Posts tagged as:

Soil and Compost

Post image for Your Gardening Body: How to Scoop Mulch and Use a Wheelbarrow Without Strain or Pain

Anne Asher, a movement specialist from The MOVE! Blog, has been kind enough to answer some common questions about how professional and/or passionate gardeners can reduce the strain that comes from repetitive gardening tasks. Check out her new product – great for winter time – called Clear the Blear. Here’s this month’s installment:

Dear Anne,

In winter, I love to mulch my gardens, because mulch protects plants’ roots from the frost, keeps the soil surface from forming a crust when the rains beat down on it, and keeps the weeds from coming up.

But shoveling loads of mulch, either from off the ground if we have mulch delivered by a dump-truck, or out of a pickup truck, can be repetitive and tiring on the lower back. I find I have a tendency to stoop while scooping.

I’d love some tips on how to shovel light loads like this, where the material does not weigh much and you shovel more quickly than when working soil.

Tips on using a wheelbarrow would also be much appreciated! [Click here to continue reading…]

{ 4 comments }

Fall Leaves: Leave ‘Em and Weep

by Genevieve on December 5, 2009

Post image for Fall Leaves: Leave ‘Em and Weep

Once upon a time some newbie garden writer thought it’d be a great idea to encourage people to leave their fall leaves on the ground. Hey, it’s got all the qualities of a great article for the masses; it tells folks what they want to hear (stay in your jammies on Saturday and don’t bother with all that raking!), and it sounds vaguely earth-friendly, which generally goes over well.

The problem with this well-intended advice? [Click here to continue reading…]

{ 4 comments }

Calculating How Much Mulch or Compost You Need

November 21, 2009
Thumbnail image for Calculating How Much Mulch or Compost You Need

So your garden’s mulch is getting thin, and you’ve decided that you want to add 2 inches of wood chips to top it up. Great! But how much mulch do you need to buy to make that happen?
You can do this using math (yuck!), or you can use these great calculators I’ve found online. I’ll [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Rubber Mulch: Where the Rubber Meets the – Soil?

October 2, 2009
Thumbnail image for Rubber Mulch: Where the Rubber Meets the – Soil?

At Costco recently, I was happy to see some acquaintances coming out of the garden section, until… what in the WORLD was in their cart? It looked like bags of mulch, but… wrong somehow.
They patiently explained to this landscaper that recycled rubber mulch is the newest thing and would look very pretty in their garden [...]

Click here to continue reading →

For All You Pros: How to Lift a Wheelbarrow Into Your Truck Even if You’re a Wimpy Girl Like Me (An Article in Pictures)

June 17, 2009
Thumbnail image for For All You Pros: How to Lift a Wheelbarrow Into Your Truck Even if You’re a Wimpy Girl Like Me (An Article in Pictures)

Since we’ve been discussing mulching, I thought this tip might be helpful for those of you who are mulching for other people, like me!
I don’t know about ya’ll, but for a long time there, I was risking life and limb getting my dratted wheelbarrow up into my truck to take to clients’ homes on days [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Gardening Basics: How to Apply Mulch

June 16, 2009
Thumbnail image for Gardening Basics: How to Apply Mulch

We’ve talked about why a thick layer of mulch, composty soil, and good watering habits are important if you want to garden more organically; it’s all about giving your plants a foundation of good health so that pest problems will be few and far between.
Today we’ll talk specifically about mulch: what it is, what type [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Gardening Basics: How to Amend Soil

June 15, 2009

We’ve talked about why composty soil, good watering habits, and a thick layer of mulch are important if you want to garden more organically; it’s all about giving your plants a foundation of good health so that pest problems will be few and far between.
Today we’ll talk about how to know whether you need to [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Soil, Water, and Mulch: The Three Key Steps to a Healthy Organic Garden

June 14, 2009
Thumbnail image for Soil, Water, and Mulch: The Three Key Steps to a Healthy Organic Garden

As a professional landscaper, I get to see and diagnose a lot of garden issues. I find many people at wits’ end, spraying for pest problems and dealing with unhappy plants. Most of the time, the pest problem or grumpy plant shouldn’t be looked at as the problem itself – more accurately, they are symptoms [...]

Click here to continue reading →