Re: mulch and spring

Thanks, Marge.  Sounds like maybe they would be good used as an outer ring at the edge of the bed, but not for the whole thing.
 
It's finally warming up a tad here, to highs around 50 and lows around
30. Been windy as all get out, though. Put the Espoma Organic on the
lawn Saturday before it rained. I do my main fertilizing in the fall,
which makes a huge difference in the spring. Lawn is low on my yard
priority list, although I do like it to be green in the spring and fall.
And I admit it tickles me when our lawn greens up faster in the spring
than any body elses (especially when they put the Scotts chemical
regimen on theirs). We have clover and weeds, but most of them are
green, and I find dandelions in moderation to be cheery ;-)


The groundhogs came out of hibernation over the weekend - Portnoy showed
up in the back yard and I saw a couple others as well. The goldfinches
are putting on their bright spring feathers, more crocus are up and some
dutch iris as well. I think all the snow is melted. Spring might be
here!

 
Libby
Maryland zone 6
 
 

Marge Talt <mtalt@clubhouse-designs.com> wrote:
> From: Libby Valentine 
> I has thought of using them instead of newspaper for my next garden
bed
> (modified lasagna), but I'm not sure about magazine paper (glossy)
> rather than newspaper. What do you think?
----------

Libby, since we have always been inundated with glossy trade mags
here and before our county started its recycling program, I used to
take them by the cartload and use them to mulch areas behind beds in
a vain attempt to control the ground ivy.

I found that glossy mags last a long time...don't think they'd work
well in a lasagna bed; nothing would grow through them like it
eventually does through layers of wet newspaper. As a path mulch
with woodchips on top, they are OK as long as the ground is flat -
not great on a slope as they get slippery. Oddly enough the bindings
on those that aren't stapled together last nearly forever; must be
the glue. I'm still finding them years after the mags finally
rotted.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
Editor: Gardening in Shade
Shadyside Garden Designs
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