First Real Mulch Cap In Conifer Garden - April 2024
Last Fall, I extended (what I call) the IB2DWs (In Between Two Driveways) bed to reach down along the property line, all the way to connect to the small sidewalk-adjacent bed. In it, I planted a number of conifers ( Conifers Should Come First) , transplanted a few divisions (Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass and Serendipity Allium ) and tucked in a few other things. When I made that bed, I was converting it from turf and that meant that I used a combination of techniques: removing the turf, smothering the turf with cardboard and just leaving some of it in place. I planted everything in biosolids and then topped the bed with even more biosolids. But...I mostly focused on the planting. And left the bed in a not-so-finished state. That meant that grass was poking through in spots, the edges weren't clean and I applied arborist wood chips. The chips were intended as an initial attempt to both retain moisture and (hopefully) improve the soil. This area is hard-to-grow and liv