There are a multitude of reasons that a homeowner may need to buy bulk mulch. A few of them include: 

• Protecting plant roots

• Retaining soil moisture and health

• Protecting plants through weather changes

• Weed control

• Decorative and ornamental design

• Natural insecticide

However, there can be as many types of mulch as there are reasons for using it. If you don’t buy bulk mulch with your specific situation in mind, you may risk causing your plants or yard more harm than good. Choosing the right kind of mulch for the plants in your yard depends on several factors, such as what plants you want to grow, and where.

If you’re looking to grow a brand-new garden, it will require time and planning to prep it. You may just need to replace old mulch or create a plant-free area. Since these are different goals, the mulch you choose to achieve each goal will be different. 

Two of the costliest mistakes when deciding to buy bulk mulch are picking the wrong mulch material for vulnerable plants and incorrectly applying it. For instance, chemicals in mulch can poison instead of fertilizing and protecting edible plants. Picking a mulch with an unhealthy high carbon to nitrogen count can pull nitrogen out of the ground and starve your plants. Spreading mulch too close to tree trunks can cause the tree to become sick. Insects can burrow there, while moisture builds up. In the worst-case scenario, the tree has the potential to rot.

Before deciding to buy bulk mulch, you’ll want to make sure that you get rid of any old mulch.  Piling on too much mulch can suffocate your plant’s root system and corrode the stalks. You should also consider choosing chips that will allow oxygen to travel down into the soil and roots of the plants.

If you’re using mulch for your prized vegetables or flowers, it’s essential to buy bulk mulch that’s organic and rich in nutrients. Keep in mind that the most nutritious mulch comes from the bark of smaller branches on trees. Additionally, the age, cut, and species of the materials is important to know. Another little-known fact about mulch is that it should be ground instead of chipped in order to get the most nutrition out of the cell walls of the bark. 

The chips that one sees in many stores are coarse ground mulch, meaning they have gone through only one round of grinding.  You should not use this kind for gardening. A bag may be cheap at the outset but may cost you down the road. Deciding to buy bulk mulch will be most beneficial in the long run.

Cheaper mulch may not be good for vegetables or flowers, but it can be used to prepare your land for a garden the next year.  It will kill the grass and weeds, turning it into fertilized soil.  You can use large chip mulch for a temporary walkway, or for further composting. You can even break down clay and over the course of 2 years of so, find yourself with healthy topsoil, thanks to the bacteria and fungi in the mulch. 

There are good reasons for using dyed mulch - as long as you don’t use them for fertilizer or cover with edible plants or fragile trees. As with the cheaper coarse grind mulch, it will convert grassy or weeded areas that you want to turn into a path or driveway.  After the grass and weeds die off, the cover will keep the lawn from looking bad. A colorful dyed mulch will make an eye-pleasing ground cover if you want to design a stone and rock garden or a stone pathway around your patio.

Coarse mulch is useful for a temporary parking area during construction, or if you need a short-term cover for a dirt roadway that turns muddy during rainfall and traps a vehicle. In these cases, mulch made from rubber can be a useful short-term patch. 

There is a lot to consider when buying bulk mulch, so speaking with experts will be beneficial in order to help your lawn and garden thrive. Interested in improving the health and look of your lawn and gardens? Check out our mulch options at Haynes and contact us to request a quote today.