And on the fourth day.....

a dear old friend of mine came to visit. I think he felt a little sorry for me and my lack of knowledge and experience, but strong desire to create something beautiful in my outside surroundings.

Bless his heart, he ordered a truck load of cypress mulch and then distributed it in every area that resembled a garden bed. He put it in thick, over 6 inches deep, further discouraging the weeds that were recently removed. It was so thick that I can still see remnants of it today, nine years later.

Today, I primarily use pine straw and oak leaves as mulch. However, the cypress was excellent as a base and also good in preventing weeds from reappearing.

Much concern has been expressed over the harvesting of cypress forests to provide mulch. In the southeast, pine straw and oak leaves are abundant, inexpensive and many times free! My neighbor's pine tree drops plenty of needles into my yard. I am amazed at the bags full of pine straw sitting on curbs waiting for disposal. It is attractive and provides excellent nutrients, especially for acid loving plants such as azaleas and hydrangeas.

The synthetic and artificially colored mulches make me want to barf.......why not just plant plastic flowers along with them?