Landscaping Mulch

[Rc_Guy]

I don't

I do that too. However grass still gets in my rock beds. Leaf blower takes care of it. Some of you must not live in windy areas. It's almost always windy where I live and the grass and tree goober gets in.
Todd

I live in a heavily wooded lot, 6 1/4 acres next to a highway, during the summer the leaves are so thick I don’t see the highway, already starting to get heavy enough where we hardly see the highway so we don’t get much wind

 

[Glemon]

Bags, I tried bulk one year, load the wheel barrow, dump the wheel barrow, clean up the mess after, vs. grab the bag and dump the bag. Bags weren't much more expensive and took half the time to distribute. If you can drive your truck or whatever is holding the mulch directly to where it is dumped I could see why bulk makes sense.

 

[BillK]

We dont use a lot but what we do use we have been getting Cyprus Mulch. It is more expensive but seems to last twice as long. Its $3.97 for a 2 cu ft bag at the local Home Depot right now.

 

[Bretny]

Bagged. If you catch the 5 for 10 deals it is just as cheap as bulk and way more convenient.

This is how to do it. Runs about 27$ per yard. I couldn't find bulk much less than $34yrd and that's with me picking it up.

 

[Whitworth]

Bags. It's easy, it's a consistent product. I can grab a few bags and do a small landscaping project. Wait a couple weeks, buy more and do another project. Don't have a huge mound of bulk to deal with as it sits and gets soaked with rain.

 

[DGersic]

I use bulk mulch. The city here has a dump pile from their tree cuttings, free for the hauling away. I fill my truck a few times. Pull it from the truck in to wheelbarrow with a rake. Dump the wheelbarrow and rake it out.

Agreed on using a fork for loading.

 

[D45]

Bulk mulch from municipalities is usually full of weeds.....been there before

Yes its free but also grows alot of weeds

 

[D45]

Why only 20 bags per trip?

Was just a number, might be able to hold 40

 

[Bretny]

I use bulk mulch. The city here has a dump pile from their tree cuttings, free for the hauling away. I fill my truck a few times. Pull it from the truck in to wheelbarrow with a rake. Dump the wheelbarrow and rake it out.

Agreed on using a fork for loading.

That's wood chips not mulch. There different.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Mulch depends a lot on the final look you are trying to achieve.

Expensive, but nice looking and smelling, is cocoa bean husks. Smells like chocolate!

 

[JSGAuto]

That's wood chips not mulch. There different.

Not everywhere. They have a "Vegetative Recycling Program" here It's nice mulch. Free for homeowners to pickup, or they will deliver for a fee. When I am there I see contractors arriving for pickups all day (they get a discounted rate) to resell to you......

They also do topsoil. But the free stuff is not screened.

Just depends where you are located.

 

[thammel]

I purchased 1 cubic yard today for $30 from a local nursery. They dumped it into my trailer. I drove the trailer to the places I wanted to mulch. That's 27 cubic feet or about 13 bags at $3 each or 18 bags at $2 (HD prices). So I saved $. Hard to believe what I shoveled today was only 13-18 bags worth.

 

[JOE.G]

My Buddy owns a very large saw mill about a mile from my home, I get about 6 loads very spring of Bark mulch free of charge, He has wood chips as well but I prefer the Bark. I think at some point stone would be better as this does take some time and effort to get it where I need it. It holds up well in the shaded areas but the spots that are direct sun does turn grey by the end of the season, It only takes a thin layer to freshen it up. I think a dump trailer or truck would be a touch easier but the old plow truck gets it done with its 9 FT Bed.

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

I have access to my brother in laws dump trailer and have a truck to pull it so Bulk here. $34/yard

 

[Crazyjake8493]

I'm sure bulk is the way to go if you need a lot. Personally, I buy bagged because I own neither a truck nor a trailer. 4 bags (2cf) for $12 at Runnings, I just get 4 or 8 bags when I go there. Lowes and Depot have the 5/$10 sales this time of year but the bags are 1.5cf so the cost difference is minimal, and if I had to drive to Lowes or Depot it would be more expensive with gas at $5 /gallon.

 

[Viper98912]

I've always used bags because I also don't have a trailer, but we've been debating pulling it all up and putting down rock instead. Never done rock before, but if it supposedly doesn't fade as much and doesn't require constant upkeep, etc then maybe it's worthwhile. Just a little bit concerned about how much heat the rock will hold and if it will kill the flowers we plant

 

[58Yeoman]

Rocks are a real b*tch when you decide later to move or clean a flower bed. The PO here had put down rock, and what a job it was when changing beds from one place to another. Mulch, you just dig it up.

 

[PassnThru]

Rocks are a real b*tch when you decide later to move or clean a flower bed. The PO here had put down rock, and what a job it was when changing beds from one place to another. Mulch, you just dig it up.

Rock is far from a maintenance free solution. If you move or eliminate a bed then rock is much harder to move or dispose of than mulch. As far as weed control is concerned just look at gravel driveways.
You can put as many barriers as you want to keep weeds from coming up through the rock and you will likely win there - but over the years nature will build it's own ecosystem in your rock bed and you'll eventually wind up with a healthy dirt layer in your rock.

 

[Juiced06GTO]

I hate doing mulch and have neglected our beds for a few years now. When I do them, it is about 15 yards worth of mulch so bulk is the way to go for me. The kubota w the loader makes it easy to place! If we have a 5yd dump truck sitting at work, I'll snag it for a few hours and grab a few truck loads myself, if I can't get the truck I usually just have them deliver it in one of their bigger trucks and pay the fee. Time wise its easier to just have the yard deliver it.

 

[jar944]

I've always used bags because I also don't have a trailer, but we've been debating pulling it all up and putting down rock instead. Never done rock before, but if it supposedly doesn't fade as much and doesn't require constant upkeep, etc then maybe it's worthwhile. Just a little bit concerned about how much heat the rock will hold and if it will kill the flowers we plant

Unless you live in the desert how are you going to keep the wind blown organic matter out of the rock beds (leaves, grass?)

 

[Grant Gunderson]

I just put down 50 2cuft bags of black mulch at my place. In the past I always did the bulk pickup load, but the local place has gotten so expensive at $3 a bag it’s the exact same price. Plus I don’t have to remove the canopy or washout the bed afterwards. I’m also noticeably less sore after moving those bags then having to shovel / wheel barrow and then spread as I have done I. The past.

That being said when buying bulk I feel like they always overfill there bucket so it ends up being slightly more than a yard, but the bags are just more convenient. We will see if there is a quality difference in a year.