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Soil, Compost & Mulch

mulching groundcover

17 years ago

We have a large area (9' x 90') where we have planted a alternating mix of ground covers (japanese spurge and bishop's weed) separated by plastic dividers. We worked very hard to do the job "right." We dug down and brought in good soil. It's been two years now, and we have a fine crop of weeds that are easy to pull, but I'm sure will be springing right back.

I've thought of spreading newspaper and mulching over the top of it to slow down the weeds. The ground cover is trying to spread but the competition is fierce!

However, it occurs to me that the mulch will inhibit both the ground cover and the weeds. On the other hand, the ground cover has a source of sun in the "mother" plant, so maybe it would work?

Any ideas/suggestions?

Thanks!

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Comments (2)

dchall_san_antonio
17 years ago
I think I missed something. Did you not hoe or pull the weeds while the ground covers were getting established? No matter what you do from now on, it all gets back to managing the weeds during the establishment of the preferred plants. Is that something y'all are willing to do?
lannij
Original Author
17 years ago
Yes, we kept up with the weeds until this winter. We had a very wet winter and the weeds thrived. They're easy to pull and I don't mind the work. I'd just like to mulch the plants, but since it's ground cover I just wasn't sure if it made sense to mulch them. I think I've about decided to just go for it.

Will first treat the areas with preen, then newspapers, then wood chips.

Thanks.
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