There isn't a "very best", though there are some materials that are great and some that aren't. I use wood chips because I can get clean loads dumped for free by a couple of tree companies that produce chips in the size I like. I've also used pine bark and pine straw and fall leaves. Lots of people use compost as a mulch, but I have found that it doesn't last long enough on the surface to suit my lazy self. Very beneficial as a top dressing. Natural mulches are certainly best. They eventually decompose, returning elements to the soil. They buffer the soil temperature, keeping it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. They reduce water loss by evaporation, aid in soil/atmosphere gas exchange, assist in water percolation, and prevent wind and water erosion. These mulches create a vastly improved environment for root systems and soil microorganisms. I don't know what kind of artificial mulches you are thinking of but whatever they are...they won't improve the soil. My personal feeling is that we should use whatever natural, carbon based source that is most available to us.

Gregory! What an absolutely beautiful article and all that you have done..I love teh pictures and that is exactly what I would do to my place if I bought a house down there. I have friends from Thailand that live in St Petersburg and all they do is spend all day in their gardens trying to gorw what they could over seas.. Splendid and I really appreciate you sharing this with us.. What a beautiful family you have too... Thank you Mike:-)))

Regina, Once it has been down a few days and has been rained on or watered with a hose or sprinkler, it sort of compacts and clumps together or sticks together. When we mow weekly, I dump a thin layer of grass clippings on each garden bed and path straight from the mower's grass catcher. They are green and fresh. That first day, the weight of the fresh, green clippings helps hold them in place. As they dry, they stick to one another. All bets are off if you're having 40-60 mph wind gusts. There's not much you can do to keep mulch from blowing in that sort of situation. If you are in a very windy area, you could lay down bird netting on top of the mulch. That might hold it in place. It would be annoying to have to put it down though. When I used hay or straw, I'm usually using aged hay or straw that is half-rotted already, and by half-rotted, what I mean is that it already is turning into compost. That helps it to hold together. Fresh straw and fresh hay are sort of lightweight and do blow around easily. You can help prevent that by spraying them with water as soon as you put them down. If you are in an area too windy to use hay, straw or grass clippings, then maybe you should use something else, but with strong wind, most mulch will blow away or wash away. I constantly alternate layers of different kinds of mulch....hay, straw, grass clippings, chopped/shredded autumn leaves, leaf mold raked up from the woods, half-finished compost, etc. Using that sort of conglomeration of different mulches also seems to make all of them stick together better than any one single mulch does on its own. I don't know why. Dawn

I used to have the 14 HP Troybilt Super Tomahawk chipper/shredder and chip limbs up to 3 inches and shred everything that was probably 1/2 inch limbs and smaller and leaves. Worked great until I nearly cut my finger off. $1400 chipper (well half that amount since my dad went in for half that price), $5,000 ER visit and hand specialist surgeon later that week, lessons learned - priceless! This was over 20 years ago. This is what the chipper looked like way back when: https://www.purplewave.com/auction/141112/item/H5560/Troy-Bilt-15014S-Grinding_and_Shredding-Wood_Chipper_or_Stump_Grinder-Oklahoma Anyway, I also found out before I got the chipper that matted leaves (not all oak leaves) over several years makes a perfect hiding cover for voles. I thought the shade was diminishing my hostas but it was voles eating the roots under the cover of several inches of leaves. Shredded leaves break down much quicker, look tidier, and best of all keeps rodents from hiding. Anyhow, follow all safety rules and never work mad (or drive mad)!