Frugal mulch in the garden and flower beds. [View all]

Do you have any methods for mulch that do not require buying that fancy mulch at the garden center?

Well, I do. And not only is it a good mulch, it is also good fertilizer and soil conditioner.

I am fortunate to have a lot of trees. Huges trees. With LOTS of leaves. And shredded leaves make a great mulch, and unless you get close and look, you will not notice it is not ground up trees. If I am lucky, I can shred the leaves with my lawn mower before the weather is bad---they have to be dry, so the weather must cooperate. After I shred them, I gather them (also with my mower) and put them in the beds. I hate those years when the weather suck, because I have to gather them with a rake, bag them, and wait until spring to throw them back out of the bags and shred them. Why are all my frugal methods so much more labor intensive???? But then again, who needs to join a gym!