Mulching is ALWAYS recommended!! I don't know of any reputable source that would suggest otherwise.

The best mulch is whatever organic product (meaning plant or animal based) you can find most plentifully locally and for the best price.

I really think it's a matter of personal preference. My preference is a very fine mulch or the smallest nugget mulch (mini nuggets) there is. My favorite mulch is actually Soil Pep which isn't really a mulch but a soil amendment like very fine bark. I've used it as a mulch for close to 20 years now. The things I like about it are: it is dark, looks more like actual soil, holds in the moisture, doesn't blow away (we have bad wind here), and eventually works its way into the soil.

My front yard has rock as a mulch which I do not like, but it's required by my HOA, so I just deal with it.

In other areas of my yard I have used gorilla hair and also cypress mulch (leftover from my tortoise substrate). I don't like it as much as soil pep.

gorilla hair?

Let me add a contrary opinion.

If your garden receives significant (say 4 hours) of sun, then mulch will be needed partly to keep down weeds and partly to prevent drying out. I have a large bed that meets these conditions and I mulch every second year with shredded pine bark stained black. I will say that mulch has a limited effect on grasses which tend to spread by runners so some weeding (difficult in mulch) will be required - do not let the grasses get away or it will take a monumental effort to recover (ask me how I know).

But, if your hosta gardens are in shade, as most of mine are, I would not bother with mulch. Weeds grow only sporadically and are easily dealt with (I use a weed torch). That heavy shade also prevents rain from wetting the ground thoroughly in light summer showers so irrigation is usually required - take your pick, drip or some area sprinklers. This means that dryness is much less an issues needing mulch. Two benefits of not mulching. First mulch tends to harbour slugs. And second, shade here in the north comes mainly from conifers meaning there is a regular scattering of needles on the ground. I rake them only roughly spring and fall as they are highly effective in discouraging soft body slugs.

Doug (in a cold Zone 4)

how big are your plants ....

not much grows under a large established hosta ... you dont need mulch under the canopy ... the leaves shade the soil ... and it is slug paradise ...

but uncovered soil in between plants is a weed seed magnet ... and should be covered.. imo ...

but if you have small young plants.. mulch would be beneficial.. to reduce soil temps.. retain water ... reduce weeds.. etc ...

personally i like natural colors in the garden ... the one time i used a very dark brown mulch [cocoa hulls] ... plants actually suffered from the retained heat of the sun ... i like when wood turns natural grey ... all colored mulch does.. is start fading..

frankly ... the cheapest mulch is the best mulch.. imo ... its just something to cover soil ...

ken

Mulching is beneficial because it retains moisture in the soil, moderates soil temperature and supresses weeds. I suggest using a mulch of undyed organic bark chips. It does not contain any chemicals that will leach into the soil and the natural color showcases the plants. Over time, the wood chips gradually break down and enrich the soil, so a fresh layer of mulch will be needed every few years or so.

The depth of mulch is important, use a 2” layer. A deeper layer will prevent rain water entering the soil and the plants will suffer, possibly die. With trees and shrubs, keep the mulch at least 12” away from the trunk. If the mulch is too close, it can cause problems with tree root growth and conceal disease.

Compost is a fertilizer made from the decayed organic material. It’s not usually used as a mulch, but it can be spread on the soil before adding a layer of mulch. Fertilizer is ‘food’ for the plants and encourages healthy foliage and flowers. It should be applied at least once a year. There are various different types of fertilizer, again I would go with organic fertilizer because it’s better for the environment.

I recommend installinglawn edging around the perimeter of a flower bed, it cuts down on lawn chores by preventing grass growing into the bed and keeps soil and mulch in place.

Mulch should be secondary consideration to soil improvements for hosta. Give them some good soil and they grow well, conversely poor soil and they die off, mulch or otherwise. I would spend my money on soil preparation. Good soil = good plant growing conditions.

Be aware hosta do not like mulch on their crowns and mulch harbors slugs better than keeps down weeds in the shade.

Mulch belongs in landscaping schemes beyond hosta. Let the plants shine not the mulch.

"Compost is a fertilizer made from the decayed organic material."

Post that statement in the Soils forum and they will be all over you :-)) Compost is not a fertilizer.......it is a soil amendment. It doesn't come with a NPK ratio/guaranteed analysis because it is extremely variable depending on ingredients used. And any nutrient load is very slight compared to standard fertilizer. But it does contribute to soil improvement even when used as a mulch.......any organic mulch will.

Since this is the Hosta forum. I would expect many here are indeed gung-ho hosta growers :-) But many gardeners grow hostas as just a part of a larger garden of shade loving plants, not necessarily the focus of their garden! And most horticulturists agree that a mulch to cover areas of soil not already covered by plants is a good thing - it benefits the plants as well as the soil. But it should always take a back seat to the plants AFA appearance is concerned - no red dyed mulch, please!!

I would certainly agree with this statement:

" And most horticulturists agree that a mulch to cover areas of soil not already covered by plants is a good thing - it benefits the plants as well as the soil."

Soil preparation pays off in the short-term and long-term!! With mulch beware of secondary considerations like slug harbors!!

I use pine tags, wood chips, leaves and manure which I let age in a pile awhile before incorporation INTO the ground, not placed on the ground. Have used mulch in paths but get too many slugs who use it for home.

For Ken: Gorilla Hair Mulch

I think the stuff looks awful, but it stays put better on a slope and doesn't all wash down hill.

-Babka

I'll be darned. Had never heard of gorilla hair. I vote for mulch mulch mulch mulch mulch. In shady areas, weed suppression is not a goal but aesthetically, mulching all would be nicer, even if shady areas are thinly spread.

Mulch. Definitely. For all the above reasons. It will ultimately make your life easier because of fewer weeds and better moisture retention. And I personally use shredded hardwood because it is readily available here. I don't like cypress because it doesn't seem to break down and enhance the soil. Hopefully you can use something that will break down and enrich your soil too.

And I second gardengal's remark about the red-dyed mulch - it looks like the Martian landscape from a B-rated sci-fi movie. Just my 5 cents worth....

yes use mulch..I'd never heard of gorilla hair mulch either..glad Ken asked and that Babka answered..it looks even more shredded that the "triple shredded" that I buy..looks nice..I use the compost that we make more than mulch but we do use some..if the only mulch available was red I wouldn't buy any..ugh..

i dislike the colored mulch especially the red. But one of my neighbors with a red brick house uses it and I don't find it objectionable in that setting. She has a lot of shrubbery so it doesn't look like somebody vomited red.

I have found that mulching is essential in my yard, otherwise I have weeds wherever they can grow. Hate the red stuff, it looks quite unnatural (in my opinion). Never heard of gorilla hair, glad you posted the pic. I think that besides weed suppression, the mulched areas do help with moisture retention. I used to use shredded cypress everywhere but I switched to finely cut pine bark this year--but I did have more slugs, so perhaps the cypress was rougher and the slugs didn't like it? Don't know but I never had so many slugs and it was very dry in my area.

Mulch harbors slugs. Enough said.

In a shady hosta garden, no mulch harbors slugs as well...and the slugs congregate at the base of the hosta. I have pine needles, so that's what I use.

tj

"In a shady hosta garden, no mulch harbors slugs as well"

Amen to that!! The benefits of mulching however, far outweigh the issues involved in baiting for slugs. And snails could care less if there is mulch down or not........if there is a hosta anywhere in the vicinity - even in an elevated ceramic container - they will find it, so baiting for both slugs and snails is a fact of life for me. I would never consider slugs a reason for not mulching!!