We’re sharing how we used mulch glue to prep our front garden for spring! This post is in partnership with Lowe’s.
In This Post
It’s Time for a Spring Clean Up In the Garden!
A few years ago, we removed all of the grass in our tiny Chicago front yard in favor of a slightly wild, mostly native garden. It’s been growing like mad every season, and we’ve learned a lot in the process. Each spring we cut back all of last years’ dead growth to make room for new life, and along the way, we’ve made a few improvements to make our lives easier!
This year, we wanted to completely solve the issue of constantly scattered mulch, so we hopped over to Lowes.com and shopped the Spring Garden Picks collection. Lowe’s had everything we needed to get this garden whipped into shape from yard tools to gloves to soil, as well the solution to our persistent problem – mulch glue!
First, We Tidy
Before we can solve the mulch migration problem though, we needed to get the beds cut back and cleaned out. We started at the top and worked our way down. We cut back the dead grasses, pruned the shrubs and even removed an overgrown and dying juniper tree in favor of a low, round shrub.
Once all of the cutting and transplanting was complete, we made sure to remove all of the dead leaves and remaining debris. We used soil to back-fill all of the low spots and ensure smooth grades throughout the beds.
Then, We Mulch!
Spreading mulch is always oddly satisfying, especially in a tiny space like this. We’ve developed a pretty efficient method over the years, where I dump small piles of mulch between each group of plants, then Kim follows behind and smooths everything out.
Mulching this entire section took us all of 20 minutes, then we took some time to pick out the larger chunks of mulch along the main path so they wouldn’t catch on our feet between the pavers. We’ve used mulch glue in the past, but made some mistakes in our application so we did our research to ensure success this time around.
Why Mulch Glue?
Mulch glue is easy to apply and should require zero maintenance throughout the season! This is what we used! It also helps with mulch color retention and is completely non-toxic. That means it’s safe for us, our plants, our pets and the planet!
Since our front yard is a popular path directly to the backyard when we host gatherings, it gets a lot of traffic, especially in the warmer months. That’s proven to be tricky, since lots of footsteps means lots of mulch scattered all over the pavers, which means lots and lots of sweeping! So this year, properly applied mulch glue was in order.
To ease the job of applying around our stone pavers, we cut two pieces of scrap cardboard to size and used them as shields to protect from overspray. We wanted to ensure proper bonding of the mulch, but also wanted to make sure the paver stayed clear around the edges. It turned out to be a huge time-saver, and we sprayed 3 coats of glue over the course of an hour or so, paying special attention to the edges where the mulch meets the pavers. We mostly avoided the areas around our plants, opting for one thin coat in-between plantings.
Full curing takes 6-24 hours depending on temperatures, so we stayed off of the mulch for the next day. The best tip we can offer is to use a completely clean pump sprayer with an adjustable nozzle set to a wide ‘fan’ pattern for even coverage. As we neared pavers and any edging, we adjusted the nozzle for a more direct spray, as to not get any glue where we didn’t want it. We think we nailed it this time!
The mulch felt great and largely unified after a few hours, and it was 100% cured by the next day. The glue gives the mulch a rich black color with a mild sheen at first, but in our experience, the sheen will fade over the next few weeks, and the glue will be nearly imperceptible.
Spring, We’re Ready for You!
Catfish definitely approves of the decision and the glue has already held up well under her footsteps! This is the best our garden has ever looked moving into spring, and we’re really looking forward to lazy afternoons in the front yard chatting with neighbors while Lucy creates chalk masterpieces on the sidewalk!
Our Lowe’s Picks to Prepare Your Garden for Spring!
Garden prep is far more enjoyable with the right tools! Strong snippers (#5) and thick, comfy gloves (#7) (go for extra length if you’ll be pruning evergreens or roses) are a great combo to help tackle stubborn pruning jobs. We’ve rounded up a few of our other favorite tools, including the soil we used in our backyard raised garden beds. Now get out there and get that garden into shape so you can spend the next several months watching your foliage bloom!
1. organic raised bed soil | 2. garden rake | 3. hand scoop | 4. long-handle weeder | 5. hand pruner | 6. mulch adhesive | 7. gardening gloves | 8. outdoor stone planter | 9. multipurpose hand tool
Very interesting about the mulch glue!! I recently received my tiny BK backyard and I used seed-tac from Earthwise because I was seeding bare dirt. TBD if it works but fingers crossed because I seeded three times last year to little avail.
I also used a low-mow/no-mow clover mix from Earthwise and I saw y’all were considering the same for the 2-flat…how’s that going? Any brand recs? Keep us city folks posted!!
Seed-tac seems like a great idea. Nothing more annoying than wasting time and money on seed that gets washed away during the first rain! The clover for the two flat is on order and we plan to do a big update once we see how the seed comes in. Stay tuned!
I wonder about the permeability of the mulch, does it let water through? Also, can insects ( especially beneficial pollinators) burrow through to get into the soil so they can lay eggs, find food, overwinter etc. I would want to know more about the environmental effects before I used it. Really, the best mulch for soil and insects is leaf litter which is nutritious for soil and plants and is a good habitat for the insects that we need to safeguard.
The mulch glue is totally permeable and critters seem to have absolutely no problem navigating it.
This spring, what happened with the mulch? Did you add mulch on top and do it again? Or somehow remove the glued mulch from last season?
Hi! We’re in the midst of a huge outdoor renovation, so we haven’t mulched this year. That said, the glue is water based, so it does break down over time and with weather. The mulch looks as it normally would if we hand’t applied glue. Hope this helps!