Mulch Types Compared: What to Put in Your Beds and Why
Mulch does four jobs: it holds soil moisture, suppresses weeds, buffers soil temperature, and (if organic) feeds the soil as it breaks down. Every material trades those jobs against cost and looks differently.
Organic mulches
| Type | Cost per cu yd | Lifespan | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shredded hardwood | $30 to $45 | 1 to 2 years | The default. Knits together on slopes, breaks down into good soil. |
| Double/triple ground bark | $35 to $55 | 1 to 2 years | Finer texture, tidier look, slightly faster breakdown. |
| Cedar | $45 to $70 | 2 to 3 years | Aromatic oils slow decay and deter some insects. |
| Pine bark nuggets | $35 to $60 | 2 to 3 years | Floats and migrates in downpours; avoid on slopes and drainage paths. |
| Pine straw | $25 to $45 (per coverage equivalent) | 6 to 12 months | Southern staple, great under acid-lovers like azaleas. |
| Dyed mulch (black, brown, red) | $35 to $55 | Color 1 year, material 1 to 2 | Buy from a supplier who dyes clean wood, not ground pallets. |
| Compost as mulch | $25 to $50 | 1 season | Best soil feeder, weakest weed blocker. Top with bark for both. |
Inorganic options
| Type | Cost | Lifespan | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| River rock / gravel | $45 to $130 per ton | Decades | No soil benefit, hot in summer sun, hard to remove leaves from. Right for drainage zones and modern designs. Quantities via the gravel calculator. |
| Rubber mulch | $80 to $160 per cu yd | 10+ years | Playground fall zones only, in our view. It never feeds soil and is unpleasant to weed in beds. |
| Landscape fabric under mulch | $0.10 to $0.30 per sq ft | Varies | Fine under rock. Under organic mulch it eventually becomes a weed mat as soil forms on top of it. |
How deep, and how much
Two to three inches is the sweet spot for shredded mulches; more suffocates roots and invites fungus. Coarse nuggets can go three to four inches. Keep every mulch a few inches back from trunks and stems. "Mulch volcanoes" against tree trunks rot bark and girdle trees.
Quantity is simple math: square feet times depth. The mulch calculator does the cubic yard and bag counts, including a waste margin.
When to mulch
Mid to late spring after soil warms, and optionally a thin fall top-up. Mulching cold spring soil delays warm-season planting beds; mulching over weeds without pulling them first just grows healthier weeds.
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