Show #40/2201
Landscape Makeover Part 1

Selecting Mulch & Edgers

The mulch material on this site was originally rocks or pebbles and Doug is moving to a wood mulch. Doug did that for a variety of reasons. It looks better, it's a lot easier on your back to put in and it holds the moisture better. Rock tends to heat up quite a bit which dries out the plants roots, it tends to burn the foliage that touches those rocks so wood chip mulch is a better way to go. And, wood chip mulch from year to year adds organic material to the soil which rocks don't. Eric comments on the beautiful edging. What was here before was steel edging which has been replaced with a great looking concrete edging. The owners Jeff and Jeannie have dogs and the metal edgers tend to get really sharp on the top edge and dogs tend to cut their feet on them. The metal edger also tends to pull out during freeze and thaw cycles. There's nothing you can do about that, no number of stakes will keep them in place. The concrete edger is a really smart edger because it will stay in place because it's heavy, it's a concrete segmental piece that allows one to place it flush with the grass on one side and mulch on the other side. Their weight keeps them in place. They look great and are very practical.