Michael Spencer's Make It Green: 'Tis the mulching season in Naples

Dressing your yard should cost next to nothing; ground cover need not be a major expense

As season approaches, many of our HOAs (Home Owner Associations) are faced with an annual, or even semi-annual expense: mulch. Often it's a huge expense. One recent project of six-unit town homes, for example, is spending about $750 per building. Taken twice a year, this HOA disburses more than $40,000 for mulch.

Is this necessary?

There are at least two ways to view this, I think. There's an aesthetic element, to be sure, because many residents associate freshly mulched beds as part of a general cleanup. In fact, the application of mulch has become so important that the mulch itself is a decorative landscape object. We witness, for example, red mulch around town, which to my eye, at least, surely places the focus somewhere besides the plant material.

Is this actually where we want the emphasis in our landscapes? No, it's not, and more to the point, how do we reduce this huge cost?

Start by understanding why mulch is useful: It effectively reduces weeds in a planting bed by denying sunlight to the soil. Seeds germinate, sure, but they do not thrive.

More importantly, mulch protects the soil. It's more than simply helping retain water, although that single function is compelling. Covering the soil also protects it from the sometimes-brutal sun we get here in Southwest Florida, particularly in late summer.

There's still more: Mulch controls soil erosion.

When I was in grad school and looking around for an interesting and useful topic for my thesis, soil erosion was one of the potential subjects. Erosion is so serious that even in the U.S., without improved seed and techniques, soil degradation will reduce our ability to feed ourselves.

In our ornamental beds, the issue isn't as dramatic, but it is just as real. Why? Because everything we can possibly do to build soils is critical, that's why. Allowing important structural components to wash off is not productive.

Why not plants?

What else denies light to weeds while protecting the soil?

Right. Plants. Does this seem simple? Rather than simply providing and spacing materials in ways that will cover the soils and obviate mulch, we do the exact opposite, filling beds with disparate materials that will never knit into cohesive cover, leaving large areas of bed open and — well, you guessed it: mulched.

Over the past three years, I've been involved with a mid-sized test project that some point I will publish. For the present, though, know that the second year after proper replanting, mulch costs are reduced about 20 percent, and we expect a similar reduction in the third year, as plants begin to mature. At the same time, maintenance costs are also going down, and shrub life expectancy is doubled (but that's another column).

How is this accomplished?

This is serious business with serious money involved. And, sometimes, it's not without cost, because in order to reduce mulch costs, one needs to use the correct plants.

Here are some key points:

n Choose the correct plant and use it. Sound simple? It's not.

Always think of plant masses, and never think of individual plants. It is the plant mass that you are creating and you are using a specific plant species as a tool.

n Always use the fewest different species possible. Do not mix species in the same planting bed. Do not be afraid to plant 50 or 100 plants in one place.

n Know the plants: space them at 80 percent of mature size. When they are mature, you will have the desirable mass of plants. Provide spacing between planting beds or at the edge of buildings or pavement equal to 150 percent of the mature size.

What have you created? A planted area that needs no mulch. Sure, during grow-in there is a mulch expense, but after a season or two, the only mulch needed is around the perimeter, and often this is simply to satisfy resident expectation.

What else have you created? This is the best part: You have created a money-saving legacy where your plantings will show a look of endurance and quality.

Plant selection

The interested reader will immediately ask: "Ok, Michael, exactly what plant do I choose for Bed A or Bed B or Bed C?" And I will tell you plainly that answering this question is vexing. Why? Because while I know the answers, I want to empower you with the answers. Attentive readers know that at least one approach to this is in the works.

You can either chose a qualified landscape architect, or you can chose the materials yourself. I will help you with both of these chores in a future column.

Michael Spencer, ASLA, has been practicing landscape architecture since 1979 and is president of MSA Design Inc. Learn more at www.msadesign.com or contact Michael by email: ms@msadesign.com. His website is www.msadesign.com. Watch for his forthcoming book on tropical plants.

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