Best Mulch for Ornamental Gardens ♨️🌈🌎 Learn to mulch correctly and grow better plants

My go-to mulch for ornamental gardens and some secrets on how I use it to make gardening easier.
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Best Mulch for Ornamental Gardens ♨️🌈🌎 Learn to mulch correctly and grow better plants
mulch options include wood chips, compost, landscape fabric, stones, bark chunks, straw, hay, arborist wood chips
List of Credits:
Images:
All slides and videos belong to GardenFundamentals.com or are public domain images, except for the following:
stone mulch by Sten Porse:commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

[@jennifersauer3257]

One mulch not mentioned is simply fully planting your beds. If the ground is completely covered in plant material, it will out compete weeds. Some other mulch may be necessary for a while until ground covers and such fill in, but eventually you won’t need very much. ☺️

[@blackburned]

Great point! And it looks beautiful too all filled in, plus provides more to pollinators and birds

[@Maczust63]

I'm an arborist and i have to say when someone wants the wood chips its a big win for us. One we need a place to dump quick and dont want the fees. Two and being completely honest I'm happy it gets used to improve someone's garden. arborists harp on the benefits of mulch in your garden. Arborist chips also can have living twigs and leaves which is a big bonus for a faster decomposing mulch and improved soil life.

[@B-VinOfficial]

Dude just vibing, totally unbothered lol

[@cindyhodgdon5439]

You are 100% right about everything you say. I have dealt with others putting the weed barrier and everything growing on top of it and oh what a mess. And then you see some of it blowing in the wind when the mulch blows off. And what a mess to get it pulled up! I love the big chips like you were talking about here.

[@spd1214]

You just saved me from spending $70 on weed fabric. I'll take your advice and use wood chips instead. Thanks for the great info. Much appreciated!

[@jerrywhidby.]

We save our plastic pots that come from the nursery. We use them to cover the small plants when applying mulch. Saves a lot of time.

[@jessicagreen1876]

Omg. You are my kind of gardener! As an experienced gardener, I do all the things you advocate. It's wonderful having them said back to me. Lol. Great videos!!!

[@EJBD-pups]

I mainly use oak leaves because we get a ton and the beds fill up with them anyway. I like wood chip, have a chipper, on my veg garden paths. The rest of the leaves are made into leaf mold or used as a carbon source in my regular composter.

[@tmckenmd2506]

I appreciate including how using local generated, natural, degradation product is better for environment.

[@laurienash7474]

Just got a wood chipper to clean up all the branches from the Juniper and Cedar trees. Took me two days to do 1/2 the pile. Yup it is all going in my for either walkways or weed barriers. The chicken coop also gets some too. Everyone should have a wood chipper!

[@Ruth1803ZigZag]

Always appreciate you knowledge. Thank you.

[@Angie-ci1lp]

Thank you!

[@julianne24601]

I've learner a lot from this! Thank you for explaining!

[@tedtolentino4955]

Excellent video and explanation on the uses of mulch. Thank you.

[@Frequentfinder]

Great video! Thanks!

[@racebiketuner]

Great stuff. Thanks.

[@judymckerrow6720]

Thank you 🌸💚🙃

[@janicejurgensen2122]

Awesome! I was afraid to watch this video because I immediately knew that you know your stuff! But, I’m very happy to say that I have been mulching for 3 years the way you recommended is best! Free, from my trees and larger chunks before my seedlings go in or around them very early!! Thank you for your knowledge! I look forward to learning more from you!!

[@amritagill1680]

Glad I discovered your channel. Out here in Manitoba trying to learn how to garden ❤

[@kbkb117]

Thank you so much for this video! I just found a local wood chip "sharing" network in my area. We just planted some cardinal flowers and swamp rose mallow and milkweed in front of our townhouse downspout. And of course it didn't rain for a week and 90+ degree temp. Guess that's what happens when you plant mid summer haha. Anyways thanks for the advice. ☺️ Edit: zone 5, illinois... if anyone is curious

[@SoliDeoGloria1952]

Most helpful. I'll be removing the weed barrier fabric after one year...terrible nut grass problem that was not addressed before new plantings. Searching for arborist mulch !

[@koroba01]

I completely agree and have gone through all these steps. I am an experienced home gardener and had recently moved to Florida (which presents a different challenge, growing on soil that is almost pure sand). Anyway I build a 4 feet x 32 feet raised bed (10”) so my first step was using a weed barrier fabric. Despite clearing grass roots out first within 3 weeks I had grass coming in a number of locations, increasing week by week. So when the first plants finished up I bit the bullet and moved the soil aside and removed the weed fabric, and replaced it with large sheets of double wall cardboard (a trick we heard from a long time resident). The next crop was practically weed and grass free, and we recognized the benefit of the cardboard decomposing. We mulch on top with chopped hay packaged for this purpose.

[@charliezicolillo]

Leaf mulch is great for vegetable gardens.I make my own it is FREE.

[@FusingShop]

Great video my friend! My teenage son and I are setting up a pond in our backyard, and I was just about to buy the landscape fabric, and when I was researching it, boom! Your video showed up. Really great tips in this video. Thanks so much for taking your time to make it and help all of us noobs. Going to watch your next video now lol. All the best!! Sim

[@ppetal1]

Thanks. For fruit trees and berry bushes wood chip sounds good.

[@lorrainedurgee1761]

Thank you - I’m from Colorado & I use wood chips - I asked u what mulch to use for flowers &now I’m watching this video .. march 2024 .

[@debbiemaas5019]

I have lots of pine trees so I use pine needles for mulch. They decompose and must be added to each year but hey they are free.

[@marciagallardo3437]

Im redoing my front garden, I’m glad i found your channel. I have been contemplating whether to use garden fabric or mulch. Because we live in Alberta, there is so much clay, i will get sand and mix it with top soul but, well use clean clay as well not too much. I do have mulch in my existing garden, here is my question, do i have to remove all the mulch and fabric? Or could i clean it up and put some of it in the new garden with soil and mix it. I think i will not use fabric and go with mulch. I also have hay. Could i put hay and then mulch on top? Thank you.

[@hectorrodriguez2686]

I use leaf much broken up with a lawnmower in layers of 3 to 6 inches. It is very effective cutting down weed growth to very little.

[@honest1966]

I you give an example because I am about to start my gardening soon! I appreciate it.

[@kathystewart6091]

Zone 8a. Certain Mulch can invite termites. Sandy soil. High humidity.

[@kathrynmettelka7216]

Useful as always. I don't know how to get wood chips. The arborists in our area take everything out to a yard that makes its own mulch and compost. The piles of soil look like mountains. Hugh operation. They produce high quality sifted compost.

[@mildredthill2868]

I would advertise through your Facebook groups that you are looking for wood chips and ask your friends to talk to you before they have their trees cut or trimmed. Then if they have the right kind of tree,ask them to ask the tree service to leave the wood chips behind. Then be sure to clean up as well as the tree service would have or better, and consider a six pack or pie as a thank you.

[@wade8418]

What do yout think about Pine needles. Im a parttime lawn Maintenace provider. Today i was working a lawn customer had pine needles and magnolia leaves. I blew all the continents out of the bed and mulch up the produst and blew it back into the bed.Looks great nature back to where ya came from.

[@isabelwagner3258]

Wood chips locally provided for free from local tree company is my favorite, I use cardboard on new beds with wood chips

[@AB-vb2mm]

I just became a gardener, the owner before me put woodmulch on some beds. The soil here is very sandy. I don’t have the impression that lavender and other stuff is well growing with this wood mulch. Most plants look small. It didn’t rain the whole may, I put the mulch away, the lower layers of it and the sandy soil build a hard layer. I put this all away. Maybe it’s for trees and stuff but not for smaller plants.

[@honest1966]

Good advice! I do use fabric around my home for plants and decoration and it is not plastic there is different types of garden fabric. I rather use leaves for my garden however I do need to know how to use it to keep down the weeds. Any advice! Thank you for your video!

[@seahorse5689]

My husband the home inspector refuses to allow me to use any type of wood mulch because he says it attracts termites. I put down that dang weed blocker fabric and, you're right, it looks like crap. I guess I'll just be weeding incessantly from now on--once I get that fabric up.

[@stephenbonaduce7852]

I don' know if you'll ever see this, but it's not proven that mulch "attracts" termites. *Most* people use mulch; *some* people get termites. It's no more accurate to conclude that the mulch was the cause as it is to attribute the termites to the fact that you have a house with a wood frame. Termites typically live deep in the ground and eat cellulose. They are pretty much found everywhere. So I think you can get termites whether you have mulch or not. Most recommendations I have seen talk about spreading pea gravel on the six inches of ground closest to your house--and then you can mulch from there out. Good luck!

[@SometimeAgo65]

I like wood chips for mulch but everybody keeps telling me it causes termites. Is that true?

[@arturogalindo261]

wait to looooong, go directly to the point

[@MyFocusVaries]

We're lucky to be able to get free wood chips from the arborist who prunes our big trees. We let him know when we're ready for a new layer, and he brings us a load when he has enough nice looking chips without a lot of green. Now to watch your veg mulch video.

[@debrazawacki923]

What about peat moss as a weed control under arbors and around garden plants?

[@laurenheintz5369]

Thanks! Great videos! I just removed about 100SqFt of thick jasmine ground cover that took over a river rock plant bed. But the rocks are dirty and lots of ground cover roots/vibes coming up between the rocks. Should I remove the rocks, clean them, kill and pull the remaining roots, and then reapply the rocks? I fear the jasmine will eventually return. Or should I use cardboard as an underlayment and use wood chips instead of rock (and give the rock away)? Thanks for any advice on this matter.

[@hanzketchup859]

did you know that the EPA allows sewage sludge be labeled as Compost? there is nothing to force companies to label compost or fertilizers for home gardening to put sewage sludge or bio solids on the label, they say compost suffices.

[@liammullan2197]

I've found wood chips don't work for me in a flower bed because as soon as you need to do any changes - e.g. adding new plants, removing old ones - you end up mixing the chips into the soil which is really not what you want.

[@chnglna8342]

So should I just pull the weeds from my garden bed then lay mulch down? Do you recommend using weed killer that comes in liquid or spray after pulling weeds then put mulch on top afterwards?

[@godblessthelessfortunate3175]

My wood chips tend to float away with heavy rain. Any suggestions?

[@bmet67]

Want to establish a flower bed. Currently I have Bermuda grass and weed. Would cardboards over grass, compost over cardboards, and then wood chip mulch over compost advisable?

[@melissaanne5316]

I want a grass free yard and started in fall with weed barrier and mulch. Still have some weeds but yes it looks terrible in many places. So for the remainder of my yard use just straight mulch and rock? Do i kill the weeds with salt and vinegar or place mulch over weeds that have been whipped?

[@tinamancini9294]

Can you use hay to keep the weeds out then cover with rocks?

[@The12348567]

Are their any special conditions for people who live in Centeral Florida regarding mulch for Ornamental Gardens.

[@TrixieJFerguson]

Shredded wood mulch breaks down faster thus improving your soil faster. Chipped wood is a mess and takes years to break down so makes it more difficult to add new plants to the bed.

[@babu9814]

How about coconut coir as a mulch?

[@liveglobal5879]

Does wood chips attract termites?

[@JohnnyRecently]

My soil is alkaline. I use pine bark mulch to help acidify my soil.

[@garypedigogaeu5787]

Pine straw?

[@deniseandros1538]

What about stone/rock? That’s what we are going to use in our front gardens

[@kevingoodlad6872]

Under river rock too?

[@Nd3kca]

Do you have to pull mulch away from plant or tree stems to prevent rot? I keep hearing different opinions. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

mulch should not touch tree trunks.

[@francoisgs1]

how to have and keep mulch on a slope to avoid weeds when it rain heavily?? ?

[@DJDAVEKHEN]

Large pile of wood chips can quickly mold and can cause respiratory issues. Apply soon after delivery. Happened to me a couple times.

[@eharris8996]

I dont use wood chip mulch because of termites and I dont want them near my home

[@peternyc]

Utility company cut down the tree in front of my house. It's been there for at least 40 years. While they were grinding it into chips, I asked them if they could dump it all on my front yard because I'm doing a large landscaping renovation where I'll be putting about 30 or 40 new shrubs into the ground. Should I let the chips age 3 or 4 months before putting them down? There are different opinions. Some people say the new chips will "drink up" the nitrogen in the soil, depriving the new plants of nutrition. Others don't think it's so important. Does anyone here have an opinion?

[@ellecolquitt5244]

You didn’t mention how long to let the fresh arbor wood chips cure before you can use it as a mulch. I’ve been advised to leave them for 9-12 months which is quite a long time.

[@PeterLawton]

Cure? When firewood seasons, it's just losing moisture -- there is no special chemical reaction. I don't think "curing" is a real thing for wood chips.

[@pearlruth]

Thanks for sharing your experience. My problem in each of my perennial gardens is that I include self-seeding plants. Foxglove and Columbine, nicotina and scabia, I love them. Their seeds fall on cultivated ground, and they never fail to germinate. I enjoy weeding but it can be time consuming. Any ideas for me to try?

[@MyFocusVaries]

Are you trying to stop the self sowing plants? Because mulching would do so. Or are you concerned about losing those self sown plants you rely on? If that's the concern, you could leave a little area unmulched around those plants you want to self sow.

[@pearlruth]

@@MyFocusVaries Your suggestion makes a lot of sense. I am still creating my perennial garden and someday I will have the time to localize the self-seeding bi-annuals (foxglove and columbine: my favorites).

[@crustydownunder]

My lawn is Kikuyu (I didn't sow it) I want to put in ornamental garden beds, but I know from experience that the Kikuyu will infest my gardens and my wife and I do not want to spend every weekend pulling out the runners of the Kikuyu. What on earth am I going to do?

[@artandpromo1043]

Would i be able to kill the grass on my lawn and turn it into healthy soil without the use of cardboard ? Thank you for your advice :)

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

Yes - 4" of wood chips should do it.

[@sjtube6198]

Any Issue with termites concerning wood-chip mulch we need to be aware of?

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

Not really - they don't like wood chip mulch any more than other mulch. If you have termites, keep the mulch away from right next to the house.

[@mimiominski3465]

Any issue with Emerald ash borer or other invasive species to be concerned about when using wood chips from a local arborist?

[@francoisgs1]

will mulch stop bamboo roots to come back? thanks

[@melissaanne5316]

Following

[@LSinclair]

How about palm fronds, long grasses like cane grass, and cut up browning branches from shrubs and trees? Unless if I missed you saying that. Thanks for your video! So interesting about cardboard and weed barrier, yikes…

[@Wood.Gardens]

Hi. I mulched my new flower beds with straw last summer (august) thinking it’ll help with moisture over the winter. This spring, I had a number of perennials with root rot. I lost Dianthus, Bellflower and Tickseed. I have clay soil with a layer of promix tilled into it. My beds get 6 hours of sun. Should I still mulch this year?

[@michaeldarlington9379]

Is the mulch touching / up against the woodsy plants? There should be a few inches of space.

[@Wood.Gardens]

@@michaeldarlington9379 They were but none of my shrubs / woodsy plants were hurt. Just perennial flowers that I mentioned. Basically I was under the impression to leave the leaves and don't clean up. Then I added straw. By spring, there was a lot of muck and mushrooms and mold.

[@michaeldarlington9379]

@@Wood.Gardensis it possible your soil is too moist? Are you watering? If so maybe rain is enough. Mold/mushrooms implies lots of moisture.

[@heytherehuber]

A bad, surprising problem with using wood mulch is what happened to us, when we started using it: oriental cockroaches! Yep. These horrible, dirty creatures like wood mulch, and came into our unsuspecting yard with the big loads of local mulch we bought to cover our garden beds, and protect from weeds. Then, when it gets really hot or really cold, the big roaches start to squeeze their way into our house. What a nightmare! Now we get to battle them, as well as weeds. We’re like the old lady who swallowed a fly- then a spider, and so on and so on. It never ends. I used to love to garden. Now I’m just tired thinking about “Here comes summer. What’s next?”

[@lifeisgood070]

bro always another video

[@ASpinnerASpinner]

The "arborists" in my area have decided to take advantage or gardeners. Back when chipdrop was a young idea, they would deliver the wood chips for free since it makes sense to not pay for the gas, wear & tear and tipping fees to dump it if they can dump it for free. But after a few years they saw the demand for it, so they began charging for it. So now we have to pay for woodchips that the arborists would otherwise have to drive 15 miles round drip to dump and pay a tipping fee to dump it. Greedy bastards and also very dumb apparently. But the dumbest ones are the ones that will actually pay these arborists for it. I will simply not pay them a dime even though it is still cheaper to get it from them. I pay for my mulch to someone that sells mulch rather than to someone who actually would otherwise have to pay money to dispose it. Principles are very important to me.

[@jparks6544]

wood mulch is crap. It makes dust. It decomposes. It lets weeds grow.