Which Mulch is Best for Your Yard?

Mulch adds a finishing touch to any planting bed, but that’s not all it does. A good mulch helps the soil to hold moisture — so you don’t have to water as often. Put mulch down thick enough, and it helps keep weeds from growing. Shredded hardwood bark is one of the most common mulch choices and works well for flower beds and around trees and shrubs. It usually lasts from one to three years and adds organic matter to the soil as it decomposes. Look for double or triple ground mulch (experienced gardeners prefer triple ground).

The cheapest way to buy mulch is in bulk. This is the way to go when you have multiple planting beds to cover. A local mulch company can help calculate how much mulch you need or search online for easy mulch calculators (you’ll have to measure planting areas). Visit your local mulch supplier to see what kinds of mulch they offer. Dyed shredded wood mulches often contain ground wood pallets, not bark (which is better). Read the bag or ask your supplier what is in the mulch you’re buying.

Pine straw is the mulch of choice in the South simply because it’s readily available and cheap — or even free. Choose pine straw for areas where you’re trying to deter slugs (they don’t seem to like crawling through it). It’s a natural pairing with azalea, camellia and rhododendron, which often grow in the high shade of tall pines. Expect pine straw to last one to two years.

Landscape glass is a type of recycled glass that’s bright and colorful. It’s a permanent mulch that doesn’t break down. Install glass mulch over high quality (commercial grade) landscape fabric so it doesn’t sink into the soil. The glass is tumbled to remove sharp edges, but it does pose a threat to soft-bodied critters like slugs. Glass mulch is popular in xeriscape garden designs.