Which Mulch is Best for Your Colorado Gardening Project

The best way to save time when gardening is by using the right mulch through a mulch installation service provider in Colorado. Whether you need standardized mulch or bulk mulch, these professional landscaping service make quick work of any gardening project. They can also tell you which mulch works best for your different plant beds, trees, and shrubs.

You can spread mulch over your soil for a vegetable garden or around a tree, which lets your soil retain moisture. Mulch is also instrumental for keeping your soil cool and making your garden more appealing overall.

If you apply organic mulch, there are added benefits, such as increasing the soil’s fertility. Talking to a professional mulching service also ensures that you get a high quality product and even layers throughout your plant beds.

There are two main categories of mulch, which separate into organic and inorganic types. However, there are also several types of organic mulch. Choosing the right one for your garden will help you achieve the best look and keep your gardens safe from weeds.

Main Types of Mulch

Organic mulch breaks down into softwood chips, bark, evergreen needles, grass clippings, straw, leaves, and hardwood chips. These Colorado mulch types improve the soil’s fertility, but they also provide structure, aeration, and more drainage as they decompose in your lawn. Since organic mulch doesn’t last as long as inorganic types, you’ll need to replenish your mulch on a regular basis to keep your garden and lawn looking fresh.

Inorganic mulch mainly refers to those types that don’t decompose as often and typically include lava rock, crusher dust, pulverized rubber, landscape fabrics, rocks, stone, and other materials that work perfectly to keep weeds at bay and provide decoration. These materials also have the advantage of warming your soil, which is perfect for spring planting in vegetable and fruit gardens. It’s also a good idea to use this type of mulch during periods of dry, hot weather.

Which Colorado Mulch Type is Best for Your Garden?

When you’re ready to start using mulch, you’ll be surprised at the number of options between organic and inorganic mulch types. Your climate, grass type, weed problems, and season will determine what’s best for your garden. There is also cost, local availability, overall appearance, quality, and durability.

Inorganic mulch types are really only good for gardens in hotter climates that don’t use a lot of water and are located in drier climates. Otherwise, organic offers more benefits to most landscapes. However, you may want to use inorganic mulch in certain areas around your lawn, such as walkways, paths, and playground areas. Since inorganic mulch doesn’t retain moisture, you won’t want to place it around shrubs, trees, and other plants.

For most garden types, organic mulch is best because of its ability to provide more fertility to your soil. When you have a mulch that is predominantly wood and dry, it will be slower to decompose and fewer nutrients will be absorbed into the soil. For this reason, you should look at mulch types individually for their properties that can help different parts of your lawn and garden.

The Guide to Organic Mulch Types

Wood Chips, Nuggets, and Bark

Hardwood and softwood chip mulch offers a lot of benefits to most lawns. These are byproducts from paper and lumber factories, so they are typically drier and aged. These can be dyed red or black, and they are sold in bags in home and garden stores across the US.

Hardwood chips work best for shrubs, trees, and perennial beds. Softwood chips, which are typically derived from pine, should be applied around shrubs and larger trees since pine is more acidic. It takes longer to decompose than many of the other organic mulch types.

Straw

With its light color and moisturizing properties, straw is a good option for any garden. This type of mulch comes from oats, barley, or clean wheat. It is mainly used to spread around newly seeded lawns because it keeps the seed in place during spring rains. It also deters birds and rodents from feeding on your new lawn seed. In addition, straw will hold in the moisture to help your seeds grow and germinate. Hay is different than straw mulch, and it should be avoided due to its own seeds that can cause weeds.

Shredded Leaves and Grass Clippings

You can always make your mulch from shredded leaves and grass that you collect from your lawn. This type of mulch is absolutely perfect for garden beds, around trees, and shrubs. You can spread it in a layer over your vegetable garden and perennial beds, but you should be careful with the amount and thickness as you layer. Only a thin layer is necessary to keep your gardens beautiful and thriving.

Other Types of Mulch

You can also create mulch from cardboard and newspaper, but you should be careful to avoid colored newspaper and treated cardboard, which can contain chemicals and not decompose correctly.

Cocoa chips are another form of mulch that has a wonderful scent. You can use it for all planting and garden beds, but you should be careful to keep your layers below one-inch thickness. You also don’t want to water too excessively with this type of mulch as it can decompose quickly.

For those who like to compost, animal manure is another good option to feed your gardens and keep your plants thriving. You should only use animal manure labeled for gardening, as fresh manure will burn roots and harbors diseases.

Conclusion

The right type of mulch will help your gardens grow and keep weeds at bay throughout your lawn. You can also decorate and organize your landscaping using different types of mulch. Whether you choose organic or inorganic mulch, you should always take care to read about layering and watering so that your soil stays fertile and aerated.