Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Drowning in bark chips

Weeding has been Evelyne’s job and it has never been easy as she’s been trying to manage too many flower beds and some large dirt areas that had no protection whatsoever. Bark chip mulch is great around trees, shrubs, and perennials; it creates a favorable environment for earthworms and soil microorganisms and will also reduce the need for irrigation because mulching materials that mesh together are more effective at reducing water evaporation from the soil. So this year, we finally took the bull by the horns and decided to add bark chips to these high-maintenance areas. Our option was either to purchase bark chip by the bag or in bulk. Based on a 2 to 3 inch thickness, I quickly figured out that we might need as much as 5 cubic yards and immediately though big and called a company that would deliver the stuff. Since a large share of the cost was delivery, I upped the order to 7 cubic yards. I was a bit surprised when I saw a large dump truck pull into our house and back up near our garden with its awesome load. Well, I certainly saw big but we almost used it all up and everything looks great. This is one rare instance when bigger is indeed better!

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