Refreshing a Flower Bed: Weeds, Edges and Fresh Mulch

Few things change how a house looks from the street like a freshly done flower bed. Polo's photos include one: a curved bed edged in brick, freshly mulched in red-brown and planted with knockout roses and shrubs, in front of a brick home with a green lawn. It looks sharp because the work was done in the right order. Here is that order, and why it works.

Step one: weeds first

Mulch on top of weeds just gives them a head start. Pull them first, roots and all. The easiest time is a day or two after a good rain, when the soil is soft and the roots slide out. In dry Texas clay, a dry weed snaps off at the surface and grows right back.

Work in sections so you don't lose track. Bermuda grass creeping into a bed is the hardest case: follow the runners and pull the whole length, not just the green tip. Anything woody, like a sapling or a vine with a thick root, should be cut and dug out.

Step two: cut back and clean out

• Cut away dead stems and spent growth from perennials.
• Remove old leaves and the matted layer of old mulch that has turned into crust.
• Prune shrubs that have pushed past the bed edge, with the timing in mind. Spring bloomers wait until after they flower.
• Take out anything that doesn't belong or that is crowding a plant you care about.

In some beds the cleanup is a big job. Another pair of photos from Polo's crew shows a curved brick bed completely overgrown with shrubs and saplings, then the same bed cleared down to bare soil with a birdbath and a statue left standing. Once you can see the soil, you can see what the bed needs.

Step three: a clean edge

The edge is what makes a bed look intentional. With a brick or stone border, clear the soil and grass off the top and sides of each brick, and straighten any that have shifted. With no border, cut a clean trench about three inches deep along the bed line with a flat spade or an edger, angled so the lawn side is straight and the bed side slopes gently.

A good edge keeps grass out of the bed and mulch out of the lawn. It also does more for the look of the yard than almost anything else you can do in an hour.

Step four: mulch at the right depth

Two to three inches is enough. More than that can smother roots and hold too much water, which is a real problem in East Texas clay after a rainy week. Less than two lets the weeds through.

• Keep mulch pulled back a couple of inches from stems and trunks. Mounding it against the plant, the so-called volcano, invites rot and pests.
• Rake it level, with no hills and bare spots.
• Shredded hardwood, bark and pine straw all work. Pick a color that suits your house.
• Many pros skip plastic landscape fabric under mulch. Over time, soil builds up on top of it and weeds root right through.

When to do it

Late winter and early spring are the classic times, before new growth starts and while the weather is still cool. Fall works well too, and it sets the bed up for a clean winter. Mid-summer is the hard season. The heat is rough on any new planting, and weeds explode after every rain. If you must plant in July, do it early in the morning and water every day for the first week or two.

Replanting and keeping it up

Refreshing a bed doesn't always mean new plants. If the shrubs and roses are healthy, give them a trim and some room. Where something has died or you have a bare patch, fill the gap with plants suited to the exposure: sun-loving types on the south and west sides, shade-tolerant ones where the oak canopy blocks the light.

Run a spade along the edge every few weeks in the growing season, and it will stay sharp with almost no effort. Plan to top up the mulch about once a year and pull weeds as you see them, a few minutes at a time. Watering new plantings regularly the first summer matters more than anything else you put in the ground.

Polo does flower-bed work along with lawn care, trimming and clean-ups, so one visit can take care of the lawn and the beds together. If your beds need a reset, call or text him at (903) 245-6122 for a free estimate.