nice mulch

[ysgi]

Hi,

I must admit that I am new to this field, but I have been slinging mulch for 25 years.

How do you pros get your mulch to look so uniform and even?

I am laying 20 yards of dyed hard wood (chipped - not shredded) on redone beds. The ground is smooth (for the most part) but my mulch looks like its waving back at me.
I have tried raking and using a pitchfork and smoothing it out, but I still can't get it to look as good as the more experienced guys.

Is it just my lack of patience?

Come on, let me in on the secret (I won't tell anyone)


-Eric

[dKoester]

A simple leaf rake works well. Use the back of the tines to smooth it out real good.

[GreenN'Clean]

I use rakes as well and smaller areas I just use my hands to fan it and it gives it a smooth look

[lawnmaniac883]

Hands work best around small beds and such but for nice smooth mulch I use a hard tine garden rake, flip the puppy upside down and makes for a nice grading tool.

[NewWave]

Experience! Using a metal rake and basically holding up completely straight and barely move the top layer of mulch. Hard to explain.

[touhey33]

I find the best way to spread mulch is with what god gave you. (hands) This way you can get the right uniform depth as well as work around the plants easier. If you have large areas spread it around with a metal rake and then as stated above turn the rake upside down to smooth it out. Also If you have a nice edge that the mulch can fall into around the beds it makes it look much more uniform. Just don't fill the edge completely with mulch as that will allow the grass to grow into the beds easier. Remember the main purpose of an edge is a border between the grass and bed, the edge doesn't allow grass roots to spread into the bed.