A garden is organic. It consits of soil, microbes insects plants and vegatative mater to list a few all working together to create something for us to enjoy No where is synthetic man made waste a part of the natural eco system. Why would you ruin a part of nature with a product that will not break breakdown and provides no nutrients or benifit to the plant or soil. Make a smart decision and add ground bark that is not dyed, shredded leaves ,grass clippings or some other compost that will benifit the plants and are free. There are millions of ignorant or either stupid people who throw away good mulch and pollute there garden with store bought trash. The finer things in life are free and a beautiful and productive garden is one of them. Rodger

Jean,
I wouldn't use the rubber mulch around edible plants--afraid of chemicals leaching from the mulch. Perhaps I'm being a bit paranoid, but with so many other mulches available it seems that the rubber mulch would be low on the list of desirables.
Rubber mulch tree rings? We have a small orchard, and have used hay and composted grass clippings around the trees (mainly to protect them when we mow, and to conserve moisture). Again, if the trees are to bear fruit that you will eat, I'd go with something more organic, and cheaper!
It is great that you are soliciting opinions before mulching--it shows that you care about your plants! Good luck with your garden and fruit trees, and I hope you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor (yes, that was a pun!).

I agree with the above posts.
I'm (sorta)sure these products are relatively safe, but just think about some of the other plastics that have been discontinued (think water bottles and BABY bottles) due to yukky stuff being leached into our bodies! Now think about shredded tires!
On another note, I have never understood "organic" gardeners using used tires to grow potatoes or any other vege.
Put down a nice thick layer of newspaper, get it nice and wet, then top it with one of the mulches listed above. My latest succulent bed has gone a full year with very few weeds (I live adjacent to horse fields, so my life is weeds!
Good luck!
NT

I'm not sure exactly where you are, but I was considering the rubber mulch for paths between flower beds in my garden until my treasure of a yard man told me that (at least here) it will pack down and sort of glue itself together, which really defeats the purpose of a mulch, which is supposed to let air and water through while deterring weeds. Also, I'd be leery of using the stuff around anything you were planning on eating. Down here pine bark nuggets, cypress and pine straw are all used extensively, aren't too expensive, and are safe to use around food plants. Good luck with your garden! What fruit trees did you plant? My yard is REALLY small, so I doubt I could have fruit trees, but I'm intrigued...

The link below is to several previous discussions on many different forums on the problems associated with the rubber mulches and mulch mats. You might want to browse through some of them (the ones with the blue borders) and consider some of the many other mulch options available.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Rubber mulch discussions