Mulch

MULCH IS THE parsley garnish on the blue-plate special of suburban life. Mulch used to be the finishing touch on the razor-cut flower beds of the rich. But now everybody mulches.Mulch is one of those miserable tasks that homeowners dread beginning because, once you start mulching, you can't quit until the last crumbs of that dump-truck load in your driveway can be swept into a dust pan. You aren't finished mulching until that last bag of mulch, gleaming with dew, is emptied."I mulch so I don't have to weed," says my sister, Cynthia, who just finished spreading three cubic yards of mulch and hasn't been able to stand up straight since.

After mulching my flower-beds with hard-bark mulch, I watered them for about 20 minutes, but none of the water reached the soil. What would cause this? Some of the water may have run off the mulch, but the mulch itself probably soaked up most of the water. When they are dry, finely shredded hard-bark mulch and pine mulch will soak up an enormous amount of water. And they will hold the water until they are saturated. After that, the water will begin to pass through and soak the soil underneath.

Want to do the environmentally correct thing with your Christmas tree? Mulch it.Starting at 10 a.m. Monday, county residents can take trees to Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, where a Department of Public Works tree chopper will grind it to mulch for free. Residents then can take home a bag filled with 2 cubic feet of mulch, or fill up the bed of a pickup truck if they want.County Executive Robert R. Neall hailed the mulching process as a way to save landfill space. The unused Christmas tree mulch will be donated by Homestead Gardens to the county for use on county-maintained grounds.

Put mulches to work for you and discover how they can encourage healthier growth of flowers, vegetables and other plants, add aesthetic appeal to landscaped areas and significantly ease tedious maintenance chores.Although mulching is good for the garden year-round, its function during the summer is especially beneficial. It helps to:* Slow evaporation on sizzling summer days and thus conserve water.* Inhibit weeds, thereby reducing cultivation to a minimum.* Stabilize soil temperature.* Improve the quality of the soil.

Gardeners are like sailors. We all heed wise old proverbs.Gardeners memorize their favorite sayings, such as: Plant the potatoes on St. Patrick's Day for a bumper crop. Or: Sow the carrots when the first maple leaves appear.I do, I do. I follow this hand-me-down garden lore and, generally, I am rewarded for it at harvest time.However, there is one adage I have crossed off my list. It reads: Never apply mulch until the tomato plants blossom.All right, who's the wise guy responsible for that quip?

Tim Dennison's Christmas tree is drying up, and the needles are falling from its branches. Now that it's a new year, Mr. Dennison said, he's going to do what he has always done with his used tree."

Carroll County Recycling Operations says residents' Christmas trees are recyclable. Trees will be ground up for mulch, and free mulch is available at county landfills.In return for recycling the Christmas tree, residents will receive a coupon for a free seedling, which can be redeemed in April. Remove all tinsel and ornaments from trees before taking them to be recycled.Here is a list of county Christmas tree recycling drop-off locations:* Northern Landfill, Route 140, Westminster; any time.

Bring a bag, take a bag. What a deal!Instead of buying mulch to spread around your trees and bushes, why not visit the county landfills and take some home free?It's composted and ready to take home right now, and the Public Works Department hopes you'll bring in your leaves to add to the pile."The mulch program has been in effect at the Hoods Mill landfill for about a year now," said Eugene Kurfman, the county comptroller. "It's been a great success. We've actually had trouble keeping any mulch at all at the Hoods Mill landfill, and we've brought some down from the Northern landfill to make it available to people at Hood's Mill."

State environmental officials have closed an investigation into a Severna Park waterfront property where one neighbor accused another of spreading toxic mulch. The Maryland Department of the Environment declared earlier this month that the mulch placed on an Oak Grove Circle property near Cypress Creek contained no hazardous substances above established risk levels. Department inspectors concluded on their first site visit in August that the mulch was made from natural wood products, but decided to investigate further after the complaining neighbor, Walter Holtz, had the mulch tested at a private lab. That test indicated that the mulch contained creosote, a potentially hazardous material used as a wood preservative.

Mulching can be a tricky business. Like extra amounts of TC pesticides or fertilizer, overdoing a mulch can be too mulch, er, much of a good thing. Some observations on mulching from various sources are worth passing along, especially since the time is at hand.As a summertime measure, mulch laid on flower or shrub beds chokes out weeds, removing them from competition with plants that then can gain full access to the supply of nutrients and water. Mulch holds down the evaporation of moisture from the soil, while keeping it cool and keeping plant roots from overheating.