You may remember (or you can read...down the list) my issue with Scott's mulch. While I did not like the color, I thought you should know this...it's probably the best performing mulch I've ever used! I've had to pull very few weeds over the course of the summer and we did not use weed fabric or any other weed control in the beds. I'm quite amazed.

I'm glad you like it. I put down regular cheap mulch from Fleet Farm. Same thing, just put it down & it kept the moisture in and the weeds out.

quote:

Originally posted by mgt:
I'm glad you like it. I put down regular cheap mulch from Fleet Farm. Same thing, just put it down & it kept the moisture in and the weeds out.

If only it were that easy! I've used many kinds of mulch, both commercial and organic and I've always had to keep ahead of weeds. Yours must really be something special!

LOL, Belstone...I doubt it. It's the cheapest stuff I can find. It's basically wood chips...is yours something different? Maybe I'm not thinking of the same thing.

It's wood chips alright, but dyed and treated to transfer water more easily (or so they claim)...I bought it for the color, which was claimed to be black, but once it dried, it was more brownish gray than black (they package it wet, so it looks dark, but dries as soon as it is spread). I was disappointed, told them, got most of my money back and now realize what a great job it's done keeping down the weeds. I have been using mulch for many, many years and have never had such ease of maintenance...unlike yourself! Oh well, live and learn.

It's cool that you got most of your money back. Mine is dyed dark brown & of course it looks much darker before it dries, but it's not bad. Glad you finally got some mulch that works so well...I didn't know they could treat the stuff to transfer water easier...I learned something, too. It's all good.

Whether any material used as mulch does a good job of controlling "weed" growth depends on how thickly that material is applied. Mulches need to be at a minimum of 2 inches thick to even begin blocking access to sunlight that is going to stop the growth of unwanted plants, unless some type of lightbarrier (newspaper, cardboards, etc.) is placed under the mulch.
Some mulches, sold by companies that are not very well known as environmentally concious, are treated with plant growth suppressing agents, something not necessary, something that is an uneeded expense.
An inch of mulch is not going to be a very effective "weed" barrier.

Chipper/shredder.
Fallen dead limbs or pruned trees.
We shred and use that in the landscape sans fabric.
NO weeds.
That soil is acidic enough that weeds do not grow there. Surface bird seed germinates but easily scratched out. It will not grow more than a small bit.
Landscaper has commented on what fine soil we have.
Garden area is beautiful, black soil---grass + shredded leaves = fine soil.
Use what you have.
We have NEVER bought mulch.
When we relandscaped front and back (very old yews, etc.), all that was removed was run through our shredder and used around new plantings.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: M-ma,

"Weeds" can be indicators of soil conditions. Some "weeds" evolved in certain, acidic, soil conditions while others did at the other extreme. Dandelions evolved in acidic soils while Queen Annes Lace evolved in more alkaline soils, but I have seen them growing side by side.
Quack grass is listed as doing best in clay soils but it does really well here in my sand.
http://www.gardeningknowhow.co...-types-and-weeds.htm

You had to bring up quack grass, did you!

That's a bothersome thing.

How about fox sedge or fox hedge or just plain sedge? Annoying and must be hand-pulled.

Quack grass does well in my good loamy soil, too.

Sedges evolved in wet lands but have adapted to growing in more arid areas. Most of the time when I find sedges growing it is in areas that have in ground sprinklers that water every day, thus creating conditions (moist) that promote the growth of these wet land plants. I seldom see sedges growing where the turf grass is watered only once a week. If sedges are a problem take a good look at the growing conditions.
http://archive.lib.msu.edu/tic...rticle/1996jul56.pdf

We have a well.
I will not water.
That is Mother Nature's job.
We have a rain barrel we use for other, necessary watering; not for lawn watering.
How much water is needed to water over an acre?

"How much water is needed to water over an acre?"
That depends. What is your weather like? What is growing there? How well does the soil retsin moisture (how much organic matter is in that soil)?
For a lawn, with good soil well endowed with prganic matter, you would need to apply about 1 inch of water per week, unless the weather is really hot and windy which may well mean more water is needed because of evaporation and transpiration. Vegetable crops will simply need more then that 1 inch per week, due to larger and more leaf surface that will transpire more moisture. Trees and shrubs may well need more water for the same reason.

NO! The answer is TOO MUCH!

Plenty of organic matter.
We compost and scatter the compost about the yard.