Do you have a basement? Are there gutters on your home? Does the rest of the property slope away from the house? Agree with above (except the cartoon) with a slight difference. There's enough weeds and grass growing in the area that you may want to put a layer of cardboard or several thicknesses of newspaper under the soil/mulch first so they are unable to come up again (until new seeds are blown or dropped by birds onto the mulch.) The cardboard or paper will decompose and require nothing more for you to do to it. Your idea to slope this bed away from the foundation is a good one. With mulch on it, soil shouldn't wash away. You may want to investigate that issue before spending money on soil/compost/mulch. The rock mulch suggested would eventually be the source of some nasty cussing by someone (who wanted to dig holes to plant flowers) and of no benefit to your garden or the plants in it. If you have a large amount of water exiting the roof in a specific place, a pile of larger rocks (softball size or larger,) a concrete or rubber diverter, or stepping stone can make a huge difference in calming the erosion.

Thanks for replying :) Yes, they told me they could add color to the cement. There are few chimney companies in my area which I would trust, this one is someone I've worked with before and was very happy with but I surely will call in at least 2 more just for comparison's sake. One of my contractors has a mason that did work for me already (rebuilding front walkway brick steps), he was quite easy to work with. I suspect, however, he'll be more money as his quote for repairing my chimney box was more, but perhaps not. I'd like to get it done within the coming year. I took a good look at it a couple of weeks ago, and while there is nothing falling off, nothing crumbly, etc. I don't like all the fine lines I see and better safe than sorry.

I'm no expert but I think that using a cement based mortar with an older lime based mortar will create problems. Any premix stuff you buy will be cement based. Diane Here is a link that might be useful: Masonry Magazine

I have 1880 house with stone foundation that is cracking/crumbling and needs to be repaired. We are getting different opinions about what it needs and technique used. One guy wants to chisel/then power wash the mortar out , repoint and then skim coat 2 layers of lime wash to "waterproof" (parge) But it would cover up the stones. Another guy says you don't need to parge the walls with skim coat and he would repoint with deep penetration of mortar, more mortar to really fill space. What is real story as far as what old foundations need for repair. I feel like I'm being sold a used car sometimes. Anyone know of a legit, trustworthy company that knows what they're doing in the Boston, MA area? Thank you!