Doesn't say what the ingredients are, but they do claim it's nontoxic. Usually it's either a form of iron oxide (rust) or carbon black, neither of which is toxic when sprayed on mulch. So, if you must have it dyed, have at it.

Thanks for the advice! I was prepared for you to all tell me how horrible it is, it'll kill all of the good insects and call forth the demons of Sheol!! LOL But instead, I think y'all just saved me a couple thousand dollars :-D

I think regular aged mulch looks better than the dyed stuff. Red dyed mulch is very popular around here and I think it looks absurd. Looks like someone spray painted their mulch red.

If you're spending a grand on mulch, get a bulk delivery. it will cost a lot less even with delivery fees.

Oh man, the red mulch is popular here, too!! And you're right, it's horrible.

Or worse, the shredded rubber!! Don't even get me started :-O

I originally started using the dark mulch because I also have a lot of leaves, and when they dry up they would match the mulch. Now that I've cut the trees back I don't know if that'll really be an issue anymore, though.

And as for the bulk load? I did that twice, and both times ended up with HUGE pest infestations! The last time it was full of millipedes, and that winter I was vacuuming thousands of them, daily! We swore to never do that again :-/

And it really wasn't even that much cheaper, really... I think I ended up spending $750 on bulk mulch versus $1000 on bagged mulch. My area is weird, things that should be cheap and readily available always go for a premium! It's really because it's a very poor area with laborers that expect to make the same as laborers in more affluent areas... but that's a different topic, I guess.

Your numbers perked my interest. Lowes lists about $4 per bag lets say including tax. If you spend $1K, that's 250 bags, a lot to lift and drop twice into/out of your vehicle. At 2cuft per bag, that's 500cuft, or 18cuyd. You can buy bulk black mulch delivered (prob 5cuyd min) at $26/cuyd from Greensboro Mulch Supply. $26x18cuyd is $468. Even split into 2 or 3 delivery costs, you are still way ahead having bulk delivery. And if you leave a big pile sit static for a while, the warm, moist inner area will certainly have bugs. But, if you are worried about dye and the environment, the plastic from the bagged mulch is pretty bad too.

Also, at some point, if you haven't yet, many people with aching backs and little time start to question why so much area is dedicated to open mulch to turn, weed, and recover yearly, as opposed to more or better-placed plantings.

Lowes lists about $4 per bag lets say including tax.

FWIW, I buy the $2 bags, then use my Lowes card to get 5% off:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Premium-2-cu-ft-Black-Hardwood-Mulch/3420262

I have it delivered for $50, and they just stack pallets next to my lawnmower shed.

In addition to eliminating bugs, another added bonus is that I can do, say, 20 bags today, then skip 2 weeks and do 20 more when I have time. There's no major rush to do it all at once, and there's no huge pile somewhere with a bunch left on the ground that I can't get up.

I'm actually about an hour from Greensboro, I just put that in my name because, when I first started posting, someone (@ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 , I think) suggested that I list the closest city so that people would know my zone without having to repeat it all the time.

Also, at some point, if you haven't yet, many people with aching backs and little time start to question why so much area is dedicated to open mulch to turn, weed, and recover yearly, as opposed to more or better-placed plantings.

A fair question :-) And there are really 3 answers:

1. I hate mowing, and really don't like grass. I think that it tends to create a useless area that requires a ton of work to maintain! So I've eliminated a lot of my yard, and instead converted it to flower gardens.

2. Many of these gardens are along walkways, so I at least need to make the areas adjoining the walkways pretty. And once you start putting in mulch, there's never a "great" place to stop.

3. Most of the flowers die away in the Winter, so the mulch helps to control weeds, hold in water, and make the gardens look better when there's nothing there but a few bushes.

And a fourth answer, really: I like the smell of fresh mulch :-D

I did some research last year on good ground covers to consider instead, but nothing really jumped out at me. I've considered Chocolate Chip Ajuga in place of mulch, but I'll need a ton of it and I'm not entirely sure that all of my flowers will be able to grow through it! So that might be something I address next year, I dunno.

I used to have a full size pickup with an 8' bed. I would go and get my own mulch. 2 yards for like $50. The yards were very generous. Instead of 54 feet, I more likely got 65 feet. Way cheaper than getting bagged. I never had an insect infestation, but there were unusual things from time to time. Like rocks, dirt and shredded plastic. I used to get free mulch from the government. Shredded up recyclables. That was very interesting. Pretty sure some people put fake Christmas trees in with their plant debris.

When I had my 2nd kid, my wife made me get rid of the pickup and get an SUV. More practical for hauling kids.

The dyed mulch around here in MD is always the pine bark chunks. I don't like it. It gets moved around easily and ends up with holes where dirt is exposed and everywhere there's dirt, some weed will grow, I like the shredded hardwood much better. The pine bark also takes forever to decompose.

The rubber mulch is absurd. You have to be a complete no nothing about gardening to use that. At home depot, they had some on clearance for $1/bag. They also had some compost bags for $1, which I loaded up on. I didn't see anyone buying the rubber mulch. Thank god.

Gee, a dollar a bag for crumb rubber...cheaper than wood pellet stove fuel. A guy with a pellet stove could mix it with wood pellets like the power plants do with coal.

Nah. The high sulfur content, the PAHs...ugh. Sure would be cheap heat though. LOL

Something to consider is that black-dyed mulch defeats one of the main purposes of using mulch - it retains heat. This can be enough in a sunny location to damage tender vegetation. On the other hand, if you're growing heat-loving plants in a relatively cool climate, this could be an advantage.

I just bought 15 bags of mulch from Lowes. It was brown died shredded hardwood. 2 feet. 5 for $10. Seemed strange that they took something that would look naturally brown and dye it brown. It has a 12 month warranty. I guess it will look just as brown in 12 months.

I think that's the same stuff I buy, $2 /bag. If so, it'll be a more natural looking gray in 3 months.

I didn't know it's supposed to have a 1 year warranty on color! If so, I should have been getting my money back every year :-O LOL

It would probably be like those battery warranties. The warranty starts at the first purchase, so you don't get a new warranty when they replace it. Who knows.

I wonder what you'd actually have to do to make a warranty claim though. Photos showing the color changed?

Big stores like Lowes wouldn't bat an eye for a $2/bag return. It's not worth the hassle. You could probably take the bag, stuff it with leaves, and say the mulch has leafitis causing the mulch to turn into leaves, and they would blindly give you a refund.

The $2 was a sale that expired in Greensboro, now it's $3 that expires soon, which is why I used $4 for the math calculation. You'll have to time it for the sale to circle around at $2 again.