Ah, it’s spring (kind of, but that’s Ohio for you), and it’s time to have the “discussion”. You know the one I mean. It can be a difficult topic, but it inevitably comes up and you can’t put it off forever. Mulch: what kind, how much, and when?
When to mulch?
Deciding when to mulch is part pragmatic concerns and personal preference. Things to consider when deciding when to mulch:
Most people find it easier to plant and then mulch. While it’s certainly possible to mulch and then plant, it creates a scenario where the utmost care must be taken to try to prevent the surrounding mulch from being covered with dirt.
If you’re not going to be planting anything new (or much of anything), then go for it.
What Kind of mulch to use?
We carry three types of mulch: Compost, Dyed Wood Chip Mulch, and Hardwood Bark Mulch. We also carry a Playground Mulch, which is an undyed wood chip mulch.
Our Nature’s Treasure is a Compost mulch consisting of composted green and woody material: leaves, branches, grass, etc. It’s designed to be either a soil additive or a very fine mulch.
Our Organic Brown is also a compost-based mulch. It is a mixture of bark and Nature`s Treasure, which is double processed to a consistent texture. This mulch is very dark in color and is a good amendment to your soil as it breaks down. Not dyed.
Our Dyed Wood Chip are the TimberRidge Brown and the TimberRidge Black. They are wood chip mulches, made from clean timber (this material does NOT come from home demos or remodeling, which often contains nails and other contaminants). These mulches take a long time to decompose, so after a couple of applications, you should remove the old mulch before putting down a new layer.
Our Hardwood Bark Mulches come in both dyed and undyed varieties. Undyed hardwood bark mulches are: Double Shred, Screened Double Shred, and Triple Shred. They are all a natural dark brown in color and once spread, the top layer will be lightened by the sun, but underneath continues to darken, so when it is periodically roughed up, it will look dark and fresh again. The dyed bark mulches are: Triple Black and Triple Brown. These are triple shred hardwood bark mulches that have been dyed with a vegetable based dye. The mulches naturally decompose, adding their organic matter to the soil.
(See all of our mulches on our mulch page)
How much?
Thankfully, the formula for figuring out how many cubic yards you need to cover your area isn’t difficult.
Length (in feet) x Width (in feet) ÷ 12 x Depth (in inches) ÷ 27 = Cubic Yards
To figure up multiple areas, find the square footage of each area, add those together and continue with the rest of the equation:
12’ x 8’ = 96 sq ft
4’ x 7’ = 28 sq ft
9’ x 10’ = 90 sq ft
5’ x 20’ = 100 sq ft
These areas have a combined square footage of 314; so now we start the rest of the formula with dividing by 12:
314 ÷ 12 x 2” (depth in inches) ÷ 27 = 1.93 cubic yards
So for these areas, at a depth of 2”, I’d need 2 cubic yards.
This formula works the same for any material (mulch, topsoil, gravel, sand).
Note: If you have multiple areas, you cannot add all the lengths and all the widths together. That will give you wonky numbers.
