I was recently asked to fix a bed along the roadway next to a fence by our homeowners assocation. The bed is about 40 feet long and 4 feet wide. Some of the plants have died and the weeds are taking over. I am going to dig up and re-plant all of the plants, lay weed fabric and cover with mulch or straw. That leads me to this question... The bed is acutally on a slope which falls the 4 feet about 25-30 degrees. I am wodering if I should use mulch (I normally put down triple shred hardwood because of the rich, dark color) or pine straw. I am going to need something that won't wash away, and something that will not need much maintainence. Thanks.
dont waste your money on landscape fabric it rots and weed grow in the mulch. put a pre-emergent like preen down before you mulch and it will help keep the weeds down. ive never used pine straw so i cant help you with that ?
Maintenance is going to be an issue in the short term. Weed barrier is a waste of time. Your best bet would be to plant a ground cover and mulch it in. Eventually the plants will spread and mulching and weeding won't be much of an issue. The type of plants depend on the site. Ivy is cheap and grows fast and can be kept in check with a weed trimmer,but the deer love it. Blue rug juniper is nice, more expensive, but will need to be sprayed for tip blight every now and then.
If you really like the looks of the dark mulch, go with Rubberific Earththone Mulch. It looks like real mulch, but it alsways looks new. It is heavier than regular mulch, so it shouldn't wash away. Plus, no maintenace..
