Oh, forgot to add...some people add mulch on top of thier soil, before and after the flowers are planted. Why? Doesn't it impeed the growing of the flowers? Isn't it easier to plant the flowers if you don't have to dig through the mulch and the dirt?

When I think of a bed of flowers, I think of a full and lush bed of color - not mulch....

I know its a newbie question, but I'm new to gardening and well, I really want it to hurry up and get warmer so I can start planting!!!!...Anyone else chompping at the bit?
Darby

My favorite bagged amendment available at the big boxes in the area is LeafGro. It is nice stuff and does not smell. It is hard to shell out the per bag price when I read of places in Maryland that sell the stuff for under $15 per yard. I used to use "Clay Cutter" often and it seems decent. I think it is mostly pine bark fines with some gypsum added. It also does not smell. I spread a mix of LeafGro, Dehydrated Manure and Alfalfa on my lawn last year and it did smell "earthy" for a week or so. My wife mentioned the smell it a couple times.

As for the mulch...Mother Nature is an opportunistic woman and she love to take advantage of any open soil to spread her seeds. Mulch also breaks down and adds organic matter to the soil and help to retain moisture.

- Brent

Darby,
If you don't want the smell, you can add peat moss, topsoil, and clay buster to your soil. You can keep adding these fall and spring. Mulch helps to retain moisture in the soil, breaks down to add soil tilth, and keeps down weeds. Yes, it is too early to plant most annuals. Panises are OK, but wait until the end of April to set out warm season annuals like gerberas. You could get the jump by starting seeds in a sunny window for alyssum (the white flower you mentioned) and maybe some zinnias or other cutting flowers. Be patient, and good luck!

In my experience, the dehydrated manure does smell bad, but once it is mixed into the soil, the smell doesn't last that long since it is mixed with other organic matter. As Brent stated, LeafGro is really good stuff. There are places that will deliver the unbagged stuff for $15-20 a yard.

Sophia

In my opinion, save your money. Skip the bagged potting soil (it's good for containers, but not much use in actual dirt), the bagged topsoil (there's no telling what's in it -- probably what you have already anyway), the peat moss (it doesn't add useful organic matter and is environmentally controversial), and the gypsum (it's good for sodic clay, but we don't have sodic clay). Instead, concentrate on adding organic matter. LeafGro is good. Dehydrated manure is also good -- if it smells, leave the bag open for a few days, and the smell will go away. Put the old mulch and leaves back on. And add more mulch! Preferably something that breaks down easily, like leaves and grass clippings, but bagged shredded hardwood is better than nothing. As Brent says, if you use mulch, you have to do a whole lot less weeding and watering, plus it improves the soil as it breaks down. I do understand your point about flower beds vs. mulch beds, but the problem isn't the mulch, it's the fact that some people apparently would rather look at a nice tidy bed of mulch than an untidy, colorful bed of flowers :-).

Mulching cuts down on weeds so much it's well worth using.

I know what you mean about being excited to get started, but don't start planting warm weather plants before the soil warms up. Our frost free date here is almost Mother's Day, so I too know the desire to plant before it's advisable. I fill this time with reading gardening books and magazines and looking at gardening catalogs. Time spent planning now will help with planting later.

Agree with Alfie 100%. Organic amendments are the best for your garden. You want to feed the soil, not the plants.

I heard from a professional- mulch after the perennials go in, plant annuals after the mulch. Generally, the reasoning is, you plant perennials deeper, annuals can essentially go in the mulch. Also, most annuals, not all, are planted tighter than perennials, and it's hard to get the mulch around them adquately.

Dwiggin,
Now I'll add my 2 cents....Every year I top dress my soil with compost. I get a pickup load, and it doesn't smell bad, smells like good compost. I put it on after cleaning up the beds. After I put down the compost, I use a hand (or I should say foot) aerator throughout the beds. Where I differ from many is I wait unti mid to late May before I mulch, the idea being I want the soil temp higher before mulching. Mulching early can act as a blanket and keep the soil temps down. Suz

Mama always had me ammend her clay soil every year with sand and peat humus. She grew the best tomatoes...