I've never really taken care of the flower beds I've always had here, but now that I have been investing more money and time into my yard these past 2 years...should I be putting straw or leaves or something around some of my plants? I have a lot of new things I planted this fall - some small minature lilac bushes, a lot of cone flowers - in fact, I was just out there in the cool drizzle wind and planted 2 that came in the mail today. I did put a bucket over them - just because I want to protect them for as long as I can - or should I not?

Just wondering if I should put anything around my new baby plants that I planted this fall or not.

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PattyM

i mulch with licorice root - it looks really nice, holds it's color well and doesn't wash away or blow away if it's dried out and it's easy enough to move aside when something needs moving/planting and can be moved back to cover any bare areas. it also breaks down pretty nicely so it adds to the condition of the soil.

i put down a good layer of leaves in the fall - i crumble them up a bit and pack them down a bit, too. i remove them in the spring - leaving the bottom-most layer because it's started to decompose.

i turn over the top layers of leaves and mulch and work it into the soil and then apply a new layer of the lic root. i put a thicker layer around plants like the hydrangea - which are very sensitive to lack of water and the mulch really helps to hold the moisture in. i put a thinner layer down over the areas where the bulbs are...don't want the shoots to have too rough a time growing up and reaching the sun.

if you've got a lot of newly planted items and/or things that might be iffy for your zone, i'd strongly recommend putting down a good layer of something to protect them from a potentially bad freeze during the winter (and it DOES get cold up there in ND). once the plants are well-established you don't, necessarily, have to be so diligent about it.

for overwintering, i've just always done the leaves thing - they're right there, so why not? and i do tend to go a bit overboard with it...which helped the one year when we got a lot of snow (30+ inches in one storm after 12 or so the week before).

the reasons i use leaves: 1) they're FREE and 2) they're nature's preferred method 3) they break down and provide nutrients 4) they're FREE ( oops! i mentioned that one already! )

ditto what daylily said about covering the plants...you only need to do that at night. unless you've got something like a hibiscus and some varieties of bamboo - they would need to be properly wrapped to make it through the winter (with burlap).

here's some info that'll help with the hibiscus:

bachman's

msu site
floridata

growing hibiscus in the north

you shouldn't need to do anything to the hydrangea other than making sure the roots are well mulched. basically that's it for all the plants - make sure the roots are well-insulated for the winter.

when it comes to the hibiscus, check those links out...my neighbor got one a couple of years ago. it must have been a tropical type and not a hardy type - i remember the person at the garden center specifically said it needed to be wrapped in burlap for the winter (he didn't maintain it properly and it died). you need to make sure which type you have as well as if it's really hardy in your zone...then treat it accordingly.

only one company offers the licorice root mulch; that is mafco - the name of the mulch is 'right dress licorice root mulch'. white bag with black lettering. a bag costs about $5.00 and i think it's 40 lbs.

i get it at lowes, home depot, sears hardware and even walmart had it. might be to late in the season to get it now, tho.

i looked (google) for a picture of the mulch...found the website for the company that makes it - the main focus of the website is not the mulch, it's the licorice that they extract from the root - the mulch is just the leftovers after they've done the extraction process, so no pics of the mulch - just a small mention that they sell the roots as mulch.

here are two pics of my beds - not really the best examples since i was focused on the individual plants rather than the whole beds. they are pretty good closeups of the mulch tho!



look to the right side of the pic (the edge of the bed is in the center). the pic was taken about a week after i'd laid down a fresh layer.



this pic was after about a month since i put the mulch out (and i didn't have too thick a layer in this spot) - still has some nice color.

the mulch starts off a rich deep brown/black. as it dries, it retains the brown color - doesn't get grayish like some other types do. and if you give it a quick squirt of water every few days, it'll retain the richer brown color longer. even at the end of the season, it still looks nice.

i never heard of that one...got a picture of what it looks like?

good idea, pg!!

I have never mulched........

I like to dig my dirt and add rotted manure to it yearly......
Mulch purchased has to be renewed yearly and can come to some fancy dollars.....

However , it is neat.
How do you add fertilizer to mulched soil?/

dodhr

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''''Those who live in the Lord Never See Each Other For The Last Time!''''

Mulch can be anything. Shredded leaves, grass clippings, etc. It doesn't have to be fancy colored, shredded hardwood. You can spread fertilizer right on top of the mulch.

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John - Zone 6

Or use a water soluable fertilizer.

I have heard that if you have a plant that reseeds you may not want to use mulch. Any ideas on that?

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yes, moving the mulch aside so that the seeds can fall directly on the soil makes sense. i guess it depends on what type of mulch you are using (and how quickly it will decompose).