you do, the clippings are not being cut into small enough pieces. They will not break down fast enough, and will begin to accumulate in the lawn and form a thick layer of thatch very rapidly. These…