[agla]

I read around on other messageboards (which really helps me appreciate this one) and I see that there is almost a universal acceptance of dyed would mulch. What is worse yet, to me, is that so many actually believe that it is a better product than pure bark mulch.

Now I'll admit that I am old school in a lot of ways. Some of that is because I'm getting older and I grew up around this stuff, but some of it is because there has been an introduction and acceptance of crap in this industry. Some of it has its place, but sometimes it just plain displaces good things. That is what I don't like. I digress, as always.

My question is whether anyone has done any test plots with different grades of real bark mulch and dyed wood and whatever it is mixed with for color hold and other qualities.

I'm also gathering from what I am reading, that either most brown mulch is dyed now, or that younger landscapers are assuming that all mulch is dyed.

Who can still get pure bark mulch easily and what kind of bark is it in your region. I gots to know.

[phototropic1]

We use pine bark mulch exclusively. It is readily available, looks great, and really improves the condition of the soil. The pine bark that we use is not dyed. I've seen both red and black hardwood and cypress mulches in my area. Both are quite hideous in my opinion!!! Also, those mulches last too long, thereby adding very little to the soil over time. Many people in the area use pinestaw. It looks quite nice, I think. My problem with it is that it does little to improve the soil, other than a slight ability to help retain moisture in the soil and cut down on a few weeds. It takes a long time to break down into the soil. And long before it does, it will take on a very dull, grey appearance. I recently saw synthetic pinestaw at a trade show. I had a hard time suppressing my laughter! Has anybody used this? I can just imagine the nightmare of trying to remove this stuff when it was no longer wanted!!

[Stonehenge]

There's one supplier here that sells the colored stuff that is, no lie, chopped pallets. Others sell a more chipped bark dyed product.

I still get and use (almost exclusively) a twice-ground hardwood bark mulch that is not dyed. It fades to grey in a matter of a year or two.

I have to wonder if it's a regional thing, because in this market it seems that the dyed stuff is used primarily by homeowners who don't want to have to topdress their mulch to keep it colorful. Most landscape firms here only use a hardwood bark mulch. Or a cypress mulch. Cocoa bean hulls are also available in smaller quantity, and the affect of the scent can be nice.

[Greensmith]

I try to sell bark mulch (or natural hardwood) but most homeowners around here want the dark stuff. The dyed mulch seems to last two years before it fades.

I did do a test plot of 3 dyed mulches and two root mulches (right dress and some brand I don't remember) the dyed mulches either floated away or blew away about 30%. The remaining mulch had all kinds of fungus on them (artillery etc).

I have had some horror stories when I do a mulch run. chewed up metal brackets. Excessive white chips from some counter top.

I was just wondering about this very topic this morning. Because I was at two of my sites from last year and the crap was covered in the remnants of what I think was artillery fungus. The siding had black spots all over it. Jeez, my insurance agent would freak if he knew how prevalent that stuff seems to be.

[PSUscaper]

Just got done with a 'beautiful' black dyed mulch job today.

My feelings have somewhat changed. I use to be all about using good mulch. But, as the years go on, it seems good mulch is hard to find, and even more importantly, the price of good mulch is getting rediculous.

We pretty much have 100's of different mulches available in a very small area. I've used pretty much all of them at this point, and besides the really cheap stuff or the really expensive stuff, I can't any of them really seem to be any different. I've had what was supposely top quality mulch look like junk after a year. I've had cedar that turns into a sheet of wood after a year. I've had hemlock mulch that ended up growing more weeds in it than there were before we mulched the job.

I have my own personnal preference. But that doesn't mean its a 'good, natural mulch'. I just like the way it looks, and the way it spreads. I like a smooth mulch surface, and products that are stringy or chunky don't work for me.

If the clients request something specific, I use it, and price accordingly. If not, I usually try to find the best bargain with the best quality...if that makes sense.

As for dyed mulch....I love it. Big money maker. We have a factory grinding those pallets up all day long spewing the stuff out cheaper than even a medium grade hardwood mulch. I can charge the same price for dyed as I would say cedar, and pay half the price. How is that bad?

And who are we to say whats ugly. How many beveled face wall blocks did we install 10 years ago? How many sq ft of 'red ocatgons' with 'gray' border walkways were put in? Now Those are ugly!

[Nathaniel Carr]

I got a bulk load of twice ground mixed mulch delivered the day of our last snowstorm (hopefully it was the last of the year). It came from a huge manufacturer that supplies the N.E. market. I was going to get hemlock but they were all out. So the guy suggested an aged bark that they have. It looks like it was blended with compost. The crew said that it spread really smooth. And it is already partly broken down.

As an aside, have you ever removed mulch from a bed and thought it was totally insane to take all that nice mulch to the dump?

So with this stuff I am thinking it will allow more water infiltration than the hemlock we usually use. Ever tried to water a garden with a hose and wand after the mulch has sat on the soil for a month? You know no home owner has ever watered correctly in that situation.

And another thing... This mulch is naturally dark even when dried out. And around here the main anxiety is with how dark the mulch is. I think it will actually add to the soil instead of starving it.

It was 26.50 a yard though. Not cheap but not 32 like hemlock is now. And those are the wholesale costs! One local garden center with a wholesale yard is selling hemlock -to me- at $48!

I have been to a lumber mill to pick up mulch before. I drove around to their tub grinder and watched the the guy load the thing up with palletts and all sorts of other garbage, and I sat there dumb struck. For the longest time I couldn't even figure out what they were going to do with that crap. Then I realized that is the first step in the dyed mulch manufacturing process. Needless to say I stay away from the dye jobs.

[4seasons]

I use nothing but natural mulchesand they are still pretty cheap in my area.
My favorite is alabama auburn-- red/auburn tinge to it(bark from oak I think) Bad thing is I have to buy a semi and I don't have room for it.
Double ground bark-- made from mostly oak but other bark is in there also.
Techna-gro----- Municipal sludge mixed with 30% bark(wheeeew it reeks), but the plants love it.
Leaf compost--- very nice way to get rid of excessive leaves and other trash. have to watch out for trash but looks nice and plants like it also.
cypress--bleeech
dyed--- ground up pallets and sticks maybe a stray dog! We have a local company making it. 1. red 2.black 3. brown 4. tan 5. blue 6. a couple other nasty colors

[trees]

We use double-hammered hardwood on almost every job. It's easy to get and relatively inexpensive. We'll also do pine straw... which looks nice and holds beautifully on slopes, in swales or anywhere else that erosion is of concern.

I HATE the colored mulches and reading about the manufacturing process in this thread makes my distaste even greater. I won't use them... sometimes it IS our job to say what is ugly. The homeowner can feel free to ruin a beautiful landscape however they want, but when I walk away from the job I want to be proud to have our name on it.

[Mark Oomkes]

Hate to admit, but we use the dark brown dyed mulch on a couple jobs. At least it isn't red. It too, is ground up pallets.

Try to steer them away from it, but I guess I'm not persuasive enough. We used red pine mulch at one of them for a couple years, but it doesn't 'bind' together and washed away on some of their slopes. Held it's color great, but had the washout issues.

Other than that, we go with double ground hardwood shredded bark on all our customers.

There are a few problems that most of those guys are not aware of, agla. The biggest is the carbon to nitrogen ratio of pallets vs. bark. IIRC, dried wood (pallets) the C\N is about 30 to 1 and hardwood bark is usually 8-10\1. So the plants will have less nitrogen available to use for growth with the ground pallets. (We apply fertilizer in an attempt to compensate for this issue.) The other potential issue is what happens to the dye that eventually works it's way into the soil\surface water\ground water? Is it biodegradeable? Does it harm the environment? No one knows that I am aware of.

Who are we to say what's ugly? I'll stand up and say it's ugly, because it is and we're supposed to be the professionals. Aren't we trying to work with nature and bring nature to our clients to a point? Aren't we trying to enhance the plants and trees and tell them what is best for their landscapes? I am. And I have yet to see anything as red as dyed mulch in nature. Or blue. Or any of the other disgusting colors out there. I'm just happy that I am at least able to use the brown at my customers locations. And I don't even like that.

But I'm probably a mulch snob as well as a plant snob.

[NCSULandscaper]

we use nothing but triple shredded hardwood mulch thats mostly oak bark aged to a dark brown color..........but we can also get the same mulch that is dyed(not from ground pallets)

We get the triple shredded mulch for $11/yrd

[bcx400]

I'm with phototropic- shredded pine bark is in a class by itself. Looks great, conditions the soil, and no fungus. We get ours bagged from Agway, $5 for a 3cu ft bag. Almost no wood content whatsoever.

Hardwood 'bark' mulch is pretty much non-existent around here. Anyone grinding mulch is passing logs and branches through their tub grinders to make a mulch that is 95% wood. Stack the mulch, add urea, irrigate, and 3 months later every landscaper is buying back the debris they paid to dump at the mulch yard.

There use to be a time when mulch processors were buying bark from saw mills to grind. Now- there isn't enough bark to supply all the grinders, so everyone has switched to wood mulch- artillery fungus mulch.

The dyed-mulch is a by-product of the home building industry. Scrap lumber from trusses and factory-made 2 x 4 walls goes to the mulch yard. It supposedly holds the dye better. Yes, and pallets.

Someone will come up with another form of mulch in a few years that will be all the rage... but I'll take Pine bark.

[johnkeegan]

We always used the doubled ground, aged bark mulch ("Midnight Fines") for years but we switched this year to a dark brown dyed mulch ("Saddle Brown") from the same supplier. The natural looked better and aged more naturally (in my opinion) but when it was wet it got quite heavy and would clog up the bark blower...which sucks. The cost was about the same ($22/yd. w/tax, delivered). The customers all think it's naturally dark brown and, for myself... I'm over it. This new stuff is much easier to work with.

[D. Adams]

in my area of Nh it seems that hemlock bark is the desired naturall bark mulch but there is a lot of died pine and hardwood mulches mostly died red . and it seems as though when i try to get a good hemlock or pin mulch there always seems to be hard wood chips in it wich turn grey quickly and the died stuf seems to fad after a season I like the so called true hemlock bark mulch becouse it holds its true dark color as it breaks down butt its getting harder to find and suppliers or makers seem to mix other woods with it and try to claim it as true hemlock so its becoming dificult

[mrusk]

I use alot of brown died mulch. Its cheap, easy to spread, and keeps its color all season!!!

Regular bark mulch looses its color half way through the season. The brown died looks good all season.


The brown died my supplier has looks good. I am sure other parts of the country have brown died mulch that looks horrible and unnatural.

[Stonehenge]

If it's the same stuff as in your pic posted in another thread, it looks unnatural to me. Looks manufactured. Plus, often times that "mulch" is actually shredded pallets. Great for the plants.