Best way to use Bark & Mulch
Clean out your beds — Remove dried-up leaves, debris, sticks, and old mulch from previous years. You should also take the time to freshen up the edging along your beds. Use a spade to cut a clean, defined line between your bed and lawn.
Water your beds — If your area hasn’t experienced any recent rain, you should wet down dry beds. As mentioned above, the mulch helps to seal in the moisture. Before you water your beds, you may want to take the additional step of applying a pre-emergent herbicide (Preen is one of our favorites) to prevent weed seeds from germinating. Since it needs to be watered to activate, this is the perfect time to get it done!
Remove weeds — A main benefit of mulching is that it suppresses weed growth, so cleaning out weeds gives you a head start.
Spread bark or mulch — Shovel mulch from your wheelbarrow or shake mulch from your bag into small piles. Then use your hands to spread the mulch, especially as you get close to the base of your plants. How much mulch should you apply? You should spread your mulch to be two to four inches thick. If your mulch is too thin, then weeds can push through. If your mulch is too thick, it prevents water from reaching the soil.
How professionals use rock
Rock is by far one of the greatest ways of adding a piece of yourself to your landscape and given rock’s propensity for durability, it may just last forever.
Landscaping rock comes in a variety of colors and sizes. It is great when used as a complement to existing style and design, and even works well when started fresh.
Measure where you plan to lay your landscaping rocks. This will allow you to purchase the proper amount needed for you are.
Dig only as deep as the amount of rock that you plan to lay. The landscaping rocks you pour in should sit an inch or so above ground level, alongside the remaining turf, to allow for settling.
Tamp down the soil where the rocks will go. This will impede future settling and stop you from having to add more landscaping rock later.
Before pouring your landscaping rock, lay landscape fabric or newspaper to stop weed growth.
