Hi All. I haven't been back here for a long time so I have a lot of nerve asking for help! Here's my problem. I came back to the U.S. to care for my father-in-law who has since passed away. He has beautiful beds of roses, iris and daylilies as well as a small orchard. My mother-in-law cannot bend to weed but she enjoys the gardens, they are a great comfort to her. I will have to return to England in a month or two and need to make the beds as work free as possible. Does anyone have any suggestions as to ground covers I can plant that will not choke out the roses, iris and lilies? I won't be able to make frequent trips back to the States and I don't want all of my father-in-laws work to be choked out by weeds. Suggestions?
Sorry to hear about the passing of your Father-in-law. Give your mother-in-law a hug for me. Be sure to come back once you get settled in England....weren't you in the middle east before this? Hey, life happens and sometimes keeps us from being as active as we want to be....but we will never turn down a chance to answer questions because of that. Not sure I would even go with ground cover. If you aren't going to be there long enough to see it established and filled in, there will be weeds to contend with. But if you do go with ground cover place the plants much closer than the recommended spacing, they will fill in faster. I would go with a mulch, piled on 3-5 inches deep. Find out what is commonly used in the area and use that. For instance, even though wood chips are sold as a mulch here, we also have troubles with termites moving in, it's wood and they eat wood. I only use shredded red cedar, it's from native trees and the termites are repelled by it. That might not be a problem in her area but checking with local nurseries might be helpful.
I also agree with the mulch suggestions... but would also recommend seeing if there's a youngster nearby who wouldn't mind lending a hand pulling weeds for her. She would benefit from the help, and in exchange, help the youngster learn about gardening.
I'm sorry for your loss. The plants you mention won't be very hapy with a ground cover close to them unless you take the trouble to cover the open earth patches with a to-cm layer of wet newspaper and then mulch on top. The newspapers will give way to the expanding perennials but will still keep most of the weed seeds underneath from growing.
Sorry for your loss, but you can still check in anytime, we will still enjoy having you and helping if we can! My suggestion is pretty much the same but sprinkle on a pre-emergent (something like Preen or a corn meal gluten product)to the mulch after you have it down if you choose to use the mulch suggestion. this will kill the emerging weed seeds as they germinate and keep the bed much easier to maintain, especially if she is not going to be casting any seeds out there to germinate. Tell her she will need to plant plants not toss out any seeds if she wants flowers. I think you will need to read the label they all may be a little different, the one I use is organic and needs to be put down every 6 weeks.
Thank you everyone! Yes, Toni, I was in Kuwait. We moved to England in 2010 and what a change gardening wise! I really love where we are- in the Fens and the soil is fantastic. I am sure I have a ton of weeding and staking when I get back but I am so grateful that I am not battling the heat and dust of the middle east. I think everyone is right, mulch would be the way to go. I just have to research what works best (and works within a budget) here. In Kuwait, the only available mulch for me was coir. The gardens here are in South Carolina so if anyone knows what would be a good mulch here, let me know! Thanks again for all of your suggestions.
I meant to add a thank you to Carolyn for the suggestion of an organic pre-emergent. I think that will be a big help. And thank you to cherylad for suggesting that I find a youngster to help her with the weeding. Unfortunately, the neighbors are elderly as well. It did remind me of my own childhood- helping my parents, grandparents and neighbors with their gardens. Not only did I have access to wonderful fresh veg and fruit, the stories and advice have stayed with me to this day. Thank you to all for your kind words words for our loss. My father-in-law was a wonderful man. He loved his gardens and we spent a lot of time sending photos back and forth, trading seed and poring over seed and plant catalogs. Looking at his gardens make us smile. He will always be here- in his gardens and mine.
I use wet news paper and cardboard-then cedar mulch. And around house used washed river rocks. But I know my nephew was going for Eagle Scout -He helped neighbor who also had lost her husband. And he said teens who are going into Agriculture do that. Helps with Grants for schooling.
Thank you for the advice. I didn't think to check with the Scouts. The newspaper advice is a good one too. I am looking into mulches now. I finally finished most of the weeding so it will be ready for the newspaper and mulch. I just wish it would cool down. This 90-100 degree weather reminds me of being in Kuwait. I am used to the English weather so this has been an adjustment. I don't know what is wilting more- me or the flowers!
When I put newspaper down or cardboard. I wet it first.So not to fly all over. And I can remember e-mailing oldest Son. Complaining how hot it was and skeeters . He He was in Mid East many time in USA Air Force. It was 115* and said "take skeeters over sand flies anytime"
