- Nov 18, 2005
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I have a small mulch garden out front. There's a couple shrubs that were pre-existing (and must remain, as this is a townhouse-style condo where pairs of units should be nearly identical in appearance) but most of the mulched area was dreadfully bare. I wanted to change that, so I planted some sedums and lavender this spring.
Unfortunately a couple of the sedums (specifically "Dragon's Blood") don't look to be thriving whatsoever, barely hanging in there. The Lavender looks healthy but I don't think it's grown nearly as well as it could, the two lavender plants are still small-fries.
Unfortunately, there's really only about 3-4" of mulch, and then there's a fabric barrier. I tore that up in some spots while laying some edging blocks but it's largely otherwise intact throughout the garden.
I want to get rid of it, and re-mulch the whole thing - can I do this and temporarily transplant the existing plants?(minus the shrubs of course, I'd just leave that section alone). Probably use cardboard as the initial defensive layer with soil and mulch on top, as the barrier will eventually disintegrate which is good for the soil. While I'm at it give myself more depth as well, but ultimately I'd want to be able to allow some deeper-rooting plants to reach down and thrive.
The real question is: if I commit to this, when is the best timing? Sedums and lavender are pretty hardy, but I don't know how well they'd fare with digging them up and then replanting them once I re-mulch. Is it too late in the season to do that now?
Or is it going to be more appropriate to do it in the early spring, and perhaps even scrap the plants and replant new ones once the garden is re-mulched? I bought them from a greenhouse/nursery to start with, I didn't start from seed - at like a buck per plant I'm hardly concerned about the cost, but I really just want to get a lush garden going and not have so much bare mulch exposed - it looks pitiful.
I don't know how fast these plants should really be growing so I don't know if I'd be sacrificing another year with a bare-looking garden when starting new growth... I had hoped to have decent growth this year that is established enough to survive winter and then continue to thrive into the next growing season, filling out the garden.
Unfortunately a couple of the sedums (specifically "Dragon's Blood") don't look to be thriving whatsoever, barely hanging in there. The Lavender looks healthy but I don't think it's grown nearly as well as it could, the two lavender plants are still small-fries.
Unfortunately, there's really only about 3-4" of mulch, and then there's a fabric barrier. I tore that up in some spots while laying some edging blocks but it's largely otherwise intact throughout the garden.
I want to get rid of it, and re-mulch the whole thing - can I do this and temporarily transplant the existing plants?(minus the shrubs of course, I'd just leave that section alone). Probably use cardboard as the initial defensive layer with soil and mulch on top, as the barrier will eventually disintegrate which is good for the soil. While I'm at it give myself more depth as well, but ultimately I'd want to be able to allow some deeper-rooting plants to reach down and thrive.
The real question is: if I commit to this, when is the best timing? Sedums and lavender are pretty hardy, but I don't know how well they'd fare with digging them up and then replanting them once I re-mulch. Is it too late in the season to do that now?
Or is it going to be more appropriate to do it in the early spring, and perhaps even scrap the plants and replant new ones once the garden is re-mulched? I bought them from a greenhouse/nursery to start with, I didn't start from seed - at like a buck per plant I'm hardly concerned about the cost, but I really just want to get a lush garden going and not have so much bare mulch exposed - it looks pitiful.
I don't know how fast these plants should really be growing so I don't know if I'd be sacrificing another year with a bare-looking garden when starting new growth... I had hoped to have decent growth this year that is established enough to survive winter and then continue to thrive into the next growing season, filling out the garden.
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