Mulching

Question

I have a large yard and usually put 8 yards of mulch on all the beds every year. I have lived in this house for about 6 years and I have been wondering if I am doing the right thing. I have to first pull all the weeds before I put the mulch on and this is a real pain. I have been thinking of a different approach. I was wondering if I could rake all the old mulch off the beds and then use some type of cultivator to get rid of the weeds and loosen up the soil. Then put the old mulch back on and replace any areas that need it with new mulch. I probably wouldn’t need near as much mulch. What do you think?

Answer 1

You can also try using a weed barrier below the new mulch. Thick layers of newspaper, cardboard or landscaping cloth will work. You can lay the new mulch over the old without having to weed. The weed barrier will kill the weeds (by blocking the sunlight) and keep them from growing up through the mulch.