Mulching for free

Mulching for Free

I?m sure that if you are reading this, you have used some form of mulch during your gardening career. However, you probably didn?t know that there are many other options for organic mulching that you can explore. These days, many gardeners are discovering new sources of free mulch that has been there all along; an untapped resource. These include clippings from a lawn, or woody prunings from other plants in your yard. You will be surprised by how beneficial all these things can be, and how often the opportunity arises to use them.

Many gardeners have taken to spreading out their excess grass clippings across the rest of their yard. You may think this will look tacky, with big piles of grass just sitting in your yard as if you were too lazy to rake them up. However, if you spread them out enough then you won?t even be able to tell that there is an excess amount. Leaving the extra grass on the yard acts as a sort of mulch by preventing evaporation and weed growth. With this extra water, you won?t have to water nearly as much to keep your grass green. When I started leaving my grass clippings, I had to adjust the frequency of my sprinkler system because I was worried my yard was getting too much water!

If your garden is in more need of mulching than your yard, it is not unheard of to rake up all the grass and transport it to your garden. By making a small layer around the vicinity of the plant, you?ll apply all the same benefits from leaving it in your yard. My yard is rather green on its own, but I often have trouble with my plants staying green and healthy. So, rather than leave the grass clipping in my yard, I move them all around my plants. It is just a matter of choosing what your highest mulching priority is.

Sometimes, our pruning activities will lead us to have an amazing amount of branches and twigs. If this is the case, you should consider renting a wood chipper to put all of those branches to use. After one day of intense pruning, you would be surprised at just how many branches you end up with. Rather than throw these away, you can turn them into a huge amount of mulch for your plants. However, if your pruning has not left you with that big of an amount, you should bundle it all up and save it to add onto the next batch. This is because the chipping machines can be slightly expensive to rent, and you want it to be absolutely worth it!

Over time, all organic mulches need to be replenished. This is because they will naturally decompose in the conditions of your yard. Usually you can tell for yourself just by looking at it, but sometimes it can look perfectly regular but still have problems. If you start to notice any poor plant growth whatsoever, you should replace your mulch. Always keep in mind that during the process of decomposition, your mulch will use up the valuable nitrogen in the soil. Without this, the plants will be missing a key nutrient. There are several types of fertilizers available on the market that are specifically designed to deal with this problem.

The use of mulches in the yard and garden is something everyone should try. Not only can it save lots of time by reducing the amount of garbage you have to transport out, but it increases the healthiness and integrity of your plants by putting that so called garbage to good use. So if you think you would be able to save a good amount of branches and twigs for chipping, or if you think that you are ready to stop raking up all your grass clippings, then I think that mulching is for you.

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Empire Carpet For The Fall

Now is a good time if you’re doing home renovations to think about carpet replacement. With school coming in full swing and other factors replacing or adding carpet could save you hundreds. I’ve expressed in my recent post that I just love hardwood floors but good high quality carpet is great as well. There is one carpet brand that has been in business for over 45 years and are well established. I’m sure that you have seen commercials:

I actually love the commercial and sing the Empire Today theme song every time. The main image and symbol for Empire Carpet is the old guy with the glasses and mustache. Its classic because you can always relate the carpet with a nice household name.

The quality of the company and service is superb and if you’ve visited the Empire Carpet Blog you will see carpet stories and testimonies.  Installation and pre-set up is something that the company prides on and customers just love it. I can’t recommend a better company for nationalwide carpet within the USA and some parts of Canada. If you visit the website you’ll noticed a toll-free number where you will be helped by representative to help solve any problem that you have about carpeting in your home. You will also receive a free IN-HOME estimate after you make the call.

Empire does offer guaranteed low prices with several conditions and many times they have offers for scheduling your home estimate online.  As of today, booking online would get you $100 discount on your services on top of their excellent installation.

Other services by Empire Today include:

1. Carpet
2. Hardwood Flooring
3. Laminated Flooring
4. Ceramic Flooring
5. Window Treatments
6. Bath and Shower Liners

Some of the most popular carpet is Berber and Empire has a great selection of colors and textures.  Berber is usually more softer and thicker than most other textures. Soft undertone colors also work great with Berber. But that is a just one small choice from the many other carpet selections that Empire offers.

• Berber
• Plushes
• Loops
• Wool
• Indoor/Outdoor
• Friezes
• Textures

I stand by my recommendation of Empire and I know that some friends and pass customers could recommend the company as well. Just take a look at the Empire story blog! It truly is “America’s Most Popular Flooring Company“