I was clearing out some concrete blocks (rubble left from dismantling my mother's worn out stoop last June) from the weed patch near the house (I'd put them there to hold down cardboard in a misguided effort to smother the weeds last year) when it occurred to me I could use them to provide a nice little ring around our high bush cranberry. This high bush cranberry, to be precise. How long could it take?
It didn't take long to ring the tree, actually. However, it occurred to me I should probably dig out the grass immediately underneath it. (This was the point of the exercise, really--to provide a border for ground cover or mulch so the weed whacker wouldn't have to go in there to get the inevitably long grass which always clings tenderly to the base of it.)
That took ages. I stopped mid-way through and realised I was working in the only sunny spot left in the entire back yard! (Though of course the sun went behind a cloud when I snapped the picture).
At this point, the husband wielded the spade with much zeal, digging far deeper than I'd wanted. So I probably laid those darn concrete "stones" three times more after that. But here we are:
There's only a partial second row. I can go to my Mom's and get more rubble.
Now I need to decide: cedar bark mulch (we have it) or low growing ground cover (we don't)? Any ideas?
Looks great!
ReplyDeleteGo with the mulch. Ground cover has to interact with the tree and the roots and the shade level, so it's a much more complicated problem for relatively little payoff. And then you have to maintain the ground cover.
I love it! And I agree on the mulch, ground cover could just give you as many problems as the grass did, keep it simple. Also, I posted pictures of my backyard!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I like easy. I just hope the cedar bark doesn't upstage the bush.
ReplyDeleteJust thirding the mulch...
ReplyDeleteI love it! And I'm another vote for mulch...
ReplyDelete