might depend on where you are going to use it?

i would suggest it to be better to use a green type spoilt hay mulch for vegetables and food trees, for ornamentals the hardwood would be ok keep it clear of the plant by around 6"s,lay it at least 6"s thick, and over time it will rot down to the layer that is in direct contact with the air and sun the most, then add more.

if you have water to spare a bit you could pile it up keep it moist and let it decompose before using on the garden, as it is not being dug into or mixed into the garden medium oxygen take up is not likely to occur, we have never had the issue.

when sourcing mulch my aim is to use what is easily procurred for the cheapest price, would always suggest spoilt hay type mulches for all garden, not pretty but it delivers nutrients.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

gardeblen: I wanted to mulch my rose bed but it sounds that hardwood is not the way to go. If I cant find anymore mulch I will wait till I can get leaves. Thanks for your advice.

Dr. Alec Shigo, who was chief of research for the USFS, found that woody mulches, ie. hardwoods, tended to create an environment that favored fungi which trees and shrubs preferred while vegetative mulches, ie. shredded leaves, tended to create conditions more favorable to bacteria which most of our flowering and food plants found preferable.
If one views roses, properly, as shrubs then the hardwood mulches would be preferable for them. I would look for this at some other store, however, since anytime I have compared prices I find what I want for less elsewhere.

me not a rose grower peson but i can't see why not if you can source the product easily and cheaply then go for it, the only garden that i may not use it on would be a vegetable garden as they are more active in their nutrient needs. with the wood chip if you can source fresher stuff from a tree lopper that would be even better.

but if you feel hardwood no good for your roses then go with the leaves or even some spoilt hay mulch, pea straw whatever, seen rose growers use them before, even seaweed.

len

I use cedar chips in my rose beds. No harm whatsoever. Breaks down nicely, the soil in those beds is much improved with organic matter.

finchelover -
My only problem with Walmart's hardwood mulch would be paying money for hardwood mulch. I know the materials available to gardeners for free vary hugely from place to place ... but ... what does your city do with tree trimmings? My city - and most of the cities nearby - makes a huge pile out of them, and invites people to come take all they want. Spend a little time poking around on the internet and see if your city or a nearby one might do the same. For transporting the stuff - everyone does it differently; I know some people who have a pile of large Rubbermaid bins they use for this. My solution was to buy a roll of really thick garbage bags, and use those - I'd put a nice amount of chips in each, keeping it to a size/weight I could still easily lift, and pile 'em in the trunk of the car. Tidy and cheap (and yes, I used the same bags over and over to avoid waste). More recently I've had the power company just dump the whole truckload for me, but I wasn't ready for that a few years ago - it is a LOT of chips!!!

if its cheap and readily available and easy for you to use, I would not hesitate to use it on roses.

I primarily use shredded leaves for mulch... and leaf season will soon be upon us... its getting exciting, isn't it...all that free mulch just falling from the sky...

But I have supplemented by leaf mulch with bags of stuff bought elsewhere. I know that lowes heavily discounts the torn bags of mulch. So if you sift through their pile and pick out the torn bags, you can get some cheap mulch.

I also wait until the big box stores are starting to make room for christmas crud. They will unload leftover stuff from the garden center real cheap. I might drive around all winter with a few bags of mulch in the back of my truck for extra winter traction. Then in the spring, I have some mulch ready to refesh some areas that thinned out over the winter.

I used to buy tube sand for winter traction, now I buy bagged mulch instead.