What Mulch Should You Use?

Mulch is important to the health of your flowerbed plants. There are many types of mulch material you can choose from. What options for mulch material are out there? How do you decide which is the right choice for your landscape? What are the pros and cons of each type of mulch? We're going to discuss all of these question in this blog post! Keep reading to learn more about mulch.

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Types of Mulch

The mulch you choose to install in your landscape is mainly a matter of your personal preference. There's not really a right or wrong choice in most cases. Each type of mulch material has a unique set of pros and cons. The mulch material you decide to use depends on which best suits your needs and the look you want to achieve in your landscape.

In the video below, Terry McNair, owner of Real Turf Solutions discusses some things to keep in mind when selecting mulch for your landscape and flowerbeds. Watch the video, then we'll break down different types of mulch options.

Pinestraw

Pinestraw is a common mulch material used in the Middle Georgia area, and many other places. It is fairly easy and cheap to obtain and adds that glowing orange color in the landscape.

Freshly laid and blow tucked pinestraw.

Benefits of Pinestraw

Pinestraw has several qualities which make it a popular mulch material installed in Middle Georgia. We've listed some of the main benefits of using pinestraw in your landscape below.

Pinestraw Pros:

• Cheap
• Easy to obtain
• Great natural color
• Adds organic material to the soil

Drawbacks of Pinestraw

Pinestraw does have a few weaknesses you should be aware of.

Pinestraw Cons:

• Breaks down quickly
• Color doesn't last
• Needs additional weed barrier (such as weed fabric)
• Can contain sticks and thorns.

Wood Mulch

Wood mulch is another common mulch material used in landscaping around Middle Georgia. It requires a bit more work to install than pinestraw, especially for large areas. However, wood mulch provides you with more options than straw as well.

Benefits of Wood Mulch

There are several reasons to choose wood mulch for your landscape and flowerbeds. We've listed the main benefits of wood mulch below.

Wood Mulch Pros:

• Multiple color choices
• Lasts longer than pinestraw
• Adds organic material to the soil
• Good weed barrier
• Easy to obtain

Drawbacks of Wood Mulch

Wood mulch does have a few drawbacks like everything else. We've listed the main ones below.

Wood Mulch Cons:

• Floats in heavy rain
• Dye used for color transfers to other surfaces easily
• Some colors fade fast
• More difficult to clean up than pinestraw

Pine Bark Nuggets

Pine bark nuggets are basically chips made from the bark of pine trees. They are not commonly used for large landscape beds. Pine bark nuggets are a more specialized type of mulch material. They are mainly used as a mulch material in small flowerbeds and large planting containers.

​You may see beds with flower arrangements in an area of pine bark nuggets surrounded by pinestraw in the rest of the bed. An example of this can be seen in the photo below.

Pine bark nuggets used to create an area for annual flowers

Benefits of Pine Bark Nuggets

While they aren't commonly used, pine bark nuggets have some qualities which make them great for smaller areas.

Pine Bark Nuggets Pros:

• Adds natural material to the soil
• Doesn't require many layers due to thickness of nuggets
• Large nugget size means one bag can cover several planters

Drawbacks of Pine Bark Nuggets

There are some reasons why pine bark nuggets aren't the best choice for large bed areas in the landscape.

Pine Bark Nuggets Cons:

• Expensive for large areas
• Float in heavy rain
• Don't add much color

Egg Rock

Installing an egg rock bed.

Organic mulch types aren't the only option for your landscape. Rocks are also used as a material for landscape beds. Egg rocks, or river rocks, are a common type of rock used in beds around Middle Georgia.

Benefits of Egg Rock

There are a few reasons why you might choose to use rocks instead of an organic mulch material.

Egg Rock Pros:

• Only needs installation every few years
• Provides heavy weed barrier
• Doesn't float

Drawbacks of Egg Rock

There are a few tradeoffs to using rock instead of organic mulch though. Some of the drawbacks are listed below.

Egg Rock Cons:

• Expensive cost up front
• Doesn't add organic material to the soil
• Can significantly raise temperature around plants in sunny areas

Artificial Mulch

Artificial mulch is a relatively new thing. It is made to look like pinestraw or wood mulch, but doesn't brake down since it is made of rubber material. We don't see many landscapes using artificial mulch yet, but the option is out there if you have the budget for it.

Benefits of Artificial Mulch

The main appeal of artificial mulch is that it lasts and doesn't break down. You have it installed once and then only occasional touch-ups are needed every few years or so.

Drawbacks of Artificial Mulch

There are a few reasons why artificial mulch may not be the best choice for your landscape. We've listed some of the main drawbacks of it below.

Artificial Mulch Cons:

• Expensive install cost up front
• Limited availability
• Doesn't add organic material to the soil

Mulch is very important to the health of your plants. It is also a key part of making your property look good. We hope this helps you decide what mulch will be best for your landscape! There isn't really a right or wrong choice, it's mainly about the look you want in your landscape, and which mulch suits your needs.

If you have any questions about mulch, please feel free to reach out to us and we'll be happy to help. If you live in Middle Georgia, we'll be glad to give you a free estimate on mulch installation too.