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Texas Gardening

mulch question - probably dumb

16 years ago

I need to mulch my flower beds, and I have new plants in. When you put in your plants, how can you put them in deep enough without having the mulch go too far up on the plants when you put it down? I know you shouldn't put the plants in too deep, but when you are dealing with a one gallon shrub, or similarly sized plant, you'd have most of the root ball out of the ground, to accommodate four inches of mulch. Little annuals would need to sit right on top of the ground and then pile the mulch around them, not to have it almost cover up the flower if you put down four inches.

I know I can have the mulch gradually more shallow around the plant, but its purpose is to block out weeds and so I want to put it right up to the plants. Is it important to have some of the shrub trunk extend up from the mulch before the branches begin?

I don't know if this made sense, but I hope it does. I'll be mulching later this week.

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Comments (5)

phoenix7801
16 years ago
I would say that it would be fine to have it gradually shallower around the plants your planting...eventually theyre get big enough to shade in the vicinity...even if a weed happens to rear it ugly head...pull the sucker out or chop it off
nightrider767
16 years ago
Ann I'll add my 2 cents worth...

I'd say, forget about the mulch when you are planting. Plant all your plants at the ideal level, so that the potted plant soil-level is even with the ground level.

Once that's done, add your mulch. Remember mulch is not soil or compost. So it can grow around the plant. SInce it breaths, it won't interfear with the plant as long as you don't cover the leaves. WHere as with soil or compost, it would cause a problem around the stem.

Lastly, sounds like you will have a lot of work ahead of you to keep weeds back. I would recomend covering your beds with newspaper or cardboard before adding the mulch. That'll give you a nice weed barrier that should last a good while.

Happy gardening!
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natvtxn
16 years ago
First of all, there are no dumb questions! Just info you have yet to know.

You can go 2 different ways.
#1 mulch and then scrape it back where you want to put a plant.

#2 plant your plants and cover them with an unside down pot, spread the mulch around it and then pull up the pot.
Either way you don't want the mulch touching the stem/trunk of a plant as this may cause rot of the bark.

I hope this helps.
jtyrie
16 years ago
No answer, just a comment. For every post on here, I bet that there are a few people that are afraid to post because they think it is a dumb question. I've found the folks on here to be very nice and patient with those of us who aren't very expert and/or non native Texans.
Ann_in_Houston
Original Author
16 years ago
jtyrie,
Yes, the folks here are nice, that's why I felt free to ask a dumb question.
Thanks all, for the answers.

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