The Joy Of Mulch
It is spring in the south and I was in the garden today, looking around.It is not too bad. I couldn’t see anything that will require sweating over. I am delighted! I am a lazy gardener. There the truth is out, and I don’t have to pretend. I love to garden, I love the satisfaction of watching plants emerge from seeds, bulbs or the jump up and grow from transplants.
I love gardening, digging in the soil. I just hate to sweat while I do garden work.Understand that on an average spring day in Florida the temperature is around 800 degrees at 7 am. Hot, with some, mild, about 400 percent humidity thrown in for fun.
When I first started gardening in Florida, I knew I had hit the flower Valhalla.Paradise, drop a seed and watch it grow section of heaven. What I didn’t know was that weeds grow faster. So what do you do if you’re allergic to hard work? If sweating makes you weak or something!
Mulch! More Mulch! Really not your wannabe throw some grass clippings type of mulch. But super duper guaranteed not to draw fire ants, and smother weeds mulch. You may know how mildly, well actually I sincerely, well really I hate fire ants. I dislike them allot. If I could incinerate every fire ant on our property I would, and do the happy the “fire ants are burning dance” while watching.
They make me a bit crazy. I really don’t care for fire ants.
Oh yes, mulching. My rule of thumb for mulch is, more. Which is handy since the mulch I use is from oak trees. In the south we have oak trees, big ones. The problem is that big oaks don’t generally fare well with hurricane winds. So there is the source of the mulch. Mystery solved. And you didn’t even break a sweat!
Pet Campbell is a gardener, photography and artist , transplanted from the cowboy kingdon of Montana, to gardening in Paradise Florida. |