I like fine pine bark mulch...it breaks down rather rapidly amending the soil and is "dirt colored", so it doesn't scream MULCH.
I am gradually spreading around a pile of chipped tree trimmings from a year ago. I really love that! It's a little raw looking at first but after a year it's mellowed to a nice brown....and I know what it is...nothing diseased, no chemicals, just pine and maple.
I like cedar mulch if I can't get pine, a little too red, but it soon turns a nice mellow brown.
But I am soo against rock!...I am still dealing with some white quartz rocks put in acouple of beds about 40 years ago! I planted some baby hosta in bed where I had removed some bushes. Well some of those hosta have out grown their home, and it's the devil's own job to dig in that rocky mess!
Linda C

My husband went to a nursery near our house and brought me back 3 pickup loads of cedar mulch. Which is what I prefer. The stuff he got is shredded and looks like it is 3 different colors - mixed. It looks very nice. Now I have to sweet-talk him into about 3 or 4 more truckloads.

The best mulch for your plants is a mixed compost or coarser grind from a yardwaste compost facility. It will have all the things the soil needs. I also don't like the mulch to scream mulch, don't know how much you have spent on plants but I want to look at the plants and I want visitors to look at the plants and not realize that there is mulch.

Anything organic that falls in this type of mulch just adds to the decomposing organic matter that feeds your soil and isn't noticeable. Grass clippings blown in will change color in a day or so and not be noticeable, leave a fallen limb unless it is large and it to will decompose and feed the plants as well.

When I was in the mulch business we marketed mixed yardwaste compost, hardwood, pine, cedar(red and white) and cypress. I could use anything I wanted simply by bringing it home from the plant.

If it doesn't look good, I don't want it. I think red looks the best. I've got some red around the house, and the rest of the yard is ground cover. But I don't see any value in mulch beyond looking good.

I use pine needles, wood chips, leaf compost, and the municipality's recycled and chipped Christmas trees. The reason I mulch is to keep moisture in the soil, cut down on weeds as well as add something organic. The more earth tone the mulch , the better. In my opinion, plants should be the feature, not an odd color blanket surrounding them.

My very favorite mulch is 'Sweet Peat' -- it's dark black/brown, very fine and looks like CT dirt

Gets lighter over time

Put a very deep layer several years ago in an area filled with ferns, plantaginea, daylilies, oenethera - pretty neglected so this was to keep weeds out without a lot of work

Let's just say that voles LOVED that bed. It was neglected, mulch hardened & when I pulled it aside, tunnels were everywhere, just under surface.

Love mulch - looks good, amends soil, but two drawbacks for me - too hospitable for voles & discourages self seeding....

For me, shallower layer in beds where self-seeding isn't important works best...

I don't use a super thick layer and with wood chips or pine needles it doesn't harden on the surface the way some other mulches do. I have tunnels but they are from shrews which don't damage plants. I've never lost a Hosta from voles, thankfully, and I do see and hear the shrew's activity. At night there is a rustling of leaves.
Shrews are insectivores and must eat constantly.
Some time ago a predator killed one and left it on my front walkway. I took pictures of it and asked for an ID.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shrew

Voles aren't so fond of woodchips as of peat....I used to use peat...but discovered that I am allergic to it. I've had a couple of bad reactions when spreading it. After having my face swelled up to look like a balloon and spending a week on prednesone, I switched to compost and wood chips.....dark, natural wood chips.
Linda C

I use pine mainly, and homegrown woodships and compost when I can get them. I like pine for several reasons:

1. It smells divine
2. I don't have to worry about termites in the mulch from all the cypress processing going on in the Hurricaine Katrina and Rita areas which is then shipped out to the rest of us.
3. It provides perfect food for hostas
4. It doesn't seem to break down as fast as cypress.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Lainey

I forgot to mention one thing. I also use magnolia leaves.

Magnolia leaves don't break down nearly as fast as wood mulch. If you want to keep an area very moist, as I do in my hydrangea and toad lily plantings, magnolia leaves are just the thing. And what could look more natural? I have an unending supply of them too.

Tell me, why do people hate magnolia leaves?

Lainey

I use a lot of stuff

i like coco bean hulls but they have a lot of issues and swore i would not use them anymore
i use pine bark fines - they are usually cheap and i think they look good.
i use chipped trees or even yard waste on new beds but usually cover them with something that looks better

i guess i use chipped pallets the most and yes they are colored black. i like them becuse it looks good for at least two years and they are recycled so i feel better using them then some other stuff.

I like to use just the plain old woodchips, I've never been a big mulch fan. Just something about the stringy shapes weirds me out! I also use cocoa beans in some small accent areas like my alpine garden and some pots.

I have a very woodsy lot with a lot of trees and of course leaves. I use every leaf that drops as mulch. In the fall I fill plastic bags with leaves, use the full bag for winter protection on some plants, and then open the bag and spread it where needed during the summer as the leaves disintegrate. It is free, easy, looks natural, decomposes into the soil, and I get a new supply every fall. I supplement in some areas with cedar chips when I want a more manicured look. Mary

The most common mulch in the gulf south is pine straw. Mississippi and Louisiana forests generate thousands of tons of this stuff. It looks natural, discourages weed growth, and doesn't wash away easily.

Last year as an experiment I used the shredded rubber mulch in my two smaller beds in the front. It's made from recycled tires. It wasn't cheap, but I have to say that it's very eye appealing. It looks just like dirt, and has kept all my neighbor's silver maples from seeding in my flower beds! The plants I put in those beds have grown absolutely huge.

I don't think it could be used in a bed that gets a lot of sun, because I think it would get really hot and smell like rubber. Plus I am not sure of what happens years from now when it doesn't break down. I put down lots of compost before laying down the mulch, and am hoping that I can just rake it aside and add more compost when I need to do so.

The cheapest I can find.Usually cypress mulch. Don't like the dyed colored type,because if you ever walk on it,the dye gets on your shoes,and you track it everywhere. Also,it looks unnatural. Phil

"I put down lots of compost before laying down the mulch, and am hoping that I can just rake it aside and add more compost when I need to do so."

It will migrate down and be a problem unless you do the work, bought yourself another job.

When I plant I want to enjoy and forget the work.

Not to sound negative here. I use mulch too, only because i think it looks good, and in summer it saves me money on the water bill,(and BLAH BLAH BLAH on soil enhancement) but do you ever notice how much gets lost in the fall when you have to bag up 50 bags of leaves? (or 100) after about bag #10 you are about to just get rid of everything and then that leaf blower comes out, (and you know it has been calling you BEFORE bag #1) and all of that mulch just starts to fly away!! And then i am beating myself over the head for spending so much money on what i like to see laying on top of the dirt during the summertime!! Dont cha just hate yourself for being a gardner? (not really, it's all about ME!!)

PS i prefer the smaller sized pine bark mulch (not the nuggets) it ends up darkening to look like DIRT. (or it just blows away and im left with dirt) REMEMBER it's all about ME!! or you (but dont use stone they are SOOO difficult to get rid of and dont do anything to your soil (DIRT). enough said uh honey? where's the beer?

Who blows and bags the leaves off of the garden? Not me!...just add more mulch in the spring...pine bark covers leaves very well and it all adds to the soil.
Linda C

I agree with Lindac! I blow the leaves INTO the garden! They act as a great insulator. Actually, what we do is blow the leaves into a pile, suck 'em up (which chews 'em at the same time), then put them into the garden! When I added mulch this spring, I fluffed the leaves and the mulch covered all the leaf mold. And the hostas LOVE LVOE LOVE the organic snack!

aka_margo: I don't think you'll have to worry about the rubberized mulch breaking down. Rubber takes HUNDREDS of years (if not thousands) to breakdown. I have indeed seen the stuff (2 doors down, as a matter of fact), but because of the cost and the fact that it's a very unnatural look and the fact that over time, it will leech chemicals into the soil (and we don't know the longterm impact on the plants) I will not be using it. We didn't even consider it for under Mia's playset.

We are so lucky to have a landfill close by. They shred all the yard waste that comes in, making beautiful mulch for us. I bought the first 6 yards this year, then switched over to the landfill mulch for the big beds where my hostas are out back. I actually like the landfill mulch better and it's free!! Can't beat that. Mulching my beds keeps me from weeding like crazy. Not to mention holding in the moisture and enriching the soil.

I just finished laying 20 yard of hardwood mulch! $6.96 a yard with a delivery charge of 110.00. The cheapest around here! Cedar and cypress are way more! I love what it does for the soil, keeping weeds down, and also helping retain moisture in the soil!

Mary, aren't you in a southwest suburb? What does your village do with their yard waste? Our recycle yard has unlimited quantities of compost, leaves, and triple ground hardwood mulch free for the loading and toting. I use only compost and chopped leaves in the garden, hardwood mulch for paths.

Our landfill has free compost so I used that as mulch this year. My plants love it but unfortunately, so do the weeds. I've never had so many.

I really like the bright red stuff... at least that is what I will use until I can find a sky blue dyed type. Or maybe road cone orange. I need something to really make my gardens stand out.

(g, d, r)

Alexa

PS - I use whatever I can get at a good price - usually mushroom compost or triple ground root mulch are the cheapest here.

thisismelissa "the fact that it's a very unnatural look".
The stuff I bought isn't unnatural looking, I don't think. In fact, everyone asks me what kind of compost I layed down in my beds they don't even realize it's ruberized mulch. Unless you are thinking of the big nugget type you see everywhere, which I agree is VERY unnatural looking.

I am not completely sold on it, and don't plan on using it in any of my other beds. Even though right now it makes less work for me, it will be more work in the end. Just thought I would try it and save a few tires from taking up space in the landfill.
Here are some pictures of my beds. One is in the fall before everything was fully up, so you can see the mulch better.

I am not sure what the city does with the mulch, I would have to find out! my problem is no truck! Frustrations of gardening!

found this pic of caliloo - there are brighter colors available i.e. blues, pinks, purples etc. lol

{{gwi:1014731}}

As i said i do use black and it looks fine and lasts longer - no i don't spray paint it either

Many people select one type, grade, etc and use only that, a different paradigm.

When I owned the mulch business there was mulch in many different textures conditions, coarse, fine, light and dark with shades in between. We processed and screened to get to a final product.

I used different textures to paint the mulch area as one might do a modern painting. Similar to different planting beds with different sizes, shapes, colors and textures.

For example if you use coarse near you and move to finer texture at a distance if will create an illusion of distance. Same works with plants, large close small in the distance.

aka margo...I think it looks nice!

All I use is free woodchip mulch from my local arborist. They save a trip to the compost facility and I get free woodchips...the only catch is that I have to take a full truckload now because of the price of gas (their costs for delivery trucks). When I moved here I asked my local garden club how much they pay for a load of shredded mulch and they replied $300-$400! I can't afford that and since my lot is very rustic/woodsy, free woodchips work fine! Also, since I was re-assured about the mushrooms last year, I feed them to my giant hostas!

Char

Cute, greenguy. There is a product on the market now to dye a brown lawn green, lasts for months. I saw it on HGTV's Curb Appeal.

that is funny.
when my cousin got married, 12 years ago or so we used blue tracking dye on his parents lawn to make the yellow grass look green it worked great for a few days.

ROFL! That was before I cut my hair! LOLOLOLOL! (only kidding gang, I have plain brown natural mulch)

One of my MIL's neighbors did that spray painted lawn thing.... it looked awful and fake since the entire neighborhood was dry and brown/yellow... but to each his own I guess.

Alexa

I'm a Sweet Peat user too. It works into the soil much better and I like the fine, dark look as well.

Deb