"Just say no" to pebbles as mulch! :)

I have found that regular old shredded pine mulch stays put fine. Especially by the time you're blowing oak leaves off everything, the mulch will have kind of matted together. The finer pieces break down nicely, too...lots of earthworm action.

That's my experience, anyway, with the same kind of hosta-bed-under-oak-tree conditions.

I am much further north and garden in the shade mainly on pine and spruce trees ... but they do drop an enormous quantity of needles and cones.

I agree with jadie - do not use pebbles or small stones as mulch. It is impossible to weed and eventually weeds get established.

I personally have no problem using a rake to clear the needles for the hosta beds as opposed to trying to blow them. It goes fast, is easy work and lets me leave a litter of needles behind to keep down slugs.

Also, I don't bother to mulch. Many will say it leads to weeding problems but I haven't found that to be the case. Shade puts a damper on most weeds and the ones that remain are easily dealt with every few weeks by a weed torch - a wand that uses propane to burn them. I don't crawl around to weed.

The advantage is that there are no slugs (harboured in the mulch) and is very easy to keep the garden in good shape. My soil is very acidic from all the needles and a thick layer of moss grows over most everything.

Doug

Wood Chips. Sometimes you can get these for free, but in any case they are inexpensive and make the best mulch. Here's a bonus, they create spaces in which ground beetles live. And what do ground beetles like to eat. Slugs.

Steve

I never knew that Ground Beetles eat slugs! Thanks Steve for that information, I was sure it was another danger to my hosta that I never knew about. They also eat the slug eggs and if they do this it would be great to have more introduced into our hosta This site is full of information that states they eat many other bad to have insects besides slugs.
Thanks again Steve
Faye

this is the site if it comes through:

beds.http://yourorganicgardeningblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/transparent-logo.png

I think you want this link, Faye.

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Slug Control

I use "mini pine fines." They are sold to be a soil additive, but I use for mulch. I buy them in large bags at a business that sells mulch and topsoil.

Pebbles/rocks hold too much heat and reflect it back on the plants. Also, it sinks into the soil and offers no amendment.

I use either cypress or the brown colored mulch. My experience is that if you intend to "freshen up" the color of the mulch each year, you can just leave the leaves and other natural debris to break down. Throw the new mulch on top.

In the front of the house I use wood chips for appearance, never more than 1/2 to 1 inch to avoid critters traveling and hiding underneath. We do not get free mulch here, so I look for sales at HD or Lowe's. In the back next to the house I also use wood chips, but on the hosta beds under pines in the back in late fall I mow all accumulated leaves, pine needles and debris with my lawn mower at a high setting. I do not use plant markers there. I notice that consistent color of the mulch ties together the landscape.
Bernd

what are you peeps talking about ... rock is NOT MULCH ... words mean things ...

its aesthetic... it has absolutely nothing to do with what mulch does ... mulch cools the soil... rock retains heat .... mulch covers the soil to reduce weed germination ... rock creates crevices.. that make pulling weeds out.. near impossible ... and mulch helps retain moisture.. and with the retained heat late into the might.. rock reduces moisture in the soil ... [and dont even get me started with laying down landscape fabric under rock]

soooo .. you are absolutely all correct that it is useless... in any garden bed that will be 'worked' .... but the reason is.. ITS NOT MULCH ..

OP... buy a shredder and use the darn oak leaves as mulch.. crikey ... what??.. are you going to spend all fall hauling them away .. and then in spring pay some guy to bring mulch??? ... YOU WILL PAY A GOOD SHREDDING MACHINE.. IN JUST A FEW YEARS OF NOT BUYING MULCH .. carp ... and do go big ... not electric... not string theory machines.. etc ...

and the greatest upside.. is the soil you will be building ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: i had a version sorta like this... and the key.. was that the hopper tilts to the ground... and you could rake the leaves right into the hopper ... with just a little care to make sure small branches didnt jam the chute

Since you asked, here's what us peeps are talking about, Ken. :)

Referring to using pebbles "as mulch" doesn't suggest that pebbles "ARE mulch."

If I say I wear my scarf "as a hat," it doesn't mean I think it IS a hat. It means I may substitute a scarf in place of a hat in order to perform some of the same functions.

Some people use stone chips or pebbles to try to suppress weeds or provide a certain aesthetic...also common functions of mulch. We all warned OP that it is not a good idea. If you want something that does a hat's job, buy a hat. If you're looking for something to do mulch's job, get mulch...don't use pebbles "as mulch" instead.

I'm an editor by trade, so I get that words mean things, but word meanings were not imperiled here.

All that said, I know your intent is to help stamp out a lot of mulch-related misinformation that's floating around out there, so more power to ya for that!

hmmm, does that mean i can use mulch, as pebbles?

river mulch ...

ground up tires ain't mulch either but some folks treat it as such

borrow a truck, go to a mulch place, and bring back a load. it'll last all season, and cost less than bags

dave

Rake the leaves into a long narrow pile and mow over it. Add Straw to the pile if you dont have enough leaves. Mow over it a few times until the leaves are shredded fine. Rake the shredded leaves back over your garden beds. Do this, spring and fall, and in time you will have gorgeous soil, and it looks good.

The OP in the very beginning stated the desire for a mulch that would also stand up to the 150 mph plus blasts of a leaf blower.

While the advice here has been very good as far as mulch goes - dont use pebbles, use an organic compound and so on ... none of these solutions is likely to withstand a blower.

Originally I pointed to my practices for exactly the same reasons. I use a mulch in the flower beds that are in full sun as they do not get much litter on them. But for the hostas growing in the shade, I manually rake the huge drop of spruce and pine needles. The raking would also dusturb underlying mulch as needles tend to pack down forming a mat so I do not bother to mulch around hostas. Weeding is not much of a chore because at least here in the north, not much grows in the shade.

I am not aware of any mulch that will stand up well to a powerful leafblower.

Doug