What Is Mulch and Why Use It in Landscaping?
Gorgeous raised landscaping beds, stone retaining walls, and dark mulch between the landscaping shrubs.
When it comes to having a good-looking yard, most people know they want to have flowerbeds, shrubbery, and colorful gardens. An oft-overlooked component of landscaping in this equation is humble mulch. Although it may not be as glamorous as flowers or hardscaping, mulch makes a huge visual impact. And it has some very practical benefits, as well.
In this post, we’ll tackle all your burning questions about mulch like:
What is mulch?
What is mulch used for?
Benefits of mulch
Does mulch have any disadvantages?
When is the best time to put down mulch?
When should you not mulch?
What should I do before mulching?
How deep should mulch be?
Does mulch attract termites?
What is a lawnmower mulcher?
How much does mulch cost?
Looking for landscaping and mulching services in Columbia, SC?
Whether you need mulch delivery and installation, mulching services, landscaping or other yard work services in the Lexington or Columbia, SC area, at Boots On Enterprises, we can help.
We handle all kinds of landscaping needs, tree services, lawn treatments, tree treatments, lawn care, and more.
Contact us today for a FREE estimate.
And please note, we are happy to do next-day or same-week jobs.
Phone: 803-521-4978
Email: bootsonenterprises@gmail.com
Landscaping shrubs being planted surrounded by dark brown mulch and a shovel and rake beside a sidewalk.
What is mulch?
A good mulch definition is:
Mulch is any substance or material used to cover the soil's surface in landscaping.
What is mulch made of?
There are many types of mulch to choose from. The most popular types of mulch are:
Organic mulch — small wood pieces, pine needles, shredded grass or leaves, or straw.
Inorganic mulch - plastic, landscaping fabric, rubber, or rock.
What is mulching?
Mulching is the process of cutting up organic matter to spread as mulch over the yard to help replenish the soil with nutrients, improve soil quality, and protect your soil and plants. This helps your grass and landscaping plants be more healthy and vibrant and reduces weed growth.
A tree trunk base surrounded by brown mulch in a lush, green yard.
What is mulch used for?
The purpose of mulch is to protect the soil and encourage healthy plant growth. It acts as insulation and a barrier keeping good things in and bad things out. It also looks amazing in your landscaping beds.
Benefits of mulch
Like anything else, mulch has advantages and disadvantages. We find that the benefits dramatically outweigh the detrimental effects. Especially if you use a professional mulch service and know how to avoid any pitfalls.
Let’s take a look at the biggest mulch pros and cons.
7 advantages of mulch include:
Holds moisture to prevent evaporation.
Protects landscaping plants from weed growth.
Boosts curb appeal.
Insulates plants from temperature changes.
Adds nutrients to the soil (organic mulch).
Reduces damage from the heat of the sun.
Prevents soil from eroding.
Organic mulch doesn’t have to be reapplied.
Does mulch have any disadvantages?
5 disadvantages of mulch include:
Too much can prevent air from getting to plants.
Can allow pests to hide if you’re not proactive.
Could allow too much heat to be trapped around plants.
If applied at the wrong time, it could hurt your plants.
Organic mulch needs to be reapplied each year.
When mulch is applied properly, used at the right time, and well-cared for, it’s easy to keep the negatives to a minimum so you and your yard can enjoy all the great effects of mulch.
A man’s hands with garden gloves, installing brown bark mulch in front of a hosta plant in a garden.
When is the best time to put down mulch?
When you should install mulch depends on the climate of your area and the purposes you have for your mulch.
Mid-late spring — vegetable and flower gardens
It’s best to install mulch in the mid-late spring. If you lay it down too early, the mulch might keep the soil from getting warmer when it should, holding cold air in the ground and repelling heat. If the soil is cold and wet, this can also slow the germination of seeds and contribute to rotting of seeds and young plants instead of nurturing them.
And if you add it too late, you won’t get the benefits mulch can provide.
Mulch is best added when the weather has gotten relatively warm and you aren’t expecting more frosts.
Late fall — to insulate against cold weather
If you want to protect plants through the cold winter, you may want to apply mulch when temperatures have gotten consistently colder in late fall.
When should you not mulch?
You may wonder if it’s okay to mulch in the fall?
If you apply the mulch too early in the fall, rodents might find your mulch to be a wonderful place to hibernate over the winter where it is nice and warm. That is probably not what you want for your yard.
Winter mulch should be loose material that can act like fluffy insulation with plenty of pockets of air like straw, hay, or pine straw. It helps to reduce the severity of freeze/thaw cycles which helps keep roots firmly intact.
A woman’s hands with red garden gloves using a tool to remove a weed from the soil in a flower bed.
What should I do before mulching?
When thinking about how to prepare your mulch beds, it’s important to do a little work so that your mulch investment will give you the most bang for your buck.
You’ll want to remove weeds ahead of time (two weeks, ideally, if you use a chemical herbicide). Rake the bed to remove debris and then till the soil to aerate it then smooth it out with your rake. Once that is done, adding a pre-emergent herbicide can help to prevent more weeds from growing.
It’s also important to edge your landscaping bed to make it look its best.
How deep should mulch be?
If mulch is too deep, young seedlings might not be able to work their way through it to the surface. Once plants are more established, you can add more mulch to fill out your landscaping look.
Aim for about a 2- to 4-inch layer of mulch that is evenly spread.
A termite on decaying wood enjoying a feast.
Does mulch attract termites?
If you are wondering, “Does mulch attract bugs?” The truth is that termites do love wood. And some types of mulch are made from shredded or chipped wood or bark. And moist wood is especially appealing to termites.
If you are concerned about termites finding your landscape mulch irresistible, you may want to avoid softwood mulch.
However, wood mulch doesn’t have to be a termite magnet. There are, thankfully, termite-resistant mulch options.
The best termite-resistant mulch
Certain types of wood mulch don’t attract termites like…
Melaleuca mulch
Cedar mulch
Cypress heartwood mulch
Licorice root mulch
And these types of mulch also do not attract termites
Pine straw
Coconut husk
Any kind of inorganic mulch like plastic, rubber, or rocks
You can also repel termites from your mulch by using landscape cloth and investing in normal termite treatments for your home. It’s also a good idea to keep wood chip mulch 6-8 inches away from your home’s foundation.
And, a handy reminder, stack firewood far from your home. Be sure, also, to clean up any fallen or rotting limbs or trees in your yard.
For more termite-repelling tips, check out this post.
A lawn mower mulching leaves in a green yard with newly cut grass.
What is a lawnmower mulcher?
What is a mulching lawnmower? It is a mower that shreds up the grass and leaves in your yard into tiny pieces and leaves it on the surface of the yard. The shredded organic material then acts as a natural mulch, adding nutrients back to your lawn. This means you need fewer fertilizer treatments for your grass.
It’s a way to “recycle” your grass clippings or do leaf mulching to benefit your yard with materials you already have on hand. And who doesn’t enjoy not having to manually rake the entire yard? That’s a big plus in our book.
In addition to the benefits of acting as natural mulch, mulching mowers don’t contribute to thatch buildup. This is a good thing. Too much thatch (layers of leaves, dead grass, and other debris between the grass and soil) harms your lawn.
Another great thing about keeping your leaf or grass clippings for yourself? Even if you don’t want to spread them on your lawn, you can bag the clippings and use them for your compost pile.
If you don’t want to buy your own mulching lawn mower, not a problem. You can always ask a lawn service company near you to do the job for you.
Many times you can hire mulch companies near you to do mulching mowing for your yard to shred up the grass and leaves in the fall, creating organic mulch for your yard.
Large piles of bulk mulch at a landscaping company ready for sale.
How much does mulch cost?
How much is mulch? It depends on what kind of mulch you want to use, how much you need, and whether you decide to have mulch installation done professionally or go the DIY mulch route.
According to homeguide.com, average mulch projects tend to cost an average nationally of $175 with a range of $140-290. That is similar to the price range to expect for mulch in South Carolina.
Buying mulch in bags is the most expensive way. You’ll find it at Lowe’s or Home Depot for about $4 per bag, on average but it tends to run from $2 to $8 or more per bag. If you get it in bulk, it’s usually a lot less expensive per cubic yard. Of course, you’ll also pay more to have it delivered than if you pick it up yourself.
Like most things, the more you buy, the cheaper it is per unit of material.
Economy mulch is the cheapest kind of mulch. It runs $15-$30 per cubic yard. If you have your own pickup truck, you may be able to haul about 3 cubic yards yourself.
More expensive mulch like hardwood or colored mulch is $30-$40 per cubic yard. But for the fanciest mulch, you can expect to pay $75 to $250 per cubic yard delivered.
And if you want delivery and installation, expect to pay about $35-$110 per cubic yard. Although, costs can be higher for very expensive mulch, extremely fancy installation requests, or if access to the area is difficult. Also, costs are different in different areas of the country.
Check with your local mulch service company to get an exact quote for your project with the type of mulch you desire to use.
A large area of newly installed mulch under trees near an apartment complex.
Mulch installation near you in Columbia, SC
At Boots On Enterprises, we provide mulch services in the Columbia, SC area — including Lexington and Richland counties. We do residential and commercial landscaping services, mulching, tree services, and more.
Why not let us deliver and install mulch for you? Save your precious time for doing the things you really want to do and let us do all the hard work. Then you get to enjoy the beautiful, fresh look of mulch and your plants will thank you by being more healthy and vibrant with all that tender loving care. But you won’t have to lift a rake or shovel, yourself.
Not sure what mulch is best for your yard? We’d be glad to discuss the best options for your landscaping goals and dreams.
Contact us today for a FREE estimate. Next-day service or same-week service is available.
Phone: 803-521-4978
Email: bootsonenterprises@gmail.com
