Friday, May 10, 2013

More Mull-shay!


The new "Betony Bed."  Betony, White Yarrow, Paprika Yarrow, Liriope, Columbine and Firespike.
After using 3 bags to mulch the possumhaw area, and then another 2.5 to mulch the red tip photinia bed, I decided that paying at least $2.50 a bag and having all those bags was a little ridiculous.  Enter The Natural Gardener.  The Natural Gardener sells mulch and soils in bulk.  Their most expensive mulch (Sylvan Formula) is currently $26 per half cubic yard (aka 13.5 cubic feet) with the cheapest one that you'd want to use being $16.50.  If you don't want half a cubic yard, they also sell it in "bag it yourself" bags.  If you go this route, however, the cost does increase to $3.50/bag ($35.50/half yard).  Does buying in bulk end up saving money?  Yes - but it's a negligible amount ($2.44 per big box brand bag equivalent instead of $2.50 (going for the cheap stuff on both accounts)).  So because we were tired of ripping apart bags, we opted to go get us some bulk mulch.  It was easy-peasy.  The guy loading the mulch was a pro - we didn't even have to get out of the truck AND he even levelled the top of the mulch mountain all with the little front-end loader.  We took surface roads all the way back home because mulch does get blown around.  We had the sunroof open, and we both ended up covered in mulch dust by the time we got home.
The side yard - Iris bed on the right in front of the rain barrel, Bettony bed straight back.

Do you have any idea how quickly half a yard of mulch will disappear when you're spreading it around the yard?  Like super quick, man.  We mulched the Rose bed, the Iris bed, and the new Betony bed.  And that used about half of the mulch.  We still have to mulch the front bed, 3 trees, and the main backyard bed.  Plus we may do the veggie garden beds (even though what I really need is more soil), and the front bed along the walk.
The Rose Bed - Dr. Huey Rose with Blackfoot Daisy, Zexmenia, and Dwarf Lion's Tail.  The zexmenia reseeded prolifically this year.

I think we're going to need more mulch.

4 comments:

Linda/patchwork said...

We've been mulching, too.

It'll still have to be bags here, though. The bulk price-per-bag breakdown goes up pretty fast, when you have to pay to have it delivered.

It looks so nice, when it's done.

Have a great weekend.

Bond said...

You can never have too much mulch! Have you guys ever done the free Zilker after Christmas mulch? I was always scared it would be a busy fiasco and not worth it for the small price tag of mulch bags.

Bob said...

Wow, your place is just getting more and more beautiful. You are sure doing a good job.

There is a place on 1431 about five miles east of Cedar Park that makes the mulch most other places sell. You can fill the truck up there really cheap.

Bob said...

There is a place right on Hwy. 29 in Liberty Hill called Bubba's Dirt (catchy name) that sells bulk dirts and mulches pretty cheap. I've been buying a lot of dirt and granite gravel from them. They have a living mulch (still composting) that they garauntee will keep it's dark color all year. You might want to check them out as well. Might save you some riding in the old beater.