New Ways to Think About All That Mulch in the Garden via Houzz

I couldn’t say any of this — I feel bad talking about it now, like I’m some sort of landscape backseat driving jerk for even mentioning my thoughts. It’s her house, her yard, her plants. But the mulch. The mulch. So instead of talking to my neighbor, I’ll talk to you about why wood mulch can be both great and, well, not very great at all — and what a better alternative might be. modern landscape by Blasen Landscape Architecture

Types of wood mulch.

We’ve been taught that wood mulch is essential, and in a lot of ways it is. If you use it, chunky wood mulch at a depth of 3 to 4 inches is best at suppressing weeds and adding organic matter to the soil, while also allowing good water infiltration. Finely shredded wood mulch tends to create a dense, impermeable mat and even blow away, but it’s great at weed suppression. The point here is that the kind of wood mulch you use matters. And don’t use cypress, as it’s often harvested unsustainably (of course, it wouldn’t surprise me if all wood mulch is harvested unethically).

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