City Mulch

Okay, so I can now tell you about the mulch fiasco! At one of our garden club meetings we had a discussion about mulches, particularly those available from Pinellas County. There were 4 different grades of mulch, some free and others not. I, of course, went for a free load of mulch from the city. I got 6 or 9 cubic yards of mulch delivered last February. I didn't start spreading it out right away and since it was only taking up part of my circular driveway, I didn't feel any rush. Well, in April I had a car accident and broke my wrist. That delayed the mulch spreading for a few more months. Today, a year later, there is still a pile of mulch in the driveway! That is not because of my lack of ambition, although there are those who will say so. It is because of the mulch.

I started spreading the mulch in my planting beds, starting in the areas that had never been mulched. I never had a weed problem, per se, but I was certain that I would be able to pull up any of the weeds that poked through the mulch. What I didn't expect is that the mulch would create its own mass of weeds! My only weeds up to the point that I mulched were those daisy growing weeds with the stickers that you can't get off the bottom of your pants or socks. I always managed to keep those under control since the dog usually ended up wearing all the stickers whenever he came in from outdoors. After putting down the mulch, I started getting this long ropy vine with yellow flowers. They took over! These weeds were choking off all of my gingers, and they are, I have found, totally impossible to get rid of! They have killed off my dwarf and hybrid cannas.

Of course I shouldn't complain - it's my own fault for being cheap and not using my usual cypress bark mulch. This stuff is already deteriorating, and for the most part is already gone. I guess it will be good for the soil, adding all of the organic material to the sand, but I truly wish I hadn't gone for the free mulch!