How to Pick the Best Mulch for Your Landscape (2024)

FAQs

How to Pick the Best Mulch for Your Landscape? ›

While we recommend certain mulches for specific plants, nutrient-rich organic material that decomposes quickly will help your plants the most. As for defense, mulch must be coarse enough to kill weeds but also fine enough to avoid harming the most delicate plants.

Stone is the longest-lasting mulch, followed by landscape fabric. Black plastic and rubber mulch last a long time, and help with both heat and water retention in the soil, though they're also more expensive than stone or landscape fabric.

In general, pick a type with larger chunks, because it'll decompose more slowly. And choose bark-type mulches (such as pine bark nuggets) before shredded wood types (such as cedar bark mulch, cypress and hardwood). Keep in mind that mulch reduces maintenance but doesn't eliminate it.

The best way is to have a tarp next to the garden bed and carefully move the mulch away from the existing plants, trees or shrubs. Mound it up between the plants and then move it to the tarp. If the area you are removing the mulch from is small, you may be able to fit it all in a wheelbarrow and eliminate the tarp.

To determine the total amount of mulch needed, the formula is: Square footage x desired depth (in inches)/ 324.

But, generally, using organic mulch made from wood chips or bark will be the best choice. It's one of the easiest and least expensive ways to ensure the long-term health and fertility of your soil and the health of your trees and shrubs.

Over time, mulch colors fade due to frequent exposure to sunlight. Regular non-dyed mulch may become a grayish color in one to two months, while dyed brown or black mulches may keep their color for a year or longer. Eventually, all mulches will fade without maintenance.

If you're applying mulch to a perennial bed, you might be tempted to just add a new layer of mulch on top, but this can cause rot, nutrient starvation, and plant death. Remove as much of the old layers as possible before you add more.

Knowing how much mulch to use can be tricky. A 1-inch to 2-inch layer of fine mulch should be sufficient, while a coarser material should be 3 to 4 inches deep. Too much of either type can suffocate your plants. In areas where you simply want to keep anything from growing, you can lay it on as thick as you like.

Characteristics of a good mulch.

It also performs the three functions described earlier — suppresses weeds, conserves soil water, and moderates soil temperatures. Does such a super mulch exist? Black plastic, which warms the soil in spring, also heats the soil in summer, possibly to levels that are lethal to plants.

Should you remove old mulch every year? ›

So, should you remove old mulch? Expert green thumbs contend that getting rid of last year's mulch is completely unnecessary. Mulch gradually breaks down, adding beneficial nutrients and other organic matter to the soil. Removing pre-existing mulch every year only ends up to be extra work and a needless expense.

In general, mid- to late-spring is mulching season; this is when the soil is warming up from the freezing temperatures it experienced all winter. Mulching too early will slow down the warming process, which the soil needs to do its job.

While the material itself does not draw termites to the area, mulch spread over three inches deep creates an inviting habitat for the pests. Layers of organic matter trap heat and moisture next to the ground. Termites use this thick mulch as shelter from harsh weather.

Brown mulch is a nice touch to any lawn and garden, and its natural color makes both light and darker-colored plants appear vibrant when paired together. This color mulch works well in small areas, but tends to lose its beautiful color after just one season.

To match a mulch color to your home, consider the style and materials used in its construction. Brown mulch can soften the look of red brick, while black mulch will add to the crisp look of sharp, squared edges. Use red mulch to give a grounded look to a home with light-tone siding like white, cream or pale blue.

There are several products that should never be used as mulch: sawdust, wood shavings and un-aged wood chips. As these materials begin to break down, they consume large amounts of nitrogen, depriving surrounding plants of this vital nutrient.

Although using mulch has many benefits, it can also be detrimental to the garden in mainly three ways: Over-mulching can bury and suffocate plants. Mulch provides a convenient hiding place for pests. Bake your plants with excess heat if done incorrectly.

Your best bet is bark mulch, such asScotts® Nature Scapes® Color Enhanced Mulch orScotts® Nature Scapes® Triple Shred Mulch. It gives your garden a clean, finished look while holding down weeds. Also, since it's a natural product, it amends your soil as it breaks down over time.

Cedar Or Cypress Mulch

Chip or bark mulch is made from cypress or cedar trees and is very helpful for repelling bugs. Both cypress and cedar contain natural chemicals and oils like thujone that deter insects. Cedar chips repel, inhibit, or kill insects like: co*ckroaches.