Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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How To Make Planting Beds With Mulch

Let’s talk about planning planting beds, digging them out to crisp up the edges, spreading a truckload of mulch, and other fun curb appeal delights. Yes, with Clara’s birthday party coming up this weekend (more on that another day) we’ve been trying to give our landscaping a little attention. Mother Nature has done her job by cranking the greenery to eleven, so we’ve done some work to further improve the view from our front porch. And from this post title, you can probably guess what I’m talking about.

View From Front Door At Large Grassy Lawn With Mulch Beds Around Trees

Let’s hot tub time machine our way back to last summer (after all, there is no classier way to time travel) when most of our plant beds were looking like this. A nice gradient from weeds to dirt.

Overgrown Boxwood Mulch Planting Beds In Front Of Brick Colonial Home

Our grass came in fairly well (not perfectly though, so we overseeded this spring and will probably aerate/seed again in the fall) but we didn’t get around to mulching. So by this spring, we had slightly better defined planting beds thanks to thicker grass surrounding them, but they were still looking pretty rough themselves.

Weeded And Carved Out Mulch Beds Ready For Mulch In Front Of Colonial Home

We looked into free mulch since some of you said that was available in your area, but came up empty. So after getting recommendations from a few neighbors and doing some math, we decided to get mulch delivered this year rather than haul a bunch of bags home from Home Depot. We learned that a 10 cubic yard delivery of basic hardwood mulch would run us $280 through this local company that a few of our neighbors used each year. We did the math and realized that even the cheapest stuff at Home Depot would’ve been $300+ for the same amount… and it would have meant hauling 135 bags home ourselves, so that made the delivery route a pretty easy call.

Mulch Dump Truck Dumping Pile Of Mulch In Front Of Home

Not that there wasn’t lots of hauling involved. Instead of bags, I was shoveling wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow full, but at least I had a helper for a little while. Next time I’ll have to convince her to upsize her tiny trowel.

Little Girl With Garden Gloves Playing In Large Mulch Bed Next To Wheelbarrow

It took 2.5 afternoons, but by the end our landscaping was looking a lot better. We still have a ways to go (like actually planting more and taking care of some bare-ish grass patches) but at least we’re getting closer to that ever elusive “curb appeal.” Although we’re still not 100% set on the shape of these beds (we’re debating extending the one in the foreground along the outside of the path so we can plant things on both sides of the walkway eventually.

Traditional Brick Colonial Home With Large Boxwood Mulch Beds

In addition to hauling and spreading, I also took a crack at defining the beds. Many of our neighbors have beautiful landscaping with crisp grass-to-mulch lines that we’ve long admired, so I thought I’d attempt the same look. I started by outlining the shape with a hose – intentionally going into the grass so it would be thick at the border.

Mulch Beds Around Trees In Front Yard Shaped With Garden Hose Template

Then I used this small edging spade to cut along the line, just digging out a small chunk as I went.

Cutting Out Grass With Edging Shovel To Create Mulch Bed In Front Yard

Next I went back along and dug up any grass in the area that I wanted to mulch. This not only helped to keep grass from eventually sprouting up in the mulch beds, but also recessed the whole bed below grass-level, so the mulch will hopefully stay more contained.

Digging Out Grass Around Mulch Bed

Here’s the bed all dug up and ready for mulch. I’m not entirely satisfied with my final shape, but I think once we add back some bushes or flowers it might make more sense. For now we’re just kinda working with what’s already there.

Dug Out Bed Around Trees Before Mulch Is Placed

And here it is all mulched up and ready to party. Well, except for that sad looking azalea on the end there. He must be very popular with the deer.

Mulch Bed Added Around Trees In Front Yard

I won’t give you a bed-by-bed tour of the yard, but here’s another quick before and after progress look at how much things have evolved in the last nine months or so.

Before Photo Of Last Summer Ayrd With Patchy Grass

This picture makes me so grateful that winter is over.

Large Grassy Yard In Front Of Brick Colonial Home

Ten cubic yards ended up being more than we needed (we did some rough measurements and used an online mulch calculator to get that figure) so I think next time we’ll just need 7 or 8 and we should be good to go.

Large Mulch Bed Next to Driveway With Brick Colonial Home In Background

 I used up the extra by mulching some areas in the backyard, and then spread the rest over the big bed in next to the driveway (in the photo above) to make it extra thick.

Front View Of Brick Colonial Home Yard With Patchy Grass From Last Summer

With this task done, we feel like we’re finally close to “Landscape Zero” where the property doesn’t look too neglected (tell that to the weeds in the driveway) but we haven’t really moved forward to getting those empty beds planted yet.

Front View Of Brick Colonial Home This Summer With Green Grass and Mulch Beds

We’re actually thinking of hiring the landscaper who did our showhouse for a consultation since we really liked working with him. We’d do all the planting grunt work, but we think that talking to a pro about what should work with the deer and the light that we get would be worth the trouble. We really liked getting a professional opinion on our last house, which seemed to get the ball rolling over there, so we’re hoping it has the same effect here.

Is anyone else getting their hands dirty lately?

PS – Sherry made a Teddy’s Photo Project page (and a new sidebar button to lead you there) this weekend, complete with his three week photo and a few outtakes. We’ll be updating it with each week’s photo as we go, just like we did with Clara’s.

Comments

  1. Anne says

    My husband and IL’s did a bunch of landscaping while I was out of town last weekend. That’s the best way to do it!

    We had to replace some bushes that didn’t survive our polar vortex winter. And I’m excited that they got me a peony.

    Reply

  2. Elle says

    I read in the comments that you put down old newspapers, but if you didn’t have that or you’re doing a really big job, you can buy giant rolls of plain brown paper from the paint section of your local hardware store – just get the non-rosin kind because the rosin type is meant to be water resistant. We redid a large section of our front yard and went through several rolls and almost a year later I can tell where we didn’t put it down because we’re having more weed issues in those spots, but the paper itself has almost completely broken down (unlike the black plastic I still keep discovering). I think we’ll put down more mulch in the fall and I want to put down more paper then too.

    Reply

  3. Tamara @ Provident Home Design says

    We did some mulching this weekend. Stocked up on some Scott’s black mulch from Home Depot. It was on sale for only $2 a bag and is great quality mulch! I scored an electric edger at a garage sale for $8 and have put it to good use in expanding and creating new flower beds. Youve done a great job on your beds. It’s amazing what some TLC can do for a yard. You have such a big, beautiful lot! Great work!

    Reply

  4. Sharon says

    Hi John and Sherry,
    Great progress. I am in Canada so we are a little behind you guys. I passed through Virginia a couple of weeks ago and was so envious of the green already, but we are getting there slowly. My Dad and I just got out on Thursday to start our yard clean-up. We have a HUGE lot to maintain (acres), so it takes weeks to get things up to scratch. Purchased 1/2 ton of compost and will be heading out today to get that put into the vegetable gardens. We started the weeding and hopefully we have just a little mulch to put down. Whew! Just typing this makes me tired. On another note, just checked out Teddy’s photo pages and you can already see how he has grown. The wooden plaque really helps us by having something to compare to. Nice work all around guys. :)

    Reply

  6. chelsea says

    good morning! I saw your interview on House Tweaking today. I read that the room you would go back and change in the Show House is the guest room. However, I can not seem to find where the tour of the room is? Have you given us a tour? or is it here and I am just not seeming it? I wanted to see how crazy you are because nothing you do is ever anything less then perfect :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We have a bunch of rooms still to share! Within the next few weeks we’ll have them all published with source lists and even a video tour :)

      xo
      s

  9. Meghan says

    Looks great! For the weeds in the driveway try 1 gallon vinegar, 1 cup salt and 1 tablespoon dawn. Works like a champ! And SO cheap…much better to have around children and pets, too!!!

    Reply

  11. Teresa says

    Mulch really does bring instant beautification! Well, maybe not instant because its a chore to spread it and I know I am always sore as heck the next day. \

    We always have our mulch delivered through a local company in Chester, VA and have been very happy with the quality. I would caution anyone before they got any “Free” mulch is to make sure it has been treated and screened. You certainly don’t want to be spreading termite infested mulch in your yard.

    Reply

  12. Christy says

    I love the yard and the beds look wonderful.

    We put in beds on both side of our walkway when we the builder landscaped our new house in spring 2011. I love having the beds on both sides and I think it looks much nicer than the other houses in our neighborhood with beds only near the house.

    However, I would NOT recommend digging up and putting in the beds this year. Wait until next spring or even the spring after – you will probably be better rested then. Figure out exactly what you want to plant (use the landscaper for ideas). I didn’t plan anything (just planted free perennials that we dig up from a friend’s house) and now I am working on a plan and will need to dig up a bunch of stuff. Spend the year planning everything and start refreshed next spring.

    Reply

  13. Emily says

    I got a magnolia tree for Christmas when I was around 8. My reaction to this was what you would imagine a ten year olds would be — “Huh, I don’t really want this.” This should have clued me in that my mother had an ‘in’ with Santa. She was very excited about it. Anyway, I am 26 now and the tree is about 10 feet wide and well over 30 feet tall. Now, I love it. My sister got a weeping willow and it died.

    Reply

  14. kathyg says

    I’m pretty sure that’s Vinca Minor, white or blue flowers off and on.

    I read you chose not to put in the fabric or plastic under mulch – good call imo – but did you happen to put in some kind of weed preventer first? I have gotten good results from Preen or Amaze. Have to reapply about every 8 months.

    Reply

  15. sherry says

    we have deer and a bear that walk right up to our doors (that can be startling). i have giant allium and they are fabulous. very striking against a house or fence and related to the onion so the deer don’t touch them. you can plant the bulbs in the fall. Also hellebore, daffodils, hydrangea and rhodos. deer also have regional appetites so i can’t wait to see what your landscape guy recommends. the yard looks amazing.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks so much for the tip! Our deer eat hydrangeas (so sad, because we got a lovely one as a housewarming and it was eaten in a week) but allium and rhodos tend to do well here, so we’ll have to try those!

      xo
      s

  16. Paige @ Lux Per Diem says

    Your yard is looking so much better! We had just regrown all the grass in our front yard this year. Last week the city had to dig up half of it to replace a gas main D:

    Needless to say we’ll be growing grass again, not to mention the fact that they filled the holes they dug with sand… oy vey.

    Reply

  17. Susan M says

    I think Teddy looks just like Clara in his three-week photo! Wo do you think he up takes after most? He’s so adorable!

    Reply

  18. Krista says

    Any advice for complete beginners? We have zero curb appeal right now and are struggling with where to even start. How do you pick your spot, so to speak, when you have a ton of places that need work?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I would try to write out all the things you need to do and see if there’s some logical order that makes sense. For example, our list looked a little like this: grow grass, get rid of weeds, mulch beds, transplant some stuff, and level yard out. Once we saw it all laid out in a list, leveling the yard seemed to make the most sense to do first, since growing grass or mulching beds might be undone if we later had to level the yard. If your yard is already nice and level, I’d say that aerating the grass and reseeding it in the fall could be an awesome first step. Then just plant some stuff in the beds over time and mulch them when you can. Good luck!

      xo
      s

  19. Krissy says

    The mulch looks fantastic! We built two more raised beds this weekend and got a bunch of dirt for them. My mom also came up to visit with a bunch of “overflow” from her garden so we planted those in a flower garden by the driveway.

    Reply

  20. Lauren says

    Yep! We just mulched last week. We bought the bags though since our yard is small. I guess I’m crazy too because I hosted a birthday party for my daughter 3 weeks after having a baby! We also had pizza and a bought cake but she had a blast! Happy Birthday to Clara (and your yard looks great)!

    Reply

  22. Rachel says

    I weeded beds and put down 21 bags of mulch this weekend (about two yards) while my (professor) hubby did final grades and my mom played outside with our little one. I need to go back for just a few more bags then I’m done!

    For the past several years, we have had hemlock (hardwood) mulch delivered by the yard by a local company. However, after seeing the $2 a bag sale on Scotts Earth Gro mulch at Home Depot and being reassured by all the positive reviews, we bit the bullet. I’m pleasantly surprised by the quality and rich brown color. It cost about 1/3 of what the by-the-yard delivery usually costs, and we personally find the bags to be much easier to work with – just toss a few in the wheel barrow, slash and pour! It’s the hand weeding and other bed prep that takes time…

    Reply

  23. Nichole K says

    RE: Deer repellent, my grandma, mom and I use these little “scent stations,” as they’re called, to keep deer away from tasty plants. You put them right next to whatever they’re eating (at leaf/flower level) and they’ll stay away from plants in the immediate vicinity. They’re good for one year (spring/summer/fall) and are non-toxic, kid/pet safe, and don’t smell bad. And the’re so small, they don’t really stand out much. Might be worth a try!

    http://www.homedepot.com/p/Sweeney-s-Deer-Repellent-6-Count-Scent-Stations-5600/203225235

    Reply

  25. John says

    I bought a box of flexible metal wires that are used to hold batt insulation in between floor joists. Just stick them in the ground and wrap some twine around them to design your beds. You can leave them in for days while you think about the shape.

    Reply

  26. mary pat says

    Loving the landscaping! Nothing feels better than pulling up to your house and being proud of the yard.

    My question is completely unrelated: how have you guys adapted to your decision to buy a house with stairs, especially with new bundle of adorable Teddy.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I definitely have those moments where I’m downstairs and something I want is upstairs (like the boppy for example) but it hasn’t been too bad. We have diapers and wipes both upstairs and downstairs which helps.

      xo
      s

  27. Stephanie @ Whole Health Dork says

    What a difference a year makes! Yes, we need to get more mulch this year (it’s been a couple of years and we didn’t put it on thichk enough last time) and will most likely have it delivered. It’s amazing how it makes the house look instantly better. We’re also thinking of cutting out a new bed around an area that will just not grow grass.
    Lookin’ good! And what a sweet and thoughtful gift from your neighbors!

    Reply

  28. Rachel says

    I love your idea to get a professional landscaper opinion – my only question, we would like to do the same at our place, however, we really have no money to hire the landscaper, we would just like some ideas so we can do the work. Is that ok? Do you think they expect if they come to your house they will get the job? That is my only reservation about calling them – that they will look at our terrible yard, know we have no money to hire them at this time and then not give us an estimate or any ideas about a plan we can start working towards.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think they charge for their time to give you a consultation, so as long as you’re up front about hiring them just for their advice and doing the grunt work yourself I think they’d be happy to help!

      xo
      s

    • Bailey says

      We had a guy that owns the local greenery to come out and do up a plan for our yard. He gave us the drawings of the plan and the estimate if we had his company actually do the work. Obviously we couldn’t pay them to do all the work, but we did buy most of the plants from him. He didn’t charge for the plan and layout but he knew even if we did it he’d make money on the sale of the plants, mulch, edgers, etc. Since then we’ve go there for all of our landscaping needs. Maybe you could find someone like that!

  29. Jessica says

    You should visit Sneeds Nursery. They offer a free service called “We Plan, You Plant”. We just made an appt with Deb the other day for our front. We took measurements and pictures, she drew out a plan on graph paper and showed us what to buy. Then they offer 10% off their suggestions if you buy within 30 days. We just planted this past weekend and can’t wait to see how it looks next spring with a little age on everything!! And Deb was awesome, very knowledgable!

    Reply

  30. Kim Zale says

    Do you think you guys will paint your black shutters white or blue like your front door? I think that would look so pretty. Just curious.

    Reply

    • bfish says

      Please, not white shutters! Your neighbors will thank you for forgoing that. Any complementary dark color is good with the brick and roof.

  31. Stacy says

    Spring finally came to New England about a week ago and things are finally starting to bloom. We moved into our home in August and I couldn’t remember what was growing in the yard so I didn’t do anything so far except have the guys who mow our lawn put down some mulch and do edging on the current flower beds. I figured I’d see what grows before I start planting. I can already tell I’m going to have two flower beds that I’m going to need to completely start from scratch. It’s 80 with no humidity today so I plan on heading outside shortly with my girls and set up my daughters playhouse and weed. Your landscaping looks great!!

    Reply

  32. Laine says

    Any thoughts on if we should mulch under our pine trees? They take up much of the yard and just kill the grass.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I guess if you can’t get grass to grow, mulching there and planting some shade shrubs and flowers might help. Anyone have ideas for Laine?

      xo
      s

    • heather says

      If you don’t have deer in your area, mulch and plant blueberries. They LOVE acidic soil, and planting under/near pines is perfect for that.

    • bfish says

      As Sherry notes, shade shrubs and perennials are the way to go. If you have tall, telephone-pole like pines like we have in VA (loblollies), it will look better to establish nearby an understory of medium-height ornamental trees such as dogwoods, Japanese maples, redbuds, etc. Then you fill in the next lower level with shade-loving shrubs that do well in close proximity to pines, including rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, loropetalums, mahonias and aucubas. For your lowest level, try small nandinas, ferns (autumn fern is one of the easiest), hellebores, hostas (if deer aren’t a threat) with some shade-loving ground covers (hakone grass, mondo grass, liriope, vinca minor, pachysandra, creeping jenny, etc.).

  33. Emily says

    This may be a sill question….but what did you guys do with all the dirt/grass you dug up? I just dug up a good bit of my yard for garden beds.. but now I have all this sod/weed/dirt combo in a giant pile!

    Reply

  35. MonW says

    Looks really nice.

    I’ll be digging up piles of liriope(eek) from our front bed before it gets really hot here. I already killed off the driveway crack weeds and will clear the cracks out thoroughly and try the concrete gap filler when the weather improves from “crazy spring storm”. Got the idea from Pinterest. Stuff looks like a caulk gun tube but can flow and fill while leveling itself and is over in the concrete stuff instead of the paint/caulk stuff at the hardware store. They do say to block up the crack at each end.

    Hope you all have a ball with the party. :)

    Reply

  36. Mary says

    Looks wonderful! And all that rain has really greened up beautiful Virginia. Any thoughts about staking that little leaning tree? Is that even doable after it has been in the ground/growing for awhile?

    Reply

  37. Heather @ Them Teaching Us says

    Way to go Sherry & John! I think having the party is a great idea, too. Clara will feel special and get to show off “her baby” as well. :) Our boys are two years apart and separated by only five days. We brought Brub home the night before Duders’ 2nd birthday party. Basically it was a birthday/sip-n-see and everyone loved it. The grandmas stayed to help with the baby afterwards and all was nice and peaceful. Congrats on Teddy and Happy (early) Birthday to Clara!

    Reply

  38. Lisa says

    Hot tubs may be all the rage but, sorry, the classiest form of time travel is and always will be a Tardis :)

    And now that I’ve geeked out, you are so not crazy for having Clara’s party “so soon” after bringing Teddy home. I think it’s way less stressful with a newborn to be at home, even with people over, because if someone is fussy and needs a break you can just sneak upstairs. Kudos on going with the flow and not letting “fear of new baby drama” cause you to stop being who you are and doing fun family things.

    Reply

  39. MB says

    Best money we ever spent was having metal, commercial-grade, edging installed. It can handle any curve and saves you from having to recut all the beds every time the grass starts to encroach. Worth. Every. Penny.

    Reply

    • bfish says

      I agree — we did DIY with the best metal edging we could get from Lowes or HD and it’s working well to keep grass and planting beds separated from walkways. The trench digging method that John employed looks good and is very “classic Virginia” but it needs a lot of upkeep. The metal edging comes in garden-neutral colors such as green or brown and doesn’t buckle, twist or pop out of the ground like that ugly black rubber kind (which I think is what YHL got rid of). The metal edging is a big work saver when there are so many other gardening chores that are more rewarding than constantly digging to keep the grass-mulch boundary looking sharp!

  41. DKL says

    Really, is there anything mulch can’t do? I can’t wait to see what you do with those gorgeous shade areas. I can recommend Helleborus as a lovely shade plant that deer hate. Christmas fern is good as well.

    Reply

  42. Cheerful Homemakerer says

    We’ve planted a few annuals, but nothing big so far this year. Our next door neighbors moved out last month and have been neglecting their yard, so all of our energy has been spent fighting the War on Dandelions. It stinks spending money on upkeep for your own yard when your neighbors’ weeds keep blowing in!

    Reply

  43. Leslie says

    I need to get cracking on re-defining the beds in my front yard. They are looking pretty sad right now. This week the weather is supposed to be nice so I’ll give it a try.

    Reply

  44. Kim says

    I spent the morning yesterday walking around Homearama with my Mom. We LOVED your house and had a good chat with the builder. We are looking to move to Hallsley so that was fun. Really enjoyed the tile in the 1/2 bath, wallpaper in the laundry room, everything in the master suite, the painted headboard and all the built-ins in the kids rooms. I could go on and on!!!

    Lots of great ideas and projects added to our current house to-list. So much fun to see in person.

    Reply

  45. Emily @ Life on Food says

    I would hire you for lawn work. We have a mess of a yard currently. I recently filled a big hole in the front yard had a few sketchy trees taken down and the woods thinned out. We need to seed and treat our yard we have lots of weeds and bare patches. I want to put in a veggie garden too. Every weekend is progress but not enough time. Is there a reason why you didn’t line before you mulched. I always that that was what you were suppose to do.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We have tried using weed blocking stuff and gone without it and we don’t seem to have much of a difference most times (weeds sprout up above the fabric sometimes when we use it anyway), so we opted to skip it for these big beds. We’ll have to see how it goes!

      xo
      s

  46. Koliti says

    Loving Teddy’s 3 Weeks Photo! His big beautiful eyes.
    He’s rubbing his tummy full of love for MOM with his right hand and he’s giving MOM a fist-pump with his left!

    Reply

  47. Nifty says

    Love how mulch gives everything a defined, tidy look. Would you consider eventually adding some berms or low stone/brick walls in places to add topical dimension to the landscape?

    Reply

  48. Emily says

    So fun to see all the progress you guys have made! Just a suggestion (which you may already be considering) as you move forward with your landscaping, planting, etc.: native plants are a great way to make things beautiful and support all the great wildlife that makes Richmond such a neat place to live. We’ve noticed more and more natives available at local nurseries as we’ve worked on our yard this year and this book: Bringing Nature Home (http://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Nature-Home-Wildlife-Expanded/dp/0881929921) has been an awesome resource, too.
    Happy gardening! Emily

    Reply

  49. Wendy says

    Your yard is looking beautiful! Next year you might want to try what we consider a miracle power garden tool, a Bed Edger. It edges and grinds up the grass all at the same time – no clumps to hide or dump in the trash. You can edge your whole yard in 30 minutes. In the past, we have split the rental with the neighbors and we all get it done in half a day. Really, it’s a miracle!
    http://gtr-rents.com/equipment.asp?action=category&category=37&key=9109

    Reply

  50. Sabrina says

    Another possibility for next time — around here some boy scout troops deliver mulch for you as a fundraiser. The pricing seems to be competitive.

    Reply

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