photo credit: simonsun08

Topics covered will deal with landscaping and repairing yards and gardens that have suffered from drought or flooding. Here are a few areas that there will be articles on;

• Raised Bed Gardening
• Gardening under Glass
• Dry Creeks
• The Moveable Garden
• Climate problems
• surviving drought
• flat rock patio
• hardy trees and plants
• and landscape ideas.

My yard has had three separate floods caused by run off and our summer has been cold and wet. Crops have suffered and the trees are yellow and sickly looking. Its fair the say the yard is a total disaster!

One area I know I will need as much product as possible is compost and mulch. I need mulch to cover my new garden areas and areas I will set up as run off areas. I will also need compost for all the new areas that will be set up to make sure run off water can not reach the house or gardens.
photo credit: vieux bandit

With the amount of work that needs to be done I am setting up my projects to be as low cost as possible.

Below is a link to an article I wrote on my sister site, the Gardener’s Rake on different ways to compost. By using grass clippings, straw, leaves and any other organic matter you can get, you can turn out compost to add to plain old dirt that will make rich soil for planting and making new garden beds or retaining walls that will redirect water.

Follow this link: Different ways to compost

Mulch:

I am looking for different free items to pick up to use, as much for the front yard area I have designed to make sure water will not reach my house. Right now I have course sawdust for the rock area and I am contacting tree companies to have bark or chips delivered. By the tree bases I am using leaves that have sat for several years. At this stage its usually considered leaf mold, which is very rich in nutrients.

I break down mulches into three different categories

Light colored mulches: light will reflect from a light-color mulch: particularly decorative landscaping mulches, such as white stones. This will keep the soil cooler but can overheat surrounding plants.

Dark-color mulches: absorb and retain more heat from the sun than light mulches. That’s an advantage in my cooler climate, zone 5, but will be a disadvantage in a hotter climate.

Organic mulches: Organic mulches are my favorite. They include grass clippings, leaves, manure, and compost and will improve the soil – stones and plastic don’t. Many organic types of mulch can be obtained for free.

Black plastic is popular but unless it’s porous or perforated, it grows a smelly, slimy coating. It will also turn brittle and breaks into little pieces in time that escapes the garden and create a mess. Cheap landscape fabric is not worth it — weeds and roots will tangle in it and trying to remove the fabric later is a headache. At least it was for me.

Some mulch won’t stay put so choose wisely. Gravel and stones creep onto lawns. Cocoa hulls blow away and small bark chips can wash downstream in a heavy rain.

In general, mulches with heavy or large pieces are more likely to stay put. Those that form a mat, such as leaves and pine needles, are usually stable, too. My favorite mulch are leaves and for me they are easy to find and free for hauling away.

More forms of mulch will be covered next week in the week-long landscaping event. Check back for more information.

Technorati Tags: backyard design, backyard oasis, landscaping ideas, mulching tips