Wow, alicepalace, your garden is stunning! That's quite a photo album.

For established beds, most of the weeds that are present in the soil have already sprouted, or are buried too deeply and are biding their time. So, no, I don't think you will be overrun by weeds if you skip a year (or 2) of mulching.

To be honest, I only mulch my established shub borders when I've got a pile of mulch (bark or seaweed) that I need to get out of the driveway quickly. It's only the perennial beds or newly planted areas that get regular addititions to the mulch - those areas tend to have many more weeds sprouting, so it's worth the effort.

Thanks, DTD. I take no credit for the gardens, really -- although they were so overrun when we moved in, it's taken me three years of hard labor to get them cleaned up. Which is why I don't want to spend my life weeding!

The side "garden" (with the gi-normous kousa dogwood) was just a total mess, completely overrun with whatnot. When we hooked into the public sewer, we had the fortune to have all that whatnot dug out, so that saved me a LOT of work! I'm now still trying to figure out what to do with it so I'm not in a constant weeding battle. Probably should at least mulch over there, since it's primarily plain dirt due to so much weeding and yanking out deeply buried sensitive fern all last summer.

The kousa, by the way, dropped so much fruit last fall that I'm going to be pulling out tiny kousa seedlings all spring. This in addition to the approximately 100,000 maple seedlings I'll undoubtedly have to pull. Agh!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Last two are Before shots

I'd mulch, no matter what.
While grounds are still bare put Preen on them and then cover by mulch.
I do this with all newly dug beds and results are amazing.
If you are talking about 100,000 maple seedlings, without the mulch you'll be facing 1,000,000 of them.
My garden takes 20-22 yards of mulch. Yes, it's a big expense, but I figure out that with my 'labor rate' of weeding I'd better spend time walking straight around the garden.
BTW, if you are using cedar mulch and make it thick (3-4") to begin with it will last for two seasons.

I have to agree with ego. If you value the time you spend weeding (and watering) at even a couple dollars an hour, the mulch pays for itself. I have a big space which is going to require a lot of mulch, and has lot of trees (so lots of leaves in fall). What I'm planning to do is set up a system of composting the leaves, putting last years leaves on the beds in fall, then adding another inch or so of shredded bark mulch in the spring. I had this working at a place years ago. Saves some $$ and also makes use of all the leaves.

This is why I splurged on a leaf catcher for the new tractor last fall. Somehow piling the leaves up just makes them disappear, not turn into anything useful. The chopped leaves work quite well for cheap mulch.

It happens at my volunteer garden that we don't get around to mulching some years. The end result is that we never, ever get caught up on the weeding. I'm pushing hard for us to start mulching this week, just so we don't get caught in the vicious cycle of the weeding taking up time that would be better spent mulching.

I believe in mulching, whether it be wood mulch like cedar and pine bark, compost, chopped leaves, etc. I cannot stand weeding and no mulch=weeds. Even with mulch, some weeds still pop up but it would be 100x worse w/o mulch IMO. My town has free mulch which I've never used, but if cost is an issue, look into your town recycling center where they collect branches and twigs.

I put down mulch every year depending on where it is needed. In some places if you already have a lot of mulch you can just remove the leaves and rake it lightly to freshed the mulch look. Then in the barer areas apply the mulch. I buy the same kind of mulch from the same company every year in 10 yd loads. You often get a better deal if you order 10 yds. I do have a place against my woods to store this pile (the truck can dump it here). So for me it is not a problem to have it around. Just avoid putting on too heavy a layer each year. If you do this you may have a 6 - 8" layer that would not be good for the shrub or tree roots.

Sue

I notice you have PINE trees. While most people curse the needles, they dont' break down too rapidly, don't blow all over the place like leaves, and I used to use them to mulch my strawberry garden!! They worked like magic to prevent weeds and keep the dirt off the berries. It is even the "right" color, so it looks good from the street. Don't worry about the soil getting acid. Once a year, lime the gardens as usual. Needles only release their acid when they break down, and oak leaves are just as acid as pine needles, contrary to popular belief. Its a cheep alternative (especially for your backyard beds), and lots of neighbors will give you bagfulls of free needles if you dont' have enough of your own-- Lisa

Thnks for all the great tips. You're right, we do have pine trees and hence, lots o' needles. I just hate the way the needles look! LOL We also have LOTS of oak leaves in the fall, and I've found when I rake those, it's impossible not to get the needles up. Grr.

I'm definitely going to order about 10 yards this year (depending on where the price "break" is). I keep forgetting to order it (for 3 days now) and I have to get going before the maples drop their copious flags. I wish I had gotten it down earlier under the kousa dogwood. I have a bunch of little seedlings starting to sprout from all the fruit that dropped last fall. Anyone want to grow a kousa from scratch?

you get rid of leaves & pine needles and pay for wood chips?

this is considered heresy over on the soil, compost & mulch forum.

what about mulching with free shredded leaves/pine needles & covering this deluxe organic matter with a thinner layer of purchased wood chips ... if purchased wood chips is, indeed, the look you prefer?