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Mulching materials

Several materials are available for mulching flower beds.  They range from the inorganic forms such as weed barriers and plastics to the organic types like cottonseed hulls and wood chips.  Around our home we prefer to use wood chips.  The main reason we mulch our flower beds with chips is simply because they are extremely cheap.  You may have priced wood chip  or bark mulch in bags at your local garden center and be thinking that I am crazy.  But, that is not where we buy ours. 

Mulch source

Our local landfill offers a service that has become increasingly popular throughout the country.  They take all the green waste (trees, shrubbery, grass clippings, etc.) that anyone wants to recycle and turn it into products available for purchase.  They offer compost and wood chips of various grades.  The “premium” grade wood chips are priced at only $10 per cubic yard.  I own a little Mazda pickup and one yard fills the entire bed and is rounded at the top.  We mulch flower beds around our house at a depth of 3-4 inches.  So, for $10 we can cover an area approximately 108 square feet in size and it makes the flower beds look great.

Mulching flower beds provides many benefits to help your flowers and shrubs grow happily.  Check with your local landfill and see if they offer a green waste facility and you too could be mulching for less.

Happy Gardening!