There's nothing like the neat-and-tidy look of a freshly manicured garden, plants trimmed with a mulch border to seal in the moisture and keep weeds at bay.

        Gardeners wax poetic about the earthy smell of mulch. Some insist on using black satin, others, the chunky red chips.

Mulchbusters will blow mulch into hard-to-reach yards. | ZOOM |

        But nobody relishes toting or tugging those cumbersome mulch bags around the yard and applying it handful by handful.

        For them, it's Mulchbusters to the rescue.

        The Reading-based business motored into the mulch-blowing business last month, says owner Matt Geraci.

        “I went to a power show in Kentucky where they display a lot of equipment and, from my many years in landscaping, I thought (the business) could really benefit homeowners and landscaping companies.”

        The first brightly painted truck (with reinforcements coming soon, he hopes) has heavy-duty hosing that can blow mulch, topsoil or stones — up to 2 inches in diameter — and reach 800 feet, taking care of back yards, fenced-in areas and slippery slopes where green thumbs hate to wander.

        “It's good for hard-to-get-to places,” Mr. Geraci says.

        “And we can put in new yards with it. For example, if you have that hard clay soil, we can blow in topsoil 2 inches thick for planting, or rocks for pathways.”

        “We can also add a pre-emergent (weed inhibitor) throughout the mulch and even color (mulch) with a dye.”

        The cost for Mulchbusters is less that having a landscaper do the sweat work, he says.

        “Typically, a landscaper will charge anywhere from $65-$100 to put down a cubic yard of mulch. We charge between $45 and $60, depending on how thick the customer wants it and how many plantings there are.”

        The company can place 60 cubic yards of materials in an hour in an open area; it takes longer for gardens where there are multiple plantings.
       Information: 769-1705; www.mulchbusters.com.

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