Landscaping Mulch

[D45]

Bagged or bulk delivered mulch?

Which and why?

I had bulk mulch delivered 3 years ago and its time to put down a fresh layer

Delivery fees are $50 to $80, and I'm thinking I could buy alot of bags even with $50

Yes, bagged mulch will require me driving and buying 20 bags per trip, but I feel it's usually better quality than bulk (?)

No shoveling required with bagged either, just transfer from my truck to the lawn cart pulled by my riding mower

 

[jpaw]

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

 

[smackey05]

I do bagged mulch and look for deals. Easy to throw in the truck and move around.

 

[Rc_Guy]

Bagged or bulk delivered mulch?

Which and why?

I had bulk mulch delivered 3 years ago and its time to put down a fresh layer

Delivery fees are $50 to $80, and I'm thinking I could buy alot of bags even with $50

Yes, bagged mulch will require me driving and buying 20 bags per trip, but I feel it's usually better quality than bulk (?)

No shoveling required with bagged either, just transfer from my truck to the lawn cart pulled by my riding mower

Why only 20 bags per trip?

 

[jfleisher]

No mulch. Removed all of mine and did gravel instead. Looks better, and I only have to replace it every 10 million years...

 

[duneslider]

No mulch. Removed all of mine and did gravel instead. Looks better, and I only have to replace it every 10 million years...

I did this in some areas but have regretted it in some areas. Kids end up kicking some of it into the lawn and that is no fun. Some areas don't get the "kid traffic" and have been fine. The mulch in the lawn isn't as big of an issue.

I have been transitioning a number of areas to rock and a product they call Chat.

I have done mulch from bags and bulk, both have merits though. I have a small utility trailer that will hold 2-3 yards of mulch and I can get it loaded for pretty cheap at a local landscape place.

 

[infinkc]

I just had 8 cubic yards delivered, in my area anything over 4cu/yd is free delivery. The price was way cheaper than bags, but it was a bunch of work shoveling into a wheelbarrow and then shoveling out. Would be much easier to just dump bags where needed.

 

[Evilunclegrimace]

Bulk all the way. Bagged mulch is over twice the amount of bulk. An average pickup truck with an 8 foot bed holds 2 yards easily. 2 yards of bulk is $40.00, 2 yards of bagged at 2 cubic feet per bag is $80.00.

 

[tstaude]

I just had 4 yards delivered, my local place was $35 for delivery.
If I just need a little I get two yards in my truck, I can back up to almost all the beds on my property

 

[mcj115]

I did six yards this year. Bulk for me, and here are my reasons why...
1) the place that makes it is closer than any place that sells bagged mulch.
2) I got 4 yards of standard mulch and two yards of playground "wood carpet" for my kids play area. I don't think sell the specific playground mulch in bags.
3) I get 2 yards at a time with my pickup, then drive around my yard to where it needs to be spread to avoid a lot of double handling.
3)Cost....Bulk mulch is $37 yard. Bagged mulch is $2 for 2 cu/ft or ~ $40 yard.
4)Waste...I'm not an environmentalist but why add the all ~14 bags for the trash per yard.


One tip since this is GJ I have is....if you lay down a moderate to a lot of mulch in bulk nothing beats a mulch fork. The right tool make the job a lot easier. Most homeowners use a shovel and don't even know mulch forks exist. Your shoulders will thank you after laying down a few yards.

 

[LeonardY]

I take my truck and buy bulk from a mulch/soil place. A single scoop is a cubic yard. Cost $20. It's the best deal. Way cheaper than buying bags.
I use a garden cart and trugs. Fill the trugs up and dump them in the raised garden beds.

 

[rayra]

Bagged bark is about $1/cu' and we don't even have any forests around here.

 

[mike93lx]

My last house required 9-10 bags a year, so I did that.

My current needed 15 yards thus year to do just the front yard. It is stupid, for sure. That got hired out.

If it can't easily come home in one trip, get it delivered.

 

[jar944]

Bulk, but pick it up yourself.

This is my local mulch manufacturers idea of of 2 yards @ $27 per yard. Based on bed volume it's just short of 3 yards. I go through about 15-17 truckloads per year.

 

[AldeanFan]

Last week my dad bought mulch for $45/yard, he picked it up himself with his trailer and then had to shovel it in to a Wheelbarrow, and then clean out his trailer. He needs 3 yards to do his gardens.
A half yard is $35.

Bagged mulch is $3.33 for a 2cuft bag at HD. I need about 8 bags to do my yard so I buy it by the bag. A full yard is too much for me and a half is not enough.

And I don’t have to shove it in to the wheelbarrow or wash out my truck bed after.

 

[jpaw]

If I could get dyed mulch for $20 a yard bulk I would. Around here it's $34 a yard. When it's on sale for $2 a bag that's $28 not to mention less work.
I just have them load a full pallet in the truck bed.

 

[jar944]

One tip since this is GJ I have is....if you lay down a moderate to a lot of mulch in bulk nothing beats a mulch fork. The right tool make the job a lot easier. Most homeowners use a shovel and don't even know mulch forks exist. Your shoulders will thank you after laying down a few yards.

Never heard of a mulch fork? I use a silage fork, but I'm now guessing they sell silage forks to landscapers as mulch forks.

 

[mike93lx]

Never heard of a mulch fork? I use a silage fork, but I'm now guessing they sell silage forks to landscapers as mulch forks.

I use a bedding fork. Maybe the same thing?

 

[Bucko]

The bags are convenient and nice when it's on sale.

Made the mistake once of getting my normal bulk brown mulch as it was raining and due to it all being wet the guy loaded black instead. It was for finishing out a large bed and once it dried the color difference was obvious. Had to pull most of it up and use as base in a new bed and then topdress that with brown. Total fiasco, at least the bags are labled!

 

[jkeyser14]

I get wood chips delivered for free (bulk) from local tree companies. Let them sit for 6 months. Then move them with my tractor. Easy on your back. Price can't be beat.

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

I had 15 yards of "Super White" wood chips delivered last Tuesday. They only chip large trunks and it seems the debark them beforehand so they are very clean. They last 2 years so I'm on the "even year" chipping plan here. The bad news is the Landscape Supply place is closing as a developer has bought the land and they were the only place that carried it locally.

The Boy Scouts here deliver bagged mulch as a fundraiser but opening and I feel that opening, pouring out and disposing of several dozen bags is harder than shoveling chips off the driveway into a wheelbarrow and walking the wheelbarrow around the property. I use a plastic "grain shovel" on the driveway and it does no harm to the driveway or the shovel.

Cheers

Jim

 

[nadogail]

Like many other things the better answer will be “it depends” on how much you want, the cost and your transportation method.
Two or three bags will fit very nicely in the back of my van.

 

[cpttuna]

Bulk all the way. Bagged mulch is over twice the amount of bulk. An average pickup truck with an 8 foot bed holds 2 yards easily. 2 yards of bulk is $40.00, 2 yards of bagged at 2 cubic feet per bag is $80.00.

love people good at the math

 

[LeonardY]

Never heard of a mulch fork? I use a silage fork, but I'm now guessing they sell silage forks to landscapers as mulch forks.

One tip since this is GJ I have is....if you lay down a moderate to a lot of mulch in bulk nothing beats a mulch fork. The right tool make the job a lot easier. Most homeowners use a shovel and don't even know mulch forks exist. Your shoulders will thank you after laying down a few yards.

That's odd. This wasn't my post that I was quoted. It's @mcj115
This is my post.

I take my truck and buy bulk from a mulch/soil place. A single scoop is a cubic yard. Cost $20. It's the best deal. Way cheaper than buying bags.
I use a garden cart and trugs. Fill the trugs up and dump them in the raised garden beds.

 

[Sumboodie]

No mulch. Removed all of mine and did gravel instead. Looks better, and I only have to replace it every 10 million years...

Seriously thinking of no lawn at the new place. Just bush hog the weeds a a few times a summer.

What is mulch used for? You talking about wood chips?

 

[marak]

I prefer bags for several reasons:

1. Quality and texture: I can walk barefoot and work it comfortably in my hands while working the soil when planting flowers, strawberries, herbs, vegetables, and other fruits.
2. Ease of use: dump 1 cu ft or a handful at a time.
3. Reasonable cost and purchase as I need it. Drive time about 4 minutes one way.
4. Easy to refresh each year. A light coating refreshes the beds each year and the old breaks down and adds organics to my silty/fine sand soil that is seemingly organic free (hold the steer poo that I have added).
5. Bulk: neighbor get a bulk variety (cheap) and I would not want to walk barefoot on it and it is not visually appealing.

Maybe if I shopped around I would find a bulk product that I would like, but the bagged version I use is less than $2.75 per cu ft and there is a discount if you purchase 30 bags or more.

I also use it for pathways to reduce tracking of soil into the shop/house and gives my little tractor gizmo good traction while l am doing construction. A little dusting on pathways with the bagged mulch and soil stays put.

Note: riprap makes for great temporary raised potato beds when stockpiling soil for a couple of years and the mulch helps control moisture.

What it boils down to, the best choice, as nadogail mentioned, depends on the individual and their situation. The best part of mulch is being outside!

 

[CraigStu]

I once got a small dump load of regular grey driveway gravel. Never again. I may be cheaper but I had to shovel it from the ground up into the smaller trailer to pull behind my garden tractor. Then I had to shovel it out. So they moved it once and I moved it twice. Buying bags I can throw into the pickup bed w/ help from the guy at L or HD. Then I let gravity help me put it in the small trailer. Then, depending on exactly where I wanted it to go, some I could let gravity help get it out of the small trailer and then slit the bag. Maybe 1/3 of the time I slit the bag in the small trailer and had to rake it out.

 

[jar944]

What is mulch used for? You talking about wood chips?

Yes wood chips.

Typically flower beds, around trees, ect. Or both

 

[mcj115]

I use a bedding fork. Maybe the same thing?

https://www.lowes.com/pd/True-Temper-48-in-L-Wood-Handle-Welded-Steel-Mulch-Fork/1115663

I think a bedding fork is the same as a mulch fork.....same thing different name. The silage forks are very similar in construction but have more of a scoop shape; these would also work well due to the tines.

 

[kj_mustang]

I wish I only needed enough to do bags. I buy it by the 6 foot tractor scoop full, close to a cubic yard each. It takes 10 yards for my place. That's two loads on my 16' long trailer.

 

[Crowbarman55]

How do you get grass and weed clippings out of the wood mulch and keep it from blowing away?
I only do rock beds at my house. I just added 2 more tons last week. I had it delivered for $70.00. I moved it all by myself with a shovel and wheelbarrow. Like said before, freshing up every 10 thousand years. Adding more bushes to it next.
Todd

 

[Rc_Guy]

How do you get grass and weed clippings out of the wood mulch and keep it from blowing away?
I only do rock beds at my house. I just added 2 more tons last week. I had it delivered for $70.00. I moved it all by myself with a shovel and wheelbarrow. Like said before, freshing up every 10 thousand years. Adding more bushes to it next.
Todd

When I mow,I don't blow it towards the mulch. Seems to work

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Bulk. Pick it up yourself. At home, shovel it off into a Gorilla dump cart. Take it and drop where you need it. Should only take an hour or so to unload.

 

[jar944]

When I mow,I don't blow it towards the mulch. Seems to work

This.

 

[jar944]

How do you get grass and weed clippings out of the wood mulch and keep it from blowing away?
I only do rock beds at my house. I just added 2 more tons last week. I had it delivered for $70.00. I moved it all by myself with a shovel and wheelbarrow. Like said before, freshing up every 10 thousand years. Adding more bushes to it next.
Todd

Some blows away, most just turns into dirt. You just add another 30-40yards each spring.

 

[mike93lx]

Some blows away, most just turns into dirt. You just add another 30-40yards each spring.

You do 30-40 yards of mulch every year?

 

[jar944]

You do 30-40 yards of mulch every year?

Yes. Roughly 20 yards so far this spring and I haven't made a dent. That does include a new bed that took about 7 yards itself. The other 13 yards mostly went to one bed (it's 5' wide and 200' long

 

[SARG]

I'm with Crowbar ....... after many years of the wife dicking with mulch replacement I finally convinced her to go with geo-fabric and river rock.
I had 20 ton dropped off and now we add a bit to her flower beds every couple years. It's been over a decade now & it was a good decision.

 

[Sumboodie]

I'm strongly considering no yard at my new place. Just bush hog to keep the weeks down and let it stay gravel. Will save bunch of time, effort and money.

 

[Crowbarman55]

I don't

When I mow,I don't blow it towards the mulch. Seems to work

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