I do know what you mean as I do not like the red either. If it were me I would be really upset too! We usually get the natural mulch, but this year they had a brown died mulch and we are trying that. So far liking it.
Marylu

Red mulch is not my cup of tea either....

Red mulch is ghastly. Nothing but shredded hardwood for me.
Mulch is not supposed to be part of the display. Apparently, some folks don't get that.

I don't care for red either, just not my cup of tea. Only mulch I ever use is the mini bark nuggets.

Could you spread it and then spread a fine layer of "regular" over it to hide the red? Or at least tone it down?

Sad to say, I don't think it fades very quickly. Our neighbor used the red mid-summer last year and it is still very red.

Mary Lu, thanks so much for the great idea! I am going to pick up a few bags of the natural mulch and spread it over the front of the garden beds where it is very visible. Hopefully that will hide the red.

Thanks again!
Gordana

I think it should be outlawed!!

I totally agree with you southshoregardener. As someone who detests red mulch, this whole experience has really infuriated me. I am really frusterated that I cannot return it so now I am left to deal with it. Hopefully a few bags of natural mulch from another landscape place will neutralize it.

I'm not a huge fan of red mulch either. But in this area, it's all you can find for a reasonable price. I prefer the look of cocoa shells, but the price is a big deterrent.

The red will fade a bit by the end of the season. Plus your plants will cover up most of it, don't fear.

Tracy

Red mulch is horrible when it is natural hemlock. Even worse when they dye it red-orange. This year in the Boston area, black mulch has appeared--also fake-looking and awful.

I ask for a sample before I accept delivery. I told the guy I wanted mulch the color of our native soil here--medium to dark brown. It is pine bark and looks natural because it is. The mulch guy said one customer made him scrape up and remove all the red mulch he had just put down--quite a job.

Why can't you return it? If you specifically asked for "natural" then that's what you should get. If it's dyed it's not natural.
If it is, however, a naturally red wood, then I guess it could be "natural". In that case it should fade to a less glaring color more quickly than the dyed stuff.

I don't get it about the red stuff, either. Someone around here not only piles it on (creating that silly 'volcano' around her poor trees) but then evenly spaces small bright white rocks on top of it. Looks like the tree is being eaten by a toadstool.

Not fond on the black-dyed stuff, either, but at least with that you can make an artistic statement rather than pretend it looks natural. My neighbor has some green ferns growing in black mulch and it actually looks kinda stylin', in a non-cottage garden sort of way :)

C.

Ugg to the red mulch! It almost matches the McDonald's fast food color scheme...yuck! There is a property near me which features red mulch all over the place and the house and barn are painted that redwood stain. The property is very tidy but it resembles dog barf. Talk about hard on the eyes!

Maybe you could mix a little dirt in a lot of water and spray it over the mulch to tone it down. I read that one could wipe mud on concrete blocks to tone them down.

Who makes these unnatural decisions? Next it'll be purple mulch, LOL. I'm so grateful to be able to use pine straw. I think if I lived in an area where it wasn't available I'd pay to have a load shipped in every year.

I hate the red mulch too. I usually use the cocoa shells. They are now found in larger box stores so the price has come down. I've also found they spread further so in the end the prices does equal out with the regular wood chip mulch.

In my area, we have colored mulch. As in blue or green or purple or even bright yellow. I live near a university and a lot of people use mulch in the school's colors. Somehow blue mulch just doesn't work for me at all.

I'd complain heavily and see if you can get it returned. One more try can't hurt I suppose. Did you pay for it with a credit card? If so, you could contact your credit card company and see if there are any options from that end of the deal. If you didn't get what you ordered, they might side with you.

Could you possibly sell it to someone locally? You might lose a few dollars, but it might be worth it not to look at the red.

Personally I would insist they take it back, too. You specified natural mulch, not dyed. It sounds simply dreadful to me.

Rosefolly

Gordana, call 'em up and tell 'em you are NEVER ordering from them again, and that you would warn other gardeners not to order from them again. MAKE 'em take it back. I agree. You were very specific.
I know some folks here like red mulch. That's fine with me, but I don't like the died mulches black or red. I have pinestraw everywhere this year and I don't even like that!! I prefer just good o'l county composted mulch or the super super fine pine "fines".

GGG

Mmm, Natalie...PURPLE MULCH? Ok, I might try that one, lol :)

Why do they dye mulch red, ugh!, If they have to dye it, dye it the color of compost, black gold. My DH is a wood-turner, he works mostly with maple burl so I have an endless supply of maple shavings I can use for mulch, the first year it doesn't look so hot, I sprinkle a little sea soil around this tones it down some, after going through a winter it looks somewhat better. I like natvtxn's idea of spraying it with a muddy solution. I can just see the look on DH's face when he catches me doing it. He's going to think I've gone mad. I have a friend who keeps a shovel and a bucket in the back of her car. When out in the country, drives past where horses have been, Well.... you can guess the rest. We just gotta do, what we gotta to do.

Annette

Have you seen the new rubber mulch? No joke--they are really pushing it as something that will last forever. And that's exactly the problem--one of them.

Just checked Google. Rubber mulch company names are things like Ever Life and Perma Last--and you can get them in a rainbow color mix! Photos--you have to see it to believe it.

Good lord what next, just imagine the scent of rubber wafting up on a hot summer day. I don't think so.

Annette

Well, I guess they gotta do something with all those tires we keep tossing out;( Hmmm. Cedar mulch for me. Chris Ont...that was funny!

MeMo

I will say in its defence that it's good for the quick, cheap, convenient fix. And that's about all. I'm using it to cover the area we dug for our paths that will go in later this summer. I can't wait to get rid of it, but for the moment it's better than walking on dirt. When I shovel it up, I'll re-use it around the side of the garage where no one can see it. There it will fade away and keep weeds down to boot. My biggest question: Why must it be dyed to begin with? Who decided this was a great idea? They must be stopped before making further marketing decisions. I feel strongly about that.

Steven

I basically have decided that if I have anything to do with the garden area, I hate mulch... Period.

I have a hill cottage garden (perhaps I'll post pics later) which borders our woods. Hubby put a nice path on the back side of the hill making my garden a 'front' border. We then put down black landscape fabric to keep out weeds and he dumped a load of mulch (not red - gold but still wood) on the area we have put the landscape fabric on (next year I'll plant it as a 2nd tier of my cottage garden after the weeds have died down.

Well, long story short, I went to my lovely path to start weeding and sat down on some of the mulch. OUCH!!

I have now decided that I just don't like mulch. Thank goodness with the cottage style there is basically no room for mulch!

Next summer the

I'm definitely not crazy about that red stuff, but it does fade over time to a sedate brown (at least the stuff that isn't artificially colored and claims to be "long lasting color").

Anne

When I got my mulch this year I made the guy take me out back to see all the piles so I could pick the one I wanted - I told him I was more than a little picky about it LOL i think he understood.

Don't you think the rubber mulch would be something used on playgrounds etc. where they don't want it to decompose?

That's what I thought it was meant for, the rubber cushioning a child's fall. It is hard for me to imagine anyone would use it on a garden.

Rosefolly

Check the websites of the companies I mentioned above. It is indeed being advertised for the usual uses of mulch--around shrubs and trees and so on.

Even if it were used on a playground, what an environmental nightmare to clean up when it becomes weed-infested etc.

I have the rubber tire mulch under my swingset. It has been there for almost three years. It is very fluffy and cushy. It is not weed infested at all. I have been very happy with it. It did smell a little the first couple of months but not any longer. It has held up very well. This summer I will top it off because over the years some of it has gotten dragged out. When we are done with the swingset, I am going to remove it all and build a raised potager in its place.

With that said, I would NEVER put it on a garden bed. The very idea is totally ludicrous.
Rachel

Rubber Mulch, I think I'm going to rethink my opinion just a wee bit, Steven is using it for his pathway, Rachel has it under a swing set. I would never use it in my garden as a mulch around plants but, thinking of children taking a spill off a swing, less scraped knees. Children running barefoot down pathways, no splinters or cuts or worse from sharp gravel. Trust me, I know about this one. Maybe there is a place for this type of mulch in certain situations. If one put a thick weed barrier (hate this as well) under the mulch it would be much easier to remove the rubber mulch at a later date. Something to think about.

Annette

They had rubber mulch at the playground by our old house. It was ok, but did tend to get the kids' knees a bit black! It still looked like old tire pieces - you could see little bits of white reinforcing sometimes. And of course, some of it got into the grass around the play area. I sometimes would sit at the edge and throw it back in, but I know I missed a lot!

At Menards, I recently saw rubber mulch that actually was trying to look like wood chips - that was weird. I think it was about $8 a bag - much more than any of the other stuff. I don't know if it was made from old tires or not.

My neighbor decided to use rubber mulch with her foundation plantings. When it gets hot, as it does here in zone 9, Florda, it smells. All her plants died and she has been wondering why she can't get even marigolds to grow there. I don't have the nervet to tell her as I don't think it would go over very well.

Good God, you people need to get a life! You're lives are so horrible all over red mulch. I happen to like it and I have it all around my landscaping. IT LOOKS GREAT. Ads color. and the flowers pop. But seriously, you obviously are having SUCH a difficult life over it. GET A LIFE.