It’s freezing out there! Alarmed by the icy nights I’ve purchased thin, inexpensive plastic painters’ sheeting to serve as garden blankets for emerging flowers and shrubs fooled by March’s exceptionally warm weather. Garden pins, dirt or small rocks keep them anchored in light breezes. Confused plants - especially fat-budded hydrangeas - really appreciate this consideration. I sleep better knowing I’ve done all I can. (Daffodils, grape hyacinths, tulips and suchlike, just laugh at temperature extremes.)
Days are warm enough for me to stain my new fence and think about mulch - the more permanent garden blankets - which I’ll probably lay in late May, when most perennials are up. I’ve chosen cocoa shells, as the price is much more reasonable these days.
Lordy, the stuff smells good! I put on weight just breathing it in.
Used correctly, it retains moisture. Weeds settling into it are easily dislodged. This natural by-product of the chocolate trade used to be discarded. Then some enterprising soul noticed it was brilliant as a garden blanket. Bang! A new industry was born.
I’ve tried many, many mulches; in fact, one summer I laid four different sorts – black shredded tires, three kinds of wood chips, pine needles and cocoa shells – as an experiment.
Though they all performed well, the first three kinds had to be collected every spring and discarded, as they’d faded, thinned or scattered. Cocoa mulch, which retains its rich chocolate color, is simply folded in – a huge time saver for me.
It’s tricky stuff, though, so I offer some hints for applying it intelligently.
Loosen the soil, remove weeds; then water deeply. Better yet, wait until just after a soaking rain. Apply it about two inches thick, without crowding plants’ stems – but never do this on a windy day. They’ll blow everywhere.
Next, water the shells with a soft mist to release a natural gum, which binds them into a porous mat. Note: about two weeks after application you may notice a harmless white mold within the mulch. Don’t worry: it’s a normal part of the decomposition process. Stir it around gently if you’re annoyed. (I’ve never bothered…)
Neighbor-noses will twitch appreciatively for about six days, but then it’s just mulch, minus the ‘yummmm.’ (Pets - especially dogs - will ignore it. Do keep them away until then, as some find it irresistible. Cocoa shells + pets = a fat vet bill.)
For those who dislike the cost- around $5.00 per 40-pound bag - try twice-ground wood chips, which produce a more finely textured product, offered in brown, red or pale colors. Whatever you choose is deeply appreciated by overheated flowers, including potted ones. (On a roasting day I enjoy feeling moist soil under any mulch’s protective blanket.)
Your garden will look really good, and so will you.
(By the way, some plants, like wildflowers and annual geraniums, prefer drier soil. Mulch can rot their roots.)
Another unexpected bonus: previously wormless beds are thick with them! I’m always astounded to see so many when I brush aside mulch to dig and plant. Just one squirmer recycles -(brace yourself)- over a ton of earth every year!
Next time you see a lowly worm on a wet sidewalk, rescue it, and think respectful thoughts.
A final chuckle: a foot-long garter snake clearly appreciates my brick garden walk. He’d used its rough texture to help him ease out of his old skin yesterday, leaving me the discarded, nearly transparent remains. But last night was freezing! The poor snake, shivering in his den as the new molt hardened, must have bemoaned our unpredictable weather!
Whew! Ready or not, everything’s growing!
Days are warm enough for me to stain my new fence and think about mulch - the more permanent garden blankets - which I’ll probably lay in late May, when most perennials are up. I’ve chosen cocoa shells, as the price is much more reasonable these days.
Lordy, the stuff smells good! I put on weight just breathing it in.
Used correctly, it retains moisture. Weeds settling into it are easily dislodged. This natural by-product of the chocolate trade used to be discarded. Then some enterprising soul noticed it was brilliant as a garden blanket. Bang! A new industry was born.
I’ve tried many, many mulches; in fact, one summer I laid four different sorts – black shredded tires, three kinds of wood chips, pine needles and cocoa shells – as an experiment.
Though they all performed well, the first three kinds had to be collected every spring and discarded, as they’d faded, thinned or scattered. Cocoa mulch, which retains its rich chocolate color, is simply folded in – a huge time saver for me.
It’s tricky stuff, though, so I offer some hints for applying it intelligently.
Loosen the soil, remove weeds; then water deeply. Better yet, wait until just after a soaking rain. Apply it about two inches thick, without crowding plants’ stems – but never do this on a windy day. They’ll blow everywhere.
Next, water the shells with a soft mist to release a natural gum, which binds them into a porous mat. Note: about two weeks after application you may notice a harmless white mold within the mulch. Don’t worry: it’s a normal part of the decomposition process. Stir it around gently if you’re annoyed. (I’ve never bothered…)
Neighbor-noses will twitch appreciatively for about six days, but then it’s just mulch, minus the ‘yummmm.’ (Pets - especially dogs - will ignore it. Do keep them away until then, as some find it irresistible. Cocoa shells + pets = a fat vet bill.)
For those who dislike the cost- around $5.00 per 40-pound bag - try twice-ground wood chips, which produce a more finely textured product, offered in brown, red or pale colors. Whatever you choose is deeply appreciated by overheated flowers, including potted ones. (On a roasting day I enjoy feeling moist soil under any mulch’s protective blanket.)
Your garden will look really good, and so will you.
(By the way, some plants, like wildflowers and annual geraniums, prefer drier soil. Mulch can rot their roots.)
Another unexpected bonus: previously wormless beds are thick with them! I’m always astounded to see so many when I brush aside mulch to dig and plant. Just one squirmer recycles -(brace yourself)- over a ton of earth every year!
Next time you see a lowly worm on a wet sidewalk, rescue it, and think respectful thoughts.
A final chuckle: a foot-long garter snake clearly appreciates my brick garden walk. He’d used its rough texture to help him ease out of his old skin yesterday, leaving me the discarded, nearly transparent remains. But last night was freezing! The poor snake, shivering in his den as the new molt hardened, must have bemoaned our unpredictable weather!
Whew! Ready or not, everything’s growing!