If the garden maintenance crews can blow away the vegetative mulch they can do the same to the rubber. I have one commercial garden where I can't get rid of the leaf blowers and they manage to blow away one and a half inch creek rock mulch. I much prefer the vegetative mulch for its contribution to the soil and soil life as it breaks down. Al

I tried the tree rings made of rubber when I saw them at Samsclub in March. Even then, I discovered in the sun they got as hot as pavement and TOTALLY heated up the roots underneath. Sure, they kept the weeds at bay, but they were also cooking my trees. And that was in the spring, what would they do in the summer sun when it hit 105 degrees outside? Back they went.
I'm sure rubber mulch gets just as hot. So unless you want dead ground under it, I would skip the rubber mulch. Plus the natural mulch feeds the soil, as Al points out above.

Carla in Sac

Ick. It will get mixed in with the dirt and be yucky. Maybe a new gardener?

You need to educate the gardeners, live with it, or request that they just leave the trimmings and you will clean up afterward. Like Al, I've seen those guys blowing 1 1/2 inch rock around, no mulch stands a chance against them.

Your mileage will vary with educating gardeners. Some will blow you off, others will listen politely and then do as they darn well please (generally not maliciously, they just don't seem to get it) and a very few will actually make changes. Most seem to fall into category 2.

Ryan

If you are talking about the stuff made out of ground tires, I would warn that tires are very flammable, and very, very difficult to extinguish once burning.

I would consider rubber a poor choice for California.

Here is a link that might be useful: tire fires

Thanks everyone for responses. Thanks to them I'm def. taking a pass! No idea if it's ground tires, Lisa, but makes sense. never thougth of the heat retention aspect. Expect I'll just keep on mulching my roses and add more as it gets blown away. In another post I mentioned I'd heard redwood or cedar chips leached nutrients from the soil. Is this true, do you know, or a garden myth?

In another post I mentioned I'd heard redwood or cedar chips leached nutrients from the soil. Is this true, do you know, or a garden myth?

Not necessarily a myth, more of a misunderstanding. Bacteria require Nitrogen to manufacture the enzymes used to break down cellulose and lignin. As a consequence, soil in direct contact with wood won't have much available Nitrogen while the wood is being broken down. The effect is usually limited to the wood/soil interface and is not likely to be an issue unless the wood chips are mixed into the soil. Ironically, cedar chips and redwood bark are wood products that are least likely to have such an effect because they are so resistant to decomposition.

Ryan

Thank you, Ryan, for such an educational answer to something I've wondered about for awhile.