Bark Mulch - Landscape Cover:

Nothing helps your landscaping stand our more than some ground cover. I find that putting bark mulch, also called bark dust, in and around my flower beds, lawn, shrubs, and trees really helps define the yard and it has other benefits as well. When I grew up we had almost 1/2 an acre and my parents were always weeding the gardens. Looking back we should have just put down some bark mulch and that would have helped immensely. I live in the Pacific Northwest where rain and moisture are 2 catalysts for things likes weeds in my yard so purchasing bark mulch once every few years to lay throughout the yard makes sense. I usually go with the medium fresh hemlock, but there are literally dozens of options with wood chips or even river rock. Hemlock bark mulch not only smells good but it looks especially nice around colorful flowers and green lawns. Now our landscaped yard looks great and the weeds are kept to a minimum with the few inches of ground cover we put down.

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My big mistake when buying the bark mulch is that I bought the smaller packages from a nursery and ended up with something like 40 bags when all was said and done. I must have spent close to $160. You are much better off buying in bulk whenever possible, I know a few neighbors that do bark mulch in their yards and we share a larger load that is delivered to my driveway. Benefits of bark mulch - Your garden and yard will benefit with the proper use of bark mulch. First, don't pile on the mulch around a tree or shrubs base. If you use too much bark mulch at the base of a tree the potential for problems arises with too much moisture being trapped and insects or disease can be an issue. Try to apply the bark mulch evenly and no more than 3 to 5 inches thick. Leave at least a few inches of space at the base of a tree that has no bark mulch. Some people think that the thicker the better in terms of blocking out weeds and keeping in moisture, but that is not the case. I usually try to keep my bark mulch depths to about 2 inches - 3 at most. This allows the water from our irrigation system to seep down to the roots and the mulch will still prevent weeds from popping up. Try to put down the bark mulch in Spring, before the main growing season and right before the weeds start sprouting. Finely textured mulch is preferred to the coarse varieties. You want it to pack down nicely and keep seeds and sunlight out to stop weeds from even thinking about coming up. Be prepared to move the bark mulch all over your yard whether you have a large load delivered by dump truck or if you only buy a few bags of it. I typically use my wheelbarrow to transfer the mulch from our driveway around the yard. The pile looks huge when it gets delivered but after about 40 wheelbarrows full we are done with the project. Compliments always come in from neighbors after our front yard has been done with bark mulch. Everything stands out and the colors have a nice contrast with the light brown hemlock. If you want tips on when and how to put down bark mulch, we found that Home Depot and Lowes offer weekend meetings on ground cover for your yard.

Bark Mulch Prices:

Ok, just how much is bark mulch? In a bag that is about 1 square foot, the cost is roughly $4 to $5. Sometimes a sale might save you a buck or $2 if you buy more than a certain amount. As I mentioned earlier I made the mistake of buying individual bags when I first did our yard a few years back. The cost was ridiculous versus buying in bulk and having it delivered. The cost has really been cut down by going in with a few neighbors and having 1 large load delivered for a few houses. We found a pretty good pricing guideline for pickup prices versus delivery on all sorts of bark mulch products HERE. An example on pricing for medium fresh hemlock is as follows - 4 yards delivered is roughly $175 and if you pick it up yourself it's about $120. So doing the math you can see that delivery adds about $55 to an order that size. Another option is to have a big truck come right to your house and the guys use a hose to blow the bark dust around your yard. The process is actually efficient and doesn't take very long to do an entire yard. The down side is that you will pay more for this service since it's so convenient. I prefer the delivered bark mulch compared to the finer bark dust that the bark blowing trucks use. Look into it and see the difference before you decide. Also, make sure you understand the amount of bark mulch that will be delivered to your house as many companies use the term 1 Unit, 2 Units, 4 Units, etc. One year we had a miscommunication and the truck dumped something like 160 wheelbarrows full and they had to scoop up the excess because it was their fault. I always discuss the delivery in terms of wheelbarrows full to get the best idea of what I need.

Bark Mulch Calculator:

How much bark mulch do you need? The first time I ordered mulch for my yard I had no idea how to calculate the amount I would need. I actually bought dozens of bags instead of doing a bulk delivery. We found a bark mulch calculator online that should help you figure out just how much you need. You can find the Coverage Calculator HERE. Just plug in your #'s - the width in feet, length in feet, and depth in inches and the calculator will spit out how many cubic yards are required to do your project.

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