Is one color of mulch better than another?

I am thinking that the gold color would look the best with my flowers this year.

I try to reserch your question earlier this year when trying to decide what to buy and came up with nothing. They say the dyed mulches have no affect on the plants.
I do not know. Something made my plants look bad, I don't know if it was the late move, the dyed mulch or the preen I used this spring.
I decide to get red mulch, on a huge bed because it was much cheaper by the truckload. I don't like it , I thought it looked gaudy, not natural. That is just my opinion on red. Gold sounds kinda purdy.

I researched it on the Internet but couldn't find any pros and cons about colors also. lol However, one thing I found out at the garden center the other day, Preen or similar additives will also kill off flower seeds. And I didn't want that for sure. My neighbor gave me some black mulch and I put out half that bag. But I don't like it so much with the colors of flowers I have this year. I thought the gold seemed like it would have more contrast and be kinda purdy also! Lol Thanks!

Preen prevents seed germination. Weed seeds or any others.

I use the black dyed just because i like the contrast of the flowers against it ^_^

i havent found any difference in the color of mulches. i have used tan and red and non colored and no difference in the plants. the red will fade with age and look browish after awhile. also found the red runs too when wet. i rather use pine straw but the mulch comes in handy too.

My neighbor has red mulch. It really does look a bit garish and fake because their flowers aren’t very full. I bought the gold last night and put it down today. It is not a yellow gold exactly. I would call it more of a yellowish tan. The bag said something about the color coming off if you leave it on the sidewalk, maybe if it is wet. I think it looks better than the black with my flowers. It has many fine pieces in it than black and it is much easier to lay down. That for sure is a plus with me. I am not sure what cypress is like, but it could be that. The bag was beside the cypress. The bag didn’t say though.

By the way Crashbandiscoot, I think Schuler’s Bakery has the very best doughnuts! The twisted ones with chocolate and the long ones with chocolate and cream filling are my very favorites. They are always so fresh and no one makes them like they do!

LOL that is funny, my daughter works at Schulers! Venice, she bring me the chocolate cream filled all the time, and chocolate chip cookies when they are fresh. I am gonna miss it, she will be leaving soon.
You will have to show us a pic of your mulch, please. :~)

one thing i did read somewhere is that rubber mulch (made from recycled tires) contains lead and other contaminates and eventually leaches into the soil with negative effects on plants.

i found the red very garish also and switched to plain pine bark. i would never use cypress, as it is a non-renewable resource and the cypress forests are being laid barren around the world for this foolish fancy of ours.

Trackin - I can't stand that rubber mulch crap. When I moved into my house, one of the prior owners had used rubber mulch all over the property. I was digging up along the house to plant, and found it even layers under the soil. It doesn't break-down and provide nutrients for the soil like wood-mulch does. It even killed the grass in patches and prevented it from growing because it was saturated just below the surface all over the yard. It took months of scouring my lawn to get most of it out. I wouldn't recommend that crap to anybody, and agree with you on the contaminates - first-hand experience with grass-killing properties!

but grantman, tell me how you REALLY feel! LOL

Hahaha sorry for the tyrade - you get the picture! I'll go take my meds now...LOL!

lol

Mulch already has the color that nature gave it. Who would want to tart it up with artificial colors? PLEASE!

i know one thing, if i put down black mulch, my plants would cook!

Isn't THAT the truth! Maybe in the Arctic circle.....All mulch is ugly- it covers up the earth- although it does without doubt hold in moisture and keep weeds from proliferating. Ugliness is relative though- the colored ones that look like dyed ground-up tires are unspeakably horrible looking- shredded anything, such as cyprus, is atrocious; unmulched pine needles within sight of the public should be against the law, and large chunks of any bark are coarse and gauche. The least visually objectionable is finely ground bark mulch. After the sun does its bleaching in a few months, it is tolerable. I won't even mention HAY.

DON'T USE ROCKS! When I moved in the house, the perimeter was surrounded with a strip of rock about 2 feet wide. The rock was maybe 3" deep and laid over a layer of plastic. Well don't even try to dig because your shovel won't go anywhere with that rock there. Try to pull the plastic up, it is so old it just breaks off. A nightmare! pay a kid $100 to dig it all up some weekend!

don't get me started on plastic......
down in the keys, everyone puts down black plastic and then rock....it's the "normal" way to do it down there. unfortunately most "landscapers", and i use that term loosely, used thick, in-permeable plastic and trees, huge and totally established for generations, began dying. the plastic had been laid right up to the trunk in most cases. it was a very slow death, but death nonetheless. it also made them more vulnerable to hurricane force winds.

i think rock has its place in certain instances and i do use pea gravel to top off my pots. i also use it around certain roses, on top of pine bark mulch. i've found that it prohibits blackspot and other diseases to varying degrees.

the rock in the keys was snow white and totally hideous. i have rock down in my garden pathways and the garden sprinklers come straight from the well, before it goes through the de-ironizing system. eventually the already natural rock color takes on a subtle rusty color which looks great, imho.

i'm also a big fan of groundcovers for mulch, although it's hard to find ones that don't totally take over and start climbing into other plants. i recently researched a Lantana 'Samantha', a really nicely variegated leaf, lemon and lime color. it was supposed to stay small and be a fairly slow grower....not in florida. arghhhh. i spend more time than i care to think about yanking plants! lol

I love you , tracks!

hey crash! long time no see! i love ya too!!!

Glad to hear all your opinions on mulch!!!

Crash -- I can't believe you get home delivery on Schuler's doughnuts! You are so lucky.

Ok, since I started this I think it is time to give you a look at my mulch!

The mulch I have is made by Mulch Manufacturer in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. I looked at their site and sent them email asking what type of wood is in Golden Rose, the type I have. Here is the info I found.

(email) “The Golden Rose is a mixture of soft woods and hardwoods. It does not contain cypress. The texture of cypress is more dense. It will have larger pieces of wood than the Golden.” (site) “Unlike other mulches that compact and smother plant roots from water and nutrients, Softscape™ allows water and air to penetrate the soil.”

I would not on purpose get cypress mulch, certainly no synthetic mulch, and absolutely no rocks!

My flowers are a bit puny this year because we had damaging hail a couple of months ago and apartment landscapers sprayed weed killer too close to my flowers and seedlings.

This is a close up of my mulch.

This is what my flowers looked like after the hail! : ~ (

oh good! i was hoping it would look like that. very natural and fine textured, i love it and so will your plants.

Hey thanks! I was having second thoughts after reading what everyone had to say. But since I don't have many blooming flowers, I think the green plants and purple sweet potato vine look good with the contrast. Everything just seemed so dark with the black.

ya know, every once in a while i think that blooms are over-rated. i love to see the hundreds of different shades of green and then the purple/red foliage and golds...on and on. then there is texture! i love that lush feel of healthy foliage.

here is a spot to the right of my front door. i think it's as pretty as any flower i have in the garden.

I love your mulch venice!! That bed is really pretty.
Love the pic tracks, that is pretty too. That is a nice plant there the light green succulent looking one, what is it?

Crash, you mean the little moss roses? I think those are the ones you mean. I received those starts from someone a couple of weeks ago. The better looking ones are out of site. Also, I potted some earlier.

Wow those are nice ! I could never get them to look like that in a pot. You have the touch1

Thanks!

I am such a seed saver. I save those seeds and from all other flowers I have. I dry them, put them in a sealed container, and in the fridge until spring. I gave hundreds of packages away this year.

My black doesnt cook my plants although it does fade a little.
Until you try... ^_^

I enjoyed reading through this thread. Very interesting. Seems everyone has their likes and dislikes. A common thought seems to on the colored mulch. Liked all the reasons you gave. I don't care for them either. One thing wasn't mentioned about the cypress mulch is it makes a mat that water runs off of. Instead of holding in moisture, I think it holds it out. What one thinks is ugly others might like. Me, I don't think mulch is ugly. I use pine bark compost for mulch. I have somebeds I can hardly get any under the flowers because of the types they are. Where I can mulch about 2 inchs. I use it to define the edges of the beds and also to help hold the grass back. Works for me.

Venice62, I moved lst year, had a whole shoe box filled with mainly annual flower seed, ornamental peppers ect. well , i have never found that box, i think it was thrown away.
If you have an abundance of seed would you keep me in mind please.

barhea7. i have used the black, I loved it, believe it was my favorite.
Venice is right tho, that color just made her bed pop, the plants look beautiful, esp the blackie, sweet potato vine.
Like Jim said, to each their own. I have had 2 comments on my red mulch, one loved it one really hated it so......

Crash, sorry you lost all of your seeds!

I just have flower seeds.

If I send you a D-mail, could you send me your email address? Then I will put it with my saved files and if it is possible I will send you an email in the spring or whenever about the seeds if you are interested in just flowers.

Crash, do you have a photo of the red mulch you used?

Sure thing venice!! yes i just do flowers with the exception of some maters and cukes, onion, that is about it. No one but me likes the fresh veggies, it's a shame too, they just don't know what they are missing.

Ok better pic of the mulch, I had full bed shots but, where'd they go? lol

I like that first day lily crash. Beautiful. I have one just like the second. Found a picture of it on some thread for a guy in England. Seems it is a real old one. Wish I had wrote the name down.

That is Frans Hals.That first one is a no id that grew up in the middle of a daylily, I have had for 3 years! might have been a seed.

You sure were lucky about growing that first one. They are beautiful!

Can't see very much of your red mulch in the photos. But looks ok from what I see.