Viewing post #469345 by chelle

louise said:I have the same problem with the lily bed in my front yard. I'm thinking of seriously just , with a shovel,
taking each clump out of the bed and placing (perhaps on a large tarp) in the shade. Then, the bed can
be tilled up deeply, more easily clear of grass, fertilized, amended. Then move the lilies back into the
nice rich clean bed where it can be much more easily maintained. I have about eleven different ones
and would be sad to lose any of them.

Louise

This is a lot of work for short-term gain, however; as you till or turn over the soil, more weed seeds and roots will be brought to the surface to sprout. Without the mulch they'll be back very quickly, and thicker than ever before. After many years of too much toil I've learned to dig only during the transplanting or dividing of plants... and in doing so, keeping those thousands of little time-bombs buried. The birds and wind will bring in more all the time too, but a good layer of coarse mulch will lessen the chance of them reaching the soil where they can get a good foothold in your garden.