wow, that's a lot of mulch!

**mama2James** · 05-02-2010, 06:00 PM

This is more of a landscaping post than a gardening one, so I hope it belongs here, but I just wanted to share that dh and I had our first real day of yard work today since we bought the house last spring. We were too preoccupied with fixing up some immediate projects inside the house to deal with the outside last year, so we are playing catch up now.
We bought a cubic yard of mulch and spread it in the places that had been landscaped and planted by the previous owners, we still need another truck load. I feel lucky since we have a lot of perennials througout the yard that are coming back, so they look nice without much effort.
We do have a rather large dandelion problem, but I don't want to use chemicals on the lawn, so we are trying to mow them and pluck the heads off before they go to seed and see if that at least keeps them from spreading more. We also have huge swathes of wild strawberries on the lawn too, which I think would be sad to kill. I read that next year before the weeds really start growing we can spread corn gluten to prevent them. Anyone else done this?
Thanks for reading my ramblings!

**Grainlady** · 05-02-2010, 06:57 PM

Mulch is much lighter than moving river rocks (LOL), which we have on three sides of our home, as well as a crushed rock path. But you only have to add rocks to your landscaping once, while mulch has to be renewed every year or two.

You might try spraying your dandelions (and other weeds) with white vinegar (least expensive vinegar is at Sam's Club - comes two gallons in a box). You will have to apply it several times, but it does help. A dandelion picker is also a good choice because you can remove them at the root, then give the hole a shot of vinegar. The holes will aerate your lawn and will quickly fill in after a rain or two.

Dandelion Picker: dandelion picker picker,dandelion picker,garden tool

**mama2James** · 05-02-2010, 07:39 PM

Will the vinegar kill the grass too? Hubby is worried about that since we have so many dandilions in some spots..

**MomToTwoBoys** · 05-02-2010, 08:50 PM

I have a small tool that allows me to remove the dandelion, root and all, that I got for Mother's Day last year. Sadly, a lot of yards in our neighborhood spread the seeds and I end up with a big mess. We have to remove them every year and apply fertilizer that prohibits their growth.

You can apply grass clippings as well and that acts as mulch. The mulch is prettier, but small rocks also do well.

**frugalfranny** · 05-03-2010, 12:34 AM

Never heard of the corn gluten but if someone has tried it I hope they post how it went. Also, does it stop crabgrass?

Will be watching........

**mndtrp** · 05-05-2010, 12:31 AM

Corn Gluten can be used as a pre-emergent, it won't do you any good now. It also won't work as well as chemicals, but it does help. The vinegar that you need to kill weeds will kill your grass, so spray carefully.

I just pull the weed here and there, and make sure to always pull the yellow flowers when they come up. Dandelions propagate by seeds only, so pull the heads before they become seeds. This year has been worse for dadelions than previous years, that's for sure.