Sammy,

I used to have bulk delivered and I have to say I agree with your husband. I'm sure bags are more expensive, but as I get older they are easier to handle. I can purchase 4-5 bags at a time so I'm not overwhelmed by a big pile and the whole operation is more tidy. The hardware store is just 5 minutes away, so extra trips are not a big deal. I can also just drag the bag to the spot where I'm mulching. I use the ACE Hardware brand. I think it's mostly finely ground fir.

BettyN

I'm anti-cypress mulch as I saw something on it a while ago that said it was bad for Florida and was hurting the environment (something about harvesting the trees to create the mulch was doing a lot of damage). I currently use a red cedar mulch in my backyard and a cocoa hull mulch in my front yard. I love the cocoa hulls as it is a nice dark brown that forms a good mat that keeps in moisture, and it is environmentally friendly as it is a waste product that would otherwise be thrown away. It is also very easy to spread. It does get a white mold on it but you don't see it until you stir it up and then it goes away on the surface after it sits for a bit. The smell is nice but doesn't last long. I get it in bags from the local Jungs outlet. Home Depot has it too but their bags cost more.

I use the red cedar in the back because I have dogs and the cocoa can be poisonous to dogs. The red cedar we get in bulk from a landscaping company is very nice and clings together well, which helps it stay in place even when the dogs run through it. It's expensive, but much better quality than the bag stuff which doesn't stick together as well. My husband actually admitted that I should get another load of it this year. He thinks it is less work than the bags because you get a whole bunch at once rather than needing to make several trips. We could only fit about six bags at a time in the car, so we did several back and forth trips and it was a pain. The bulk delivery was much easier and better quality.

I get my mulch free from the local park department. It's ground up trees and branches blown down by storms. Last fall I picked up 13 three cubic yard trailers full and toted the mulch a five gallon bucket full at a time to my beds from the floor of my scooter.
Free is always good.
I'm sorry, I don't feel sorry for your husbands. Should they be a little overweight, hauling loose mulch would be good for them. Even sitting down most of the time gardening from my scooter, I do enough lifting and sweating to keep trim.

You mean my [early] birthday present?

{{gwi:238899}}

I needed lots of hot baths and Advil after that. I moved that whole pile in those 2 buckets on the RHS of the picture.

I get the bulk stuff delivered because we do not have a truck. The bulk stuff is cheaper than bagged. I would rather have bagged but it is much much more expensive. I get composted material and there are never any weeds from it. Mulch is local...you get what there is available in the area. This is what happens to be available in my area.

Getting 80 cubic yards of hardwood mulch delivered from a local lumber company on Thursday a.m. Individual bags don't go very far at our place. As a reminder...if you do buy hardwood mulch from a lumber company, make sure to tell them you don't want walnut. It contains juglone, which is toxic to plants.
-TJ

I didn't mulch at all last year and all my roses did great. Do I really need to mulch? I did mulch for the winter because I thought I had to to protect them from freezing. Then, a few weeks ago I had to remove all the mulch I laid, bag it all up and throw it away because it had bs leaves in it,just so I would have room to put down manure and compost. Seems much easier to skip mulching all together as that was a lot of work. North Haven nursery here in Dallas told me to use manure as mulch and my roses would love it. Anyone else not mulch??

THanks everyone.

Betty, you have finely ground fir? Does it work into the soil later or is it a form of chips that doesn't work in well?

Athena, I did not know that about cyprus mulch. I agree about the cocoa, but have not tried the red cedar. I have thought about using the cedar around the house, but not in my rose beds.

Karl, you are funny. My husband does not work, and I do. So we need to get what he will work with. He has had back problems on and off for more than 20 years, and should not shovel the mulch. He can lift the bags from the van to the garden cart, and pull it around the house, but to shovel it up is asking for problems. You hit the nail on the head, though, he could stand to lose weight, but will not feel challenged to do so by gardening. You need to watch out for ants and termites in those loads you get from the city. Thanks for your post.

HoovB, it's you. What a load! The texture is different than what I use, and that is what I am talking about. It looks like a light soil rather than standard chopped cyprus that I use. As it decomposes, will it work into the soil, and give you a lighter texture soil to work with? Mushroom compost is like that, and I wondered about using it as opposed to cyprus mulch.

Terryjean, do you worry about ants or termites getting into hardwood?

Aggierose, I agree about the winter. If I am not careful, I will be creating a home for varmits, but in the hot sun, I need to use something to keep the sun from grabbing all the moisture in my soil.

Does anyone have an opinion about the texture of the mulch being fine as opposed to the little chunks of mulch?

Sammy

Hoov that looks like the pile in my driveway 2 years ago. When I get mulch I also have to get a bulk delivery. There is no way I could afford all the mulch I need in bags. Fortunately we have two driveways so I can have it dumped on the one we rarely use. Although a big pile like that is daunting, it is great exercise. If I feel overwhelmed I let myself chip away at it, but it is amazing how fast the pile shrinks once you start spreading it.

Sammy, the finer-texured mulch is, the quicker it decomposes and needs to be replaced. A good thing for the soil as it decomposes and adds nutrients, but not so fun to have to mulch all over again in 1-2 years.

Sammy I got one grade of grind finer this year. Normally I get a slightly rougher grind, .5-1.5" pieces. This stuff was .5" pieces.

The big advantage of a fine composted material is that if you plant something or add fertilizer you can just dig the mulch right into the soil as amendment, without having to pull it back from the area. And the earthworms can comsume and incorporate it into the soil easily.

The big disadvantage is that it doesn't last nearly as long as a rougher grind. Since I must re-mulch every year anyway, it will be ok.

If weed control is critical, a longer lasting mulch might be better for you. We do not get summer rain here and irrigation is by individual dripper to each plant so weed growth is not much of an issue. Here mulch is more useful as moisture retention and for soil tilth. In your area with summer rain, requirements are probably different.

I was able to get a really good deal on mulch at Menards. I have a friend that has a husband that works there. They had some damaged bags and had two pallets of mulch 160 bags for only $25. I was so happy my husband drove to get it. The trip was 80 miles southern Iowa. We live in Northern Mo middle of nowhere. My husband used a tractor and stored the mulch by the barn till I am ready for some of it. He calls it his honey do job. He got a big kiss from me for doing this. Now I am ready for my roses to come.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:243622}}

Sammy - we've been getting the same mulch for 22 years and never had problems with ants or termites and I have beds all around the perimeter of the house. Hoov's mulch looks great; I'm envious. We get the bigger chips from the sawmill. Great weed barrier and locks moisture in during the hot summer months.

countryrosegirl, all he got was a big kiss? You have him trained very well.
Hoovb, that mulch looks like some quality stuff. What I get is a lot rougher.
aggierose, why do you throw the old mulch away. Why not work it into the soil. You are throwing away a very valuable soil ammendment. I understand you don't want the bs leaves that are mixed in with the mulch but keeping them picked up throughout the year would mean a lot less work removing all that old mulch. Do you really need to protect your roses from freezing in your area?

Some of you have husbands who spread mulch for you? OMG! My husband did accompany me to get ours from a local tree trimming company who then recycles the trees into mulch. We bartered on the cost and it was not only enough to do all my beds but I still have two 30 gallon trash bags full of mulch for this year. I'll probably need even more with the new bed I'm adding.

I have to give my husband kudos in that he loathes yardwork but sponsors what I do out there so no complaints. Occasionally a job comes along I cannot do alone like the grass removal last Saturday that he and his daughter did for the new roses. Now that is back breaking work. I would prefer to spread mulch any day.

Kate

Yep; my DH spreads the mulch; kinda. He jumps on the tractor; loads it up with the bucket; and makes the drop. I point where I want it and I do the spreading. After 22 years we have it down to a science. I prefer to do the spreading part myself because I don't want my plants buried. He's even taking 2 vacation days to help.

Last year I was ready for mulch on all the beds and got bulk from the nursery in our trailer and spread it by wheel barrow and shovel. This year I was only ready bed by bed, every time I tried for all at once we got more rain and more weeds. I ended up going with bagged mulch. I really like the Kellog's Gromulch. For me it's the perfect sized mulch, it's not too fine and I like what it's doing for my soil. This way I could buy the bags as I came up with money and they sat there until I was ready for them. The added plus of bagged was I just wasn't up to double shoveling, into a wheel barrow all around the back and shovel it into place. I can't get the wheel barrow in the large garden anymore either, I used up the available area:) I think it would also have to do with the size area you need to mulch. You have a really huge area, then bulk would be best.

Cost wise bulk was best, but this year this is what worked for me. Looking around for an adv for you I found this link that talks about it.

Here is a link that might be useful: re: mulching info

The cypress trees that are harvested from the wild for mulch are the back bone of the wetlands of the Southeast. The trees are harvested far faster than they can be regrown. Wildlife and wetlands are being destroyed. Please use a "greener" mulch.

Sammy,

The bagged mulch I get from ACE is very finely ground - no chips - and is absorbed into the soil really well.

BettyN

Karl,
I knew I was probably throwing away some good stuff when I threw away my mulch! But since last year was my first year growing roses I didn't know to pick up the bs leaves so they were all in the mulch. Since then I have found this forum and I now know better. I also really wanted to add a thick layer of manure down and with the mulch there the bed was filled to the brim so it would have been impossible to add the manure. I don't know if I have to protect my roses in the winter here in Dallas. I just added the mulch to be safe. Maybe someone in my area will chime in and tell me if I need to do anything in the winter.

We're using shredded hardwood mulch, which breaks down more slowly than softwood (like cedar and cypress). Since our climate is both hot and moist, the mulch breaks down fairly quickly, so we have to top off in the fall and again in the spring. Like hoovb, we use shrub rakes to pull the mulch back to add soil amendments-- The disadvantage in a moist climate with mulching with compost or manure is weeds, weeds, weeds. Bark & wood mulches deter weeds better. I like getting the bulk delivery at home-- if my mulch came in bags I'd be on my own!! But Jon wants his driveway back so he helps me spread the bulk mulch-- even hired a helper last year! YAY!