Best landscaping mulch?

March 22, 2009 6:24 PM

What kind of landscaping mulch do you buy and what's your routine for installing it?

I go to a big box store several times each spring and buy Scott's Naturescapes for $5 a bag and spread it around our trees and shrubs. I'm in Chicagoland (zone 5) by the way. Is this a wise approach? Should I have a few yards delivered by truck (never done that)? Should I buy hardwood or pine or even go to stone, etc.? Anyone know what the typical landscaper uses?

posted by qsysopr to home & garden (12 comments total)

I get between 4 and twelve yards a summer of mushroom compost. The thing is, I went from "what in the hell am I going to do with all this" to "I don't ever want my mulch pile to dwindle down to less than a yard or two". I generally use compost for everything from dressing out beds to new plantings and have never regretted having a ton around. It's also a lot cheaper to spend a hundred bucks for four or five yards delivered, and have it around all the time, imo. I also use the periphery of the pile to heel in seedlings and plants I haven't been able to find room for or am in the process of transplanting, so the pile ends up acting like a built in planting bed if I need it.
posted by docpops at 6:41 PM on March 22

So you're talking tanbark, eh? I've always just had a few yards of the stuff dumped off. It's much cheaper. Home Depot sells a 2 cu. ft. bag of mulch for $3-4. Most landscaping places will sell 1 cu. yd. of mulch (27 cu. ft.) in the $10-15 range (the mushroom compost docpops mentions is more expensive than tanbark). As buying enough bags to get a cubic yard will cost you $42-56, this is a steal. The place that dumped the mulch will probably sell it and spread it for $50-60/cu. yd. Only buy bags if you're doing pots/planters or a really tiny decorative bed. If you're actually trying to cover a significant plot of ground, there's really no excuse for buying the bags.

As to what kind, the biggest considerations are price and color. Hardwoods are going to last longer than pine, and cypress longer than either, as it doesn't rot nearly as quickly. But cypress is the most expensive and pine the cheapest, so you'll have to do the math for yourself.

I wouldn't recommend using stone. Yeah, the stuff lasts forever, but it doesn't have some of the same benefits of organic mulch, particularly that tanbark etc. decays and replenishes the soil, acting as both groundcover and long-term fertilizer.
posted by valkyryn at 6:44 PM on March 22

Partially from experience as a gardener and partially from working with professional landscapers...

Get a couple yards (which is a lot) delivered - it's by far the most economical way. I recommend hardwood over pine. I'm assuming you're using the mulch to control weeds, retain moisture and for aesthetics, too. Rocks look fine but they don't really do the other stuff organic materials do.

I don't know if your local municipality does this, but some of the ones down thisaway have a forestry department, and when they do leaf pickup, tree removal or pruning, they bring all the chippings & yard waste down to a central location and mulch them. They make that mulch available to local residents. Worth looking into.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 6:46 PM on March 22

I use the cocoa shell mulch. It smells chocolaty, I like how it looks, I read in one of my gardening books that it's good, and I can steal it from my mother-in-law so it's economical. (She pre-orders a whole bunch from a nursery. I don't have many flower beds--yet-- so I just need a bag or two)
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 6:54 PM on March 22

What are you trying to accomplish with your mulch? Weed control, water retention, aesthetics, or something else? The leaves you rake in the fall, wood chips from the tree surgeons taking care of the toppled tree down the street (they may give them to you rather than have to haul them off), grass clippings, pea gravel, shredded tires, crushed bricks, newspaper, and on and on are all things that can be used for mulch. My father was an avid gardener and in addition to most of the things I just mentioned, he would rent/borrow a pickup or trailer and we would drive around the neighborhood collecting pine straw people had raked up (very popular here in GA; some people pay to have it raked out of their yards while others pay to have bales of it brought in and spread around their azaleas) or go to the big peanut plant about an hour south of us and get peanut hulls to put on the flower beds (they decompose into very rich compost). So the bottom line is that anything that can be broken down into 1 inch chunks can be used for mulch; what is best for your flowers/trees/vegetable garden/etc. is largely up to you. Your local extension agent is an excellent resource for these sorts of questions.
posted by TedW at 6:58 PM on March 22

Oh, one thing you should never do is get the free stuff some municipalities offer. That's basically just the shredded organic/gardening waste they collect, and it's chock full of weed seeds. You'll be doing more harm than good.
posted by valkyryn at 7:07 PM on March 22

I've found that if you watch out for sales, buying the bagged mulch at the big box stores is just as cost-effective as having it delivered in bulk. Plus, the bags are a little easier to handle and a little neater. The quality of bagged mulch is usually a little more consistent as well.

Cocoa shell mulch is poisonous to dogs. Something to consider if you have a pooch.

Avoid putting wood mulch right up close to your house if possible. I use river rock around my foundation plantings. River rock reflects heat, so it's really only suitable for use with very hardy shrubs and such - junipers, barberries, etc. - and not small, tender annuals.
posted by Ostara at 7:23 PM on March 22

Cocoa shells can be toxic (yet deliciously tempting!) to dogs since they contain theobromine and caffeine. In large enough amounts these can cause seizures. So if you have a dog or if dogs have access to your yard, please choose something else.
posted by acorncup at 7:24 PM on March 22

I landscaped for three years and have seen more mulch than I ever bargained for... get a few yards delivered. The typical landscaper orders mulch that they think will look good with the property, this varies widely as you might expect. Order by the color that you would like, dark to light, red to brown. Don't worry too much about quality. All of it looks good for about a year or two depending on weather conditions.

To do the best job possible you should use:

a wheelbarrow
an edger
an iron rake
some gloves
and a shovel.

First things first, you have to edge where you want to mulch. Just pick a line and go with it, and you can throw the dirt directly where you will be mulching because it will be hidden in the end. Next, fill up the wheelbarrow with mulch and bring it to where you want to start, grab big 2 handed handfuls and start throwing it down into small piles that are spread out like this:

x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x

and when you have no more mulch left in the wheelbarrow, get on your hands and knees and spread the mulch out where it isn't. Repeat as needed. When you think you're finished, grab an iron rake and really put a good finishing touch on the job.

Oh, and bring a radio out there too cause music makes the job go so much quicker.
posted by pwally at 8:57 PM on March 22 [1 favorite]

Oh, one thing you should never do is get the free stuff some municipalities offer. That's basically just the shredded organic/gardening waste they collect, and it's chock full of weed seeds.

Not necessarily. A lot of places are composting sludge from the wastewater treatment plant with shredded yard waste. The composting temperatures should take care of most of the weeds.
posted by electroboy at 10:17 PM on March 22

I always use softwood mulch because it breaks down faster (well, it's cheaper too) and will improve the soil a huge amount over the years, if that matters to you. It's amazing how much difference it makes, even before it starts to break down, just by trapping moisture and giving bugs a home. Definitely buy in bulk - just calculate the area and do the sums - I'm sure it will be cheaper.
posted by dg at 2:06 AM on March 23

We use the local municipality free stuff, but we're not picky about the wide variety of sizes and the odd bit of plastic bag in there. It's usually pretty hot from composting, and it's supposedly gotten hot enough to kill weed seeds. Haven't had any weed problems. Your mileage may vary.

Another option is Craigslist. Here, there is a guy from a tree service that occasionally posts looking to deliver mulch free so he doesn't have to pay to take it to the landfill.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 4:03 PM on March 23