First off, what is the point of mulching? Why do people do it? What does it do for my flower bed?
Mulch is decorative. Around the home, it is the final step into making your landscape look finished.
Mulch is functional. Mulch helps to resist some weeds and helps retain moisture for the plant material.
Mulch varies from all different kinds of shapes, sizes, colors, and textures. From my experience, one is not necessarily better than another. They all work properly, but look different. Here are the different types of mulch…
Shredded Hardwood. This is your most common mulch. It comes in three colors, brown, black, and red. This mulch is made from shredded up trees. It is heat treated for bugs and sometimes dyed for its color.
Bark Mulch. Looks like Hardwood, but is made from shredded bark. It is usually a finer shredded mulch.
Cypress Mulch. Just like it sounds, it is shredded cypress trees. This one usually has no additives in it for color.
Cedar Mulch. This one is naturally shredded cedar boards. It smells great and the red part will not rot.
Pine Bark Nuggets. Again, just like it sounds, it is the bark of a pine tree. This one comes in big and small nuggets. Again, all natural.
Pine Needles. Yes, it is simply the needles from pine trees. All natural, they literally rake and bale the needles off the ground under the pine trees.
Rubber Mulch. This product is made from chopped up tractor tires. They can dye it a multitude of colors. It will not rot.
Rock. All types of rock can be used as mulch. Brown pea gravel, White Marble rock, pond pebbles.
Wheat Straw. This one is usually only used in a vegetable garden. It is not pretty, but does its job very well.
Mulch typically comes down to a personal preference on the type that you choose. They all look different but function in the same way. Later on, I will break down the pros and cons that I have experienced over the last 20 years.
Happy Mulching
#1 by GarykPatton on June 16, 2009 - 12:09 am
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Hi. I like the way you write. Will you post some more articles?
#2 by john r on July 5, 2009 - 4:44 pm
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I used rocks which i picked up,must were black and gray slate which is native to my area it came out great and i did the house 3 years ago and is still great.
Kohn
#3 by Colin on July 28, 2009 - 8:23 pm
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Mulching is the best way to conserve water, reduce weeds and improve the soil.
How about using tree leaves, grass clippings as well.
#4 by KevinPigg on July 28, 2009 - 8:51 pm
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I have used leaves and they work great. They can just bring many tree seeds with it, so weed control becomes a small issue. Grass clippings I am not fond of for mulch. They create much heat and stink real bad. If they are completely composted than it would be ok.
#5 by David on November 9, 2009 - 2:41 pm
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Not all mulch is created equally. I know someone who briefly worked at a large mulch manufacturing plant. From inside the operation, it became evident that, as an example, "pine mulch" was actually shredded up wooden pallets that were no longer viable as pallets. Perhaps this is good re-use, but the bags that this was packaged in were for reputable garden supply companies and made claims to be pine bark mulch – which it clearly was not.
#6 by KevinPigg on June 10, 2009 - 12:01 pm
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I completely agree, but I did want to be thorough with what types of mulch are available. I am not as big of non chemical person when it comes to a flower/shrub bed. Only Gardens am I extreme to the no chemicals.