What is the best mulch to use? 🪴 How to choose a mulch for low maintenance landscaping projects
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- Опубліковано 25 чер 2024
- Wondering what is the best mulch to use? Learn how to choose a mulch for low maintenance landscaping projects.
This is the second in the series of videos addressing the most important aspects of using mulch in landscaping and gardening projects: this is the mulch video I wish I had when I first started gardening. It would have saved me so much time! I hope it helps you.
Learn the upsides and downsides of different materials, like wood chips, bark dust, bark nuggets, arborist chips, landscape fabric, rubber mulch, cedar chips, fir vs. hemlock bark, allelopathic wood chips, and more. I’ll share tips on how to research and consider different material options.
Research has shown some mulch materials to be better than others when it comes to reducing maintenance and preventing weeds. This video is meant to empower the do-it-yourself landscaper with the context and resources needed to make the best mulch choice for their gardens.
Here are some ways you can get involved and learn more:
🪴 FREE MINI COURSE: How to choose the perfect plant (and put it in the right place): www.gardenprojectacademy.com/...
I HAVE EXCITING NEWS!
🪴 Design-Your-Own Landscape Layout ONLINE COURSE
...is now OPEN for enrollment!
For do-it-yourselfers who want to create their own landscape design, but just need a little extra guidance.I’ll walk you through the design process, step by step, so you can create a practical, hand-drawn "layout plan"(a landscape design plan that shows the layout of the finished design).
Learn more and sign up, here!
www.gardenprojectacademy.com/...
🪴 Follow my newsletter, here, for free gardening resources and updates on new courses: www.gardenprojectacademy.com/...
Check out my last mulching video, “Critical mulching tips every do-it-yourselfer needs to know for successful landscaping projects.” It’s a helpful pre-requisite to this video!
• Critical mulching tips...
Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott, Horticultural Myths:
puyallup.wsu.edu/lcs/
The Garden Professors, Blog:
gardenprofessors.com/
“The Garden Professors blog” Facebook Group:
/ gardenprofessors
Chip Drop:
getchipdrop.com/
And if you’re new here, hello! 🌱 My name is Eve Hanlin, I’m a certified horticulturist and landscape designer from the Pacific Northwest corner of the USA. I've offered in-person landscape design services for years and now I am taking landscape design online by offering digital courses and resources for do-it-yourselfers. This is my new business: Garden Project Academy.
You can also follow me on social media:
Instagram: / gardenprojectacademy
Facebook: / gardenprojectacademy
Pinterest: / gardenprojectacademy
Tag me in your projects @gardenprojectacademy. I would love to see what you’re working on!
Remember that everything in my videos are for informational purposes only: It is entirely your responsibility to decide what is best for you and your landscape. - Навчання та стиль
I HAVE EXCITING NEWS!
🪴Design-Your-Own Landscape Layout ONLINE COURSE 🪴is now OPEN for enrollment!
For do-it-yourselfers who want to create their own landscape design, but just need a little extra guidance.
I’ll walk you through the design process, step by step, so you can create a practical, hand-drawn "layout plan" (a landscape design plan that shows the layout of the finished design).
Learn more and sign up, here!
www.gardenprojectacademy.com/diy-landscape-design-online-course/
I have been mulching for three years, so three times…and had no idea that bark chips and tree mulch was different. I thought it was like Kleenex vs. tissue haha Thank you so much!
So glad that there are people out there as nerdy as I am about mulch 😅 this series is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you for taking the time and effort to communicate this information so eloquently 🙏
I am rather in love with pine straw mulch in my yard. I know it is not as good as other types for weeds, but I love how "clean" it is to work with and how it stays where I put it (I have a windy yard) and how light weight it is (I'm older and don't have garden help). It also breaks down rather slowly, and I don't necessarily need to top it up every year. Initially I used it in conjunction with cardboard to get rid of an inconvenient bit of lawn (really just to make the cardboard invisible), but I liked it so much that I have gradually expanded its use to other areas. So far none of my plantings have complained.
Thank you so much! I contacted Chipdrop and it was so easy to receive free arborist mulch from a local tree trimmer. I received two deliveries this weekend at our middle school in San Gabriel, California. If it wasn’t for you, I would have not known about free arborist mulch! Thank you!!😀
I agree with no landscape fabric- the previous owner of our home filled all of the flower beds with fabric and rocks. Debris and it fell Into beds over time b/c of trees. Tons of weeds still grew on top of beds and in rocks. It has taken forever to remove the 3 layers of fabric and all of the rocks! Mulch is your friend:)
Hi Eve I agree with you not using fabric and tire mulch on the garden thank you 😉 excellent information.
I totally agree with not using rubber mulch. I can’t believe it is even available. 3 yrs ago, fireworks started my pine/spruce trees on fire. Can you imagine the smoke of rubber mulch in a situation like this. It was definitely bad enough without rubber.
Also, landscape fabric is equally bad. Weeds will grow on top including sending roots through the fabric. If you decide to add a plant you have to cut the fabric which is a lot of work. ALL REAL GARDENERS WILL BE ADDING AND TRYING NEW PLANTS. No landscape stays the same once planted,it is a living and moving organism.
I am putting together a desert landscape bed, and was curious if you have insight on different rock “mulches”/soil coverings. A video on this topic would be great 😁
Thanks for the tips - I have a huge hill area I've planted out and then mulched over with free chips. It's going to take a while for the plants to get big enough and I wanted to reduce weeding until they get to a good size. Good to know I made the right call with the different sized mulch - I was just being cheap 😅 But also please don't feel you need to apologise for boring topics. I love mulch and the video was great 👍
I literally stumbled upon your video and SO happy you did it and that I watched. Extremely interesting as I knew nothing other than either I liked the color or not, but wasn't a fan. Now that I know what to look for and why, I can discuss with the landscaper who I want to replace my lawn with low/no mow green ground cover with similar water needs at the stunning Birch tree. Until watching this, I had not consider mulch at all around the base of the Birch but I can see how it would be beneficial to the tree as well as adding aesthetics around the base. I'm definitely going to check your other videos. thanks a bunch
What a gold mine of information, thank you!!!
This is thorough!!! Love the research behind it, and easy for a beginner like myself and follow. Thank you !
Throughly researched and well presented, as always. Thank you 😊 !
I use packing paper to line wherever I’m going to add mulch or start a flower bed, it decomposes slowly, I love mulch especially when heavy rains come through. Great video thank you.
Thanks for clarifying what arborist chip is .. I’ve been getting the best stuff 😃
Your videos are great!
Amazingly insightful and helpful tips. Thank you so much!!
I’ve tried and tried to get the low maintenance experience that a lot of us believe weed barrier fabric and rubber mulch are supposed to give, but I can definitely confirm that they suck (this is from at least 5 rounds of creating beds from scratch and then maintaining them for the long run). They never work nearly as well as we think and they’re way harder to deal with when you need to make the slightest change. Even the most expensive fabric gets weeds and grass, but the roots get intensely woven into the fiber of the barrier, which makes them incredibly hard to remove without damaging the fabric. It also inevitably gets areas of unsightly fraying that protrudes through the mulch layer. The rubber mulch definitely DOES start to fade and discolor and ABSOLUTELY gets moved around with mowing/weed whacking or kids running through it (in fact my kids are huge fans of making piles of it and throwing it all over the lawn and drive way, despite me lecturing/scolding them many times about it). Unlike wood, you can’t just mow it into the lawn or add more wood on top when it gets thin (I mean you can, but it feels like burying garbage in your garden and flower beds). It’s also very hot and has killed/stunted a few of my shrubs/trees in full sun areas, where it severely amplifies the heat (and has an intense smell, whereas wood is cooling and gives its own nice, soothing aroma/ambiance). For the money you spend on barrier and rubber, just find a local company that can deliver a truck load of the woody stuff (unless you have your own truck). It sounds expensive at first, but it’s vastly cheaper when you break it down. It will give you much better soil to work with after just year, it helps cool your yard and make it much more inviting, and you just add more as needed. Stick with a natural-ish color and you’ll never need to worry about “discoloring.”
Thanks a lot for all the information. It's very helpful. I appreciate it very much. 👍
Thanks for the info! We’ve tried mulch 2 years in a row and I think compaction has been our biggest issue. We’ve had a lot of issues with white fuzzy stuff (mold?) that kills our plants. Pretty sure it’s just from too much moisture building up in those areas so we’re going to attempt to combat that this year with a drip irrigation system in our little flower bed
Mulch is beautiful 😍
Great info! Thanks!
Can you talk more about mulching with pebbles, stones and other materials. How about rocks over much?
Thank you very mulch for this informational video.
Lovely content. I totally agree, there's no perfect option, but the best suit for each individual cenario.
Having 2 large Sycamore trees that naturally shed bark, I spend a few minutes picking up the bark, breaking it into small pieces and toss it into one of my small gardens. Works great and looks good and decomposes rather quickly. I buy cedar mulch for the other garden plots.
Thank you,Thank you, Thank you!
Here are a couple things that you missed. Colored mulch is typically made of recycled pallets. While it sounds green, these pallets might have been exposed to toxic materials and you could unwittingly introduce them into your gardens. Once there, you can only remove them by removing the soil - a costly mistake. The coloring is used to hide their original nature, cover up any chemical stains, and make it look appealing. Also, pine mulch is bad for most beds. It draws nitrogen out of the soil and acidifes it. The best non-living mulch to use is partially composted shredded hardwood mulch obtained from local arborists. It can be found at some dumps and also in bags at smaller hardware stores like Ace and some nurseries.
The absolutely best mulch to use is "living mulch" by interspersing low growing plants with your specimen plants. Once grown together, these will largely block out weeds and help hold moisture. That said, buy native plants for your region and soil. They'll look beautiful and do much better and support healthy natural ecosystems.
I love mulch!!!
Thank you …. Great information
So glad it was helpful! 🪴💕
Great info, thank you for sharing. I am a new at gardening
So glad if I can help! And welcome to the obsession! 😂😉🥰🪴
Best wishes to you and your new garden projects!
Please let me know if you have any additional questions or run into challenges, I'm always collecting ideas for future UA-cam videos.
In Canada, bark mulch is a by-product of the logging industry. There is a small percentage of shredded wood in the bark. I don’t think I’ve seen wood chip mulch for sale commercially. Cedar bark mulch is the most popular but I switched to pine bark mulch as it turns brown as it decomposes and not grey like cedar mulch.
After watching 6 other videos on mulching, you delivered answers I was seeking. Thank you for comparisons, examples, alternative solutions/uses. Education packed in 16 minutes so appreciated. Now I can go buy some mulch!
I’m so glad I found your channel 💖New subscriber
Love the educational approach being taken. Foundational instruction 💕
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you
Thank you so much for your take on fabric -- I HATE it! Looks horrible, always peaks out, still has the same problems as other mulches, etc. I've been using spent plant materials for mulching, like the foliage from showy primrose. It makes a thick mat, feeds the ground, and breaks down well.
And how do you know there's no toxic pesticides and herbicides in what you get? Eucalyptus can also act like Black Walnut and kill your garden. When it comes to the rubber chips, manufacturers are removing the metal before the tires are chipped up. There's a place for them, just not in the garden. I use it where grass has been removed. It doesn't have to be replaced every year, in fact, it doesn't need replacing ever. It will fade in time. You make some very valid points on alot of the information. It was a good video.
thank you
So glad I can help! 🪴
Landscape fabric was my biggest mistake in landscaping! I have found shredded leaf mulch to work well as I can't get wood chips.
Any tips for mulching on sloping gardens while the plants are establishing???
Neighbors used to use bark chips. Constantly had roaches until new neighbors took it out.
I wish youtube had a easier look up system my problem is clay soil , do you have some ideas on fixing this ?..
What strategies are there to provide weed control with out mulch or cloth barriers?
Years ago I had a bed of pachysandra and by year two weeding was a 5 minute job. I don't see this practiced much but maybe you have some insight about using a close ground cover as weed barrier while bigger plants grow above it. Other covers might be ajuga, myrtle, etc. Thoughts/experience?
If we’re thinking of solarization would we do that before or after mulching?
Had someone ring my door hoping to dump his truck load of fresh mulch. Needed some so we gladly agreed. However, our old pine tree, which was next to the pile, died. I suspect the mulch had some pathogens that killed it. Luckily the power company took it down for free as it was on a easement and close to power lines. Be very careful where the mulch is dumped and if you can let it decompose at least a year.
I’d like to know your take on mosquitoes in mulch/ pest control. I recently mulched my entire front and backyard to repair soil for an urban foodscaping, but after the first rains my mulch was infested with mosquitoes.
I have been a subscriber for at least a year or more and I have notifications set and have not received any at all. I just happen to come across this video and realized that I am actually subscribed. I don't get it this seems to happen a lot to me. I like your videos
thanks , can you recommend a mulch for a sloppy land thanks
What does the term "opening the soil" mean? it was mentioned at 2:28
Cocoa pods and coconut husks are readily available in my area, is it a good idea to combine these or should i just use cocoa pods alone?
I'm using Pine Pellets. Is that okay? Ty.
What do you think of using leaves for mulch?
What I want to know is what is the best, most affordable bed liner? One that allows plants to still get rain/water but stops the weeds and Bermuda grass from reeling into the beds?
What should I do with a flowerbed that has old mulch? My front flowerbed has been empty for years. The previous owners didn't have anything in it, but bark. Do I need to dig up and throw out all the old mulch to then mix compost and other good soil in our clay before planting and then adding a fresh layer of mulch? I did that with the vegetable garden in the back but I honestly don't think I can do all that this year. Would it be pointless to try and just plant in the soil as it is and cover with a new mulch?
I use maple and cherry leaves bark and twigs. In summer grass clippings. It’s what I have. Pacific Northwest. No problems that I have seen. Tons of worms Frogs Bugs Butterflies Birds and Hummingbirds etc.. everywhere
Does cedar mulch prevent pollinators?
I'm surprised you didn't mention cocoa bean hulls or pine needles. I'll have to see if you have videos that cover those. I prefer pine needles. They seem to suppress weeds best for me. I usually lay down cardboard the first time I mulch a bed, then add pine needles.
Pine needles breed snakes here
I would love to have closed captions on your videos? please turn this useful feature on.
Absolutely! They are on now. (UA-cam actually automatically generates them, and it can take a day or so sometimes for them to process and become available).
What are your thoughts on using a layer of cardboard beneath wood/bark chips? I'm moving to a new house and I want to landscape the yard, and we will have lots and lots of cardboard boxes from the move. I don't think I can afford enough wood chips the first year to get a deep enough layer, but I can add them a little at a time over a few years to get a good depth, and I was thinking cardboard would work help suppress weeds until it gets built up deep enough. The cardboard will eventually break down as I add more wood chips. Would this work okay (as long as I avoid coated cardboard, and make sure all the tape is removed)?
I’m also in a new house and plan on doing the same, so I’m interested in her response. I just had to splice an underground water hose that was severed by a plant fabric stake (I’ll be converting to drip) but anyway, I think I’ll be better off with “no dig” as much as possible as we begin to convert our conventional lawn. So dig gently and enjoy your new home!
I've used cardboard under wood chips. Some areas no weeds but in some other areas had some really invasive plants grow through (hubby planted banana plants). I would recommend putting double or more layers in areas you are concerned about. I also recommend watering down the cardboard before mulching.
Great question! I made a video answering it: ua-cam.com/video/Miur3m8a4jA/v-deo.html Hope it helps you!
Long story short: yes! If you want to smother out weeds or lawn, you can use cardboard under the mulch to decrease the amount of mulch that you need.
Cardboard, while organic and thus decomposable, reduces water and gas exchange between the soil and air. Not as bad as landscape fabric for example, but it still does. And if it ever dries out, it gets hydrophobic.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌿🌳💚
I had my yard professionally landscaped and they used a natural bark. I love the look, but hate it. Not sure what to use now. The reason it all needs to go, is that earwigs feed off it. I have an infestation of earwigs that eat my plants and flowers. Makes me upset to go out and see a plant eaten away.
Are you positive that earwigs are eating your plants? I have millions of them living in the mulch and leaf matter, but never once worried about them eating any of my live plantings. My guess is that they do more good than harm in your garden.
I've heard that wood mulch uses up a lot of nitrogen whole decomposing. Do you know anything about that? Because of that I'm hesitant to use wood mulch in my garden. I use straw from my rabbits and all plant material I can find while pruning plants etc.
Haha, now I watched your other video on mulch where you address this topic. 🙂
I got arborist chips today. and it looks like there is a lot of chopped up bushes, with yellow wood. Is that bad?
I heard recently (Huw Richards channel, I think) that small diameter wood/twigs chopped up are actually found to be more beneficial to soil. Unless the bushes are of a specific type that could cause problems, sounds like you should give them a try. Maybe try a sample area first to make sure?
How about straw mulch?
Not an expert, but others have noted risk of herbicide Graze-one in hay or straw.
What are your thoughts on Ponderosa pine needles? I live in the inland P.NW zone 6.
Great mulch! And fun fact, it is a myth that using pine needles as mulch will change soil pH, in case that comes up 😉 extension.unh.edu/blog/2019/10/do-pine-trees-pine-needles-make-soil-more-acidic
maybe I missed it , but I"ve always read CEDAR MULCH is the best because it lasts much longer than other woods due to natural decay resistant oils in the wood. Yes it costs double, but it also last 2x as long and labor is the biggest cost in putting down mulch right?
10:54
Tip: keep the text boxes in your videos smaller, in the same letter size and preferably near the bottom. It's annoying to have to read all over the screen.
You say mulching it's not exciting but it is most definitely important as a beginner like myself so thank you for this video!
So far I've noticed that landscape fabric, a semi-permiable barrier, starves the soil into become dirt. Dirt, to which has no bulk matter, I would imagine has the capacity to sink foundations over the course of a number of years. Plastic garden cloth is evil.
What about turdmites.
It is informative, but it would be better if you speak a bit slower. Thanks
Too much info
You have to slow down speaking.
If you click on settings - you can adjust the speed of the video to slow it down ☺️
These are great tips. I've be toying with the idea of contacting a local arborist to obtain some wood chips, but I've been hesitant for some reason. 🤷♀️ I'll definitely have to give it a try. The worst thing that can happen is that they decline, and I'll literally be no worse off. 🪵
Yes! Go for it! 😍And if you don't get anywhere calling them up, maybe try resources like getchipdrop.com. Also, many of my clients have approached arborists they happen to see working in their area, and asking them if they have plans for the chips/if they can dump them in their yard. That seems to make it super easy for the arborists!