mulch is mulch is mulch ...

whatever you have or can get... cheaper is better ... free is best ...

anything is better than nothing ....

ken

BTW: the ONLY dumb question is the unasked question .... anonymous

Erin,

If you were looking in the Gallery today, you were probably looking at my bark (amongst others). I use bark because I get it for FREE and they deliver it to my driveway! I could never afford all the fancy mulch I need for my big beds if I had to pay for them. I love the look of compost but don't have a trailer to haul it and don't want to pay for it. Those $$ are already budgeted for MORE hostas! The following two pictures represent only one of my beds.

Char

p.s. My hubby made the log benches. I love them and use them ALOT. They fit so well with the rustic look of our backyard.
{{gwi:994440}}
{{gwi:994441}}

Hi Char and Ken,

Thanks for the responses. For me in Vancouver, bags of mushroom manure only cost $1.98. I just buy two dozen bags and spread it around my roses and hostas ect. I live in the city on a fairly small lot so I don't worry too much about the cost, it's not terribly expensive to buy this way and since my arm is broken, the bags are easier for me to manuever than a truck load and a shovel! Anyway do you think it's better to use manure because it feeds the soil more than bark mulch? I have several bags of bark to mulch my rhodos, should I put some around the hostas too? I live on the VERY WET coast in BC so moisture retention is definately not necessary. Any thoughts? Char your garden is beautiful and huge! I'm jealous that you have so much room to garden! I bought the most beautiful June hosta yesterday, I think I'll take a picture of it and put it in the gallery. Thanks for your help.
Erin

Ken is right, mulch is mulch.

Bark is usually one variety except hardwood that is usually mixed. The advantage of compost, free tree trimmings or compost from a municipal compost facility is the source is varied that will add more different nutrients.

Use the cheapest organic matter including chopped up leaves yearly and water and get the hell out of the way, your job is done and the rest is in GodÂs hands.

IÂll post more about God.

WITH MULCH.. OR COMPOST... HOSTA NEED NO MORE 'FOOD' ...Opps.....

build the soil and the hosta will follow..

they are not like foo foo roses that need to be fed 3 or 4 times a year.. and sprayed.. and coddled.. and prayed over.. lol ...

ken

Hey Erin,

If you want some CHEAP compost, take yourself, a shovel and a trailer to the landfill just south of the Deas tunnel. You get a frontloader's scoop for $10. We got a load of it in the fall and have used on our front garden beds mostly and the rest was gradually mixed up with some Perlite and peat moss as a planting mix for the numerous cuttings we propagate every year. All our spring bulbs in the front were just fabulous this year, must have been that good sh*t from the landfill!!!

I'm in Steveston, BTW. Have a peek @ our website below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our modest Hosta collection

EO - would that be the mulch god or the hosta god you will be fillinf us in on? :-)

teresa, i used to be an atheist until i found out i was god, my followers call me his butchness except the gay ones and they call me his butchieness. caps are not necessary when i address myself

i proclaim let there be mulch and there was or is that is

"Mulch" isn't always mulch. Some mulch is almost compost, so you have to careful what you use. The mulch I get from my local recycling center is practically compost, and I treat it that way.

Real mulch is stuff that isn't going to break down for at least a year.

yardenman, be careful about what, are you saying that there is some problem with one or the other?