Rubber Mulch Advice

13 years ago

We bought this house last summer. I have a large planting area in the front of the house that former owners mulched deep in rubber mulch. Well, I was pretty clueless on this and with so much to think about didn't pay much attention. Well, I noticed last August how bad it stunk when it was hot. I could not sit in the front of the house it smells so much. Husband doesn't notice and neither do my kids. Guess I am sensitive to it.
I advertised on Craigslist and have 2 people come and get it and they have actually gotten most of it except a thin layer. It no longer smells so bad. I'm not able to do all the work to completely dig it out and husband isn't either. Since I don't ever plan on putting veggies in there I am thinking of just covering it with mulch. I was going to go with dark brown but now thinking a red is what it is going to have to be since the rubber was red and will probably get mixed up some over time with planting flowers. What a pain! I see a lot of people remove it but there must be some that like it.
Anyway, I just thought I would through this out as food for thought.
The picture is just part of the front there is twice as much as shown :(

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Comments (5)

PRO
Yardvaark
13 years ago
If there is just a thin layer, why can't you remove it? It wouldn't be very difficult to rake it into piles with a narrow rake.
tigereye
Original Author
13 years ago
Yes, I can but there is always more embedded into the soil that dries out everytime you remove a layer. I'm disabled and really can't do this continously. Its a real pain. It is mostly shredded so even a small narrow rake has trouble getting it.
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tigereye
Original Author
13 years ago
Yes, I can but there is always more embedded into the soil that dries out everytime you remove a layer. I'm disabled and really can't do this continously. Its a real pain. It is mostly shredded so even a small narrow rake has trouble getting it.
marcinde
13 years ago
I feel your pain - I have a chronic pain condition and I was also incapacitated with Lyme disease last year, and my yard totally got away from me. I learned the truth behind a maxim one of my clients told me: for some jobs, you need a scalpel, for others, you just need a hammer, and Craigslist is full of really really cheap hammers. It looks like you keep up with the day to day so you don't need a skilled pro, you need someone with a truck, a rake, and a desire for cash. As a pro it sort of pains me to advocate for this, but you have a really small, simple task that needs done.
tigereye
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you Marcinde, you nailed it. I'm not completely disabled, but have the chronic pain like you. I have to use my energies wisely. Craigslist is where I found the other people, the first even paid me :) They took out a pickup worth and used it for a playground.
Just going to try to get up what I can and then just bury it deep with some nice brown mulch :) Mostly I posted to let people know that this can be a poor choice.