Dirty Feet + 3 Trips to OSH (Sheet Mulch Project #3)

This post is about our most recent sheet mulch project. See earlier posts about projects #1 and #2.

"Tonight is an Aleve night." says the Tylenol girl.

After heading to Capital Nursery to pick up some worm poop for a different project, then to Sears and JC Penney (needed specific items only these two stores sell), picked up food at the farmer's market behind the mall, and finally headed to OSH (trip #1) to pick up edging, we headed home to work on the sheet mulch project.

Thank goodness it was only 80⁰ today! But it didn't prevent the backs of my legs from getting a little too much sun. Drats.

So, sheet mulch project #3 was similar to #2.

Ingredients for sheet mulching
Organic compost*
Mini bark mulch*
Edging material*
Half moon tool (So awesome. Glad I finally bought one!)
Lawnmower
String trimmer
Total materials cost*: About $350

(Captions above pictures)

Steps for sheet mulching

1. Cut lawn really short.



(At this point, we cut in the edge using a hose as a guide. Someday, this will be the edge of a walkway! )



And PS - Don't you love my goofy little Hoover outdoor push vacuum? It is wonderful - it was a gift a few years back. Chris hates it because he thinks it is the dorkiest thing ever, but hot damn does the thing work well!



2. Cover area with burlap (Trip #2 to OSH was because we ran out - buying in small quantities was way more expensive than Peaceful Valley...in which I was going to link to PV's burlap here and found out they no longer sell it until they find a new supplier! Bummer). We used one layer here because we're a little more sure of our sheet mulching abilities. We used two layers in project #2.



3. Wet area down thoroughly. This seems to help cut down on the dustiness of the project depending on your chosen compost/mulch fill.



4. Install edging. We did not use edging on one side of sheet mulch project #2, and let me tell you, it makes the edges look a ton more finished (we did however use pavers to separate our yard from the neighbor's on the other end). We purposely did not edge the bottom of either front yard project because edging would have caused the mulch to float over and flood away during heavy or steady rain because of the sloped nature of our front yard.





5. Pile on the compost. We calculated 1" of compost for the area to be covered. In project #2, two wheelbarrows were dumping while one person spread the compost. I recommend placing all compost before raking smooth - then you can see high and low spots more easily, and the compost will be even.



6. Rake the compost into a smooth and even layer.



7. Pile on the mulch. We again dumped about half the mulch before raking it smooth, and then did the same with the second half of the mulch. We calculated about 5-6" of mulch on top of the 1" of compost. (Notice in picture below, the driveway side has not been edged).



At this point, it was just a matter of spreading the mulch out evenly, but like any project in the Hobson household, the project evolves after beginning but before ending.

Trip #3 to OSH was to pick up another roll of edging to edge the side with the driveway, and up near the walkway to the front door. (In picture below, the driveway has been edged).



Ahh. That feels better.

Trip #3 to OSH also allowed us to pick up an additional roll of edging to clean up the edge on sheet mulch project #2 that we've been lazy about.



Ahh. This also feels better. Ignore the AWFUL lawn. It's a little crispy.

So here is what our front yard looks like. As you can see, we're not grass people. In fact, I'd say we pretty much suck at taking care of grass. And the grub damage is extensive. But I love the way the edging finishes the way both projects look. I'll focus on the good stuff today.

Ahh.