mulch ideas

greetings...

how do you all feel about rubber mulch? i was going to use it in my front yard landscaping (which is sloped), around my hydrandea, azaleas, garbenia, ground cover, and generally covering the yard until i put in more pachysandra. i've read some horrible sounding things about what rubber mulch could potentially do to plants, ground water and the general air quality. but i like the benefits as well, especially that one about it supposedly lasting for years!! has anyone used it? what do you think--should i use it, should i stick to my pinestraw, or get another type of mulch.

thanks!!

I would agree with all the bad reports re Rubber mulches, though to be fair, I don't know anyone who uses it, I now some type of rubber /plastic is used in play areas, but never looked into what type or where this rubber comes from.
your right, there is a good number of mulches available now, wood chippings (depending on what wood is used) straw, compost, especially home made stuff that feeds and helps break up soil or helps hold moisture, then there is Manures IF you can get hold of enough, to my mind liquid gold, but manures need to be well rotted down if being placed on top of soil, also you can lay your grass clippings around the plants to help save moisture loss but, don't put ANY mulch right up against the stems /bark of tree's etc or it can cause harm /rot, go search for whatever is easiest to get plenty local, but I would research the rubber mulch more as these type of things can cause untold damage to the environment and wild life, not always seen till a few years later, who would want to poison the planet if you could avoid it, the rubber may be fine, just make sure your happy with what your doing with it, Good luck, WeeNel.

I've read both the positive and the negative about it but have to say I don't know any homeowners that use it simply because the cost is so prohibitive. The only places that use it here are schools for the playground.

With the possible bad stuff you've heard on the rubber, personally I wouldn't take the chance on using it. But even if you decide that there's no good solid data behind those reported issues, rubber doesn't decompose over time and enrich your soil the way natural mulches will so I'd stick with a natural mulch.

I haven't done any research but I assume that is primarily ground tires. I'd think it'd be like mulching with small gravel or crushed stone. By that I can see it getting mixed into the soil and being very difficult to get rid off.

Perhaps the reason we cant find gardeners who have used rubber is because Gardeners love anything that composts down to feed or improve their soil, so that alone would be a no, no for me.
The stuff we see in playgrounds and soft play area's I am now reliably told is a suspected cause of some breathing problems with kids, so assuming this rubber mulch that was used has had stringent tests done on it, yet several years down the line, some difficulties are (maybe) showing up, worries me and others no end.
Rubber is a natural material from the rubber tree's, it's what is added to this to make the type of goods we want that causes the problem, so IF you can, I would find something else, can you imagine the cost if, in a few years time you had to get rid, you cant just dump it locally, you'd require specialist advice to remove it.
I recently looked at broken glass bottles as a mulch, coloured bottles, it was put into a huge machine, like a tumble drier, so all the sharp corners were removed, I have to admit, it looked pretty good, cost wise I have no idea though.
Good luck anyway. WeeNel.

Pine straw is so aesthetically pleasing. Do you grow your own? Are you brazen enough to collect it from neighbors? I think it does a great job of retaining moisture, but nothing but hoeing seems to hinder the growth of weeds.

Love pine straw. I used to buy it in bales, but the garden center isn't offering it anymore. The bluebirds like to make their nests from pine straw. It looks so nice around the plants and gives my alkaline soil some acid.
I have used pine needles from friends, but it was full of weed seeds. Weeds I never had before I have now from the friend's pine needles.

NUTS!