Melissa I use the red mulch myself only because I like the color and it mimics the natural eucalyptus mulch common in the SE US. If you switch to another type just be sure it has a larger shredded grade then the common shredded brown mulches as they tend to compact heavily and can create a situation where water cannot get down to the soil. If put down early it can damage perennials coming up by putting holes in the leaves as they push up through the compacted mulch. I used the brown mulch this year because I found a place that had it for half the price of the red and put down early to help protect the plants when the weather got cold again and sure enough a number of hostas were damaged trying to grow up through it. Also a number of them grew sideways trying to grow through it. Needless to say I won't use it again. You can also buy mulch in chip form made from pine with the same dark color.

Scott

Scott (btw, I'm always confused by your screen name)...
I don't put my mulch down until the hostas are leafing out or have already leafed out. So, that's not an issue for me.... and I never EVER cover the crowns with mulch!
Mulch should be left several inches away from the crown so that slugs can't hide out there and the moisture held by the mulch does not rot the crown.

For years I used dark brown mulch from a local nursery, and the color lasted only 1 year before fading.
The last couple of years I switched to a different supplier and started getting natural hardwood mulch. I do have a big problem with compaction with the hardwood. I have to keep hacking at it with a rake to keep it broken up. If I don't break it up, the water just runs right off it.
I am thinking of going back to the dark brown mulch and just dealing with the fading.

Wendy

if God had meant for garden beds to be red.. we would all live in GA ...

your base problem.. besides using anything besides natural wood color.. [IMHO ... the natural aged gray.. is the perfect backdrop.. IMHO ...]

is that your mulch is too fine ... if it breaks down in 1 or two years ...

invest.. in a coarser material.. and it will last upwards of 5 years ... and simply apply it over what is there.. and let that old stuff return to nature ....

IMHO.. never use a SHREDDED product ...

and... black or dark brown.. in sun.. will literally cook plants above.. and roots ... it can simply get too HOT in full sun.. which of course.. is not where your hosta are ...

again.. if you are reapplying.. less than every 3rd year.. its either too fine a material.. or you arent putting it on deep enough ... [which is also a function of being too fine]

the only issue.. is where to find it locally ... and it will NOT be in a bag ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: compare any of the others to the 'large western'

Melissa has been to my gardens, so this is more for discussion purposes. I'm trying to use less hard mulch - using it mainly along paths and edges of gardens because I like the way it looks. I also use the hardwood on new plantings. As I go deeper into my gardens I'm using oak leaves both whole and shredded - All my leaves go into my gardens instead of the county compost. The shredded leaves come from running thru the mower 1-2 times. By gardening seasons end there is just a little bit of leaves left and a fresh crop is falling. In some areas I have ground covers and they grow right thru the shredded leave, else if too dense, I just thin it a bit in March.

Paul

Melissa John is my first name and Scott middle. I generally don't use my first name but couldn't use JScott as someone in the site already has that handle.In more than twenty years of growing hostas and advising clients how to grow them I've never lost one because mulch was placed at the crown. Their water requirements are just to high to have that happen when planted in the ground in properly prepared soil. Not to say it could not happen and does not happen but planted in the ground would be rare. Even with 20 inches of rain last summer with two hurricanes making a direct hit here I know of no one who lost a hosta to rot. In their ancestral home 60 to 70 inches of rain yearly is the norm. That volume of rain is not the norm in any area of the US even the NW US. Now slugs on the other hand yes can hide more closely to the plant but placing mulch away from the crown won't stop them from finding a hosta and making a meal out of it given enough time during the evening. However we all have different approaches to what works for us and what we like which I respect.

Scott

Paul,

I'm trying to do that also. But I use a shredder instead of the mower. I just think it's more efficient. Problem is that I run out of leaves. Go figure. I've go about a dozen full sized Oaks and when I shred the leaves they lose so much size that I was only able to cover two beds with them. Maybe I'll ask the neighbors for leaves. The price is right for the mulch though.

I guess the idea is, What is the main thing you want the mulch to do? Do you want it to suppress weeds, or look decorative, or help with the soil conditioning? While most mulches will do all of those things, some do certain things better. If you just want week suppression and long lasting much at a good price use wood chips. If you want decorative use the dyed crap. If you want to feed the soil with it then use something that breaks down more easily.

Every different material has its strengths and drawbacks. YMMV. Your Mulch May Vary.

Steve

Steve well put.

Scott

Mulch seems like one more heavy bag to wrestle with. I don't actually have hosta beds; I just plant hostas anywhere I feel one needs to be, which is pretty much everywhere. But almost none of them touch each other. In between, lamium. Lots and lots of lamium.

I agree that I don't think there is one prefect mulch for all. I use plain brown undyed pine mulch because I think it looks the most natural in my setting. Does it harbor slugs and their eggs- yes. Does it make it easy for voles to do their evil business unnoticed- yes. But it keeps the weeds down, keeps dirt from making the hosta ugly after a rain and is aesthetically pleasing to me, so that is my choice.

I use mulch as a decorative backdrop.
I'd love to have groundcover everywhere, or go mulchless. I like the mulchless look, however, I don't like the mudsplashed look..... And since part of my garden is in full sun, without some sort of mulch/groundcover, I'd have baked soil.
I do have golden creeping jenny around my step stones... that took a couple years to fill in, and several dozen plugs.
I have an area with some lamium in it... perhaps I need to just direct it out of that area and take some plugs to other areas.
One thing I have a big problem with is maple seedlings. They seem to work themselves down into whatever mulch I use. Not sure if bare ground would be better or worse!

The thing about ground covers is that they don't want to stop. I've got several, and while I like them, I don't always appreciate having to take the time in the Spring to reign them in- I'm talking to you, Sweet Woodruff!!! A least wood mulch isn't gonna spread on it's own, so you have some control. Also, all my ground covers harbor slugs just as much if not more than wood mulch.

I use brown mulch but in areas where it gets sun it fades wthin year and I just but more on top. In front of yard taht is faded it last with brown color for year or two if you turn it over. I like reapplying mulch d/t to liking the fresh dark brown color.

I use plant groundcover and shredded oak leaves only. I had a bad slug problem this is the only thing that worked for me. The leaves are bird friendly and I see at least 10 birds in the Hosta garden every morning eating the slugs. Results no slug problem, and the Hostas love the moist organic leaves.

I do plant my Hostas close so there is not a lot of ground showing.

I have 3 compost bins with shredded maple leaves cooking right now, use them for planting, but also as mulch. My rules about mulch are :
- buy the least expensive. Last year I bought 100 bags at less than $2 per bag. Red was the lowest cost, so my front yard and part of the back are red.
- buy mulch in bags. My car trunk can carry about 8 bags of mulch, ten with an open trunk. Bags are easy to move from the trunk to the garden with a cart to stockpile them there. Getting them dumped by a truck at the entrance of my driveway would be too much trouble for me.
- do not buy mulch with large chunks because slugs will hide under those. I use one with smaller size nuggets, I like pine.
- do not put more than 1 inch thickness on the ground, because mice and voles could run under a thicker layer without you noting it.
- buy bags with substance, but not so heavy. I noticed that shredded mulch is fluffy, has a lot of air, is light weight, and packs down. Bags with big pieces of wood and/or bark are heavy, with my back not liking it, voles and slugs would love it.
Bernd

100 bags of mulch? No thanks. I'll go with lamium. My back will thank me.

4 1/2 yards of mulch for us. Dark brown, fades fairly quickly if you are comparing to the color it is when you first put it down. I think they all do. We did plain wood chips in the back. I probably won't care for it when it grays.

Hey hey, Scott, I have the answer to this one....
NOT NW, the first city up that way to place on the list is at #24. The Southeast dominates the top slots in this list.

The top rainfall average champ is....MOBILE ALABAMA....averaging 67 inches and 59 rainy days annually. That is the contiguous or lower 48. Then all the other cities in the SE are close behind us. Take a look at the list. I put the reference here below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Top 10 wettest cities in the 48

Cindy...
In my case,
100 bags of mulch x 2 cu ft = 200 cu ft.
200 cu ft divided by 27 cubic feet per yard==7.4 yards.
That's a whole lot of mulch and a whole lot of shoveling and a BIG section of my driveway!

I think I'm giving serious thought to doing mulchless and groundcovers!

Hey hey Moccasin I got you there. The city with the highest annual average rainfall is Enumclaw Plateau, WA with an annual average rate of 84.9 inches a year the next is Gulf Breeze FL with 66.5 inches of rain on average per year. The list you gave is 5 years old and averages are just that and will change from year to year as will many of our last frost dates now given what many have experienced. These averages will change from year to year but the NW typically receives the highist rainfall amounts as a region on average. Hurricanes in your area can incerease those amounts dramatically from one year to the next and in a season without rain from a hurricane one would see a dramatic change from a year with one to one without.

Scott

Species hostas grow on volcanic soil which is VERY porous, so they can handle lots of water as long as it is moving thru them. Ask Ken in his sandpile... I only have to water my pots (planted with just bark)a couple times a week all during the Summer. Temps make a BIG difference.

Scott, you have all this experience growing hostas, and say you have many rare ones... will you PLEASE SHOW US WHAT YOU GOT? If not pics from this year due to cold weather, how about last year? As a landscape design horticulturist with so many years of experience, you must have some really good specimens compared to us home gardeners.

-Babka

I like pine mulch. It doesn't break down as quickly, so doesn't have to be replenished as often.

Deanna

Deanna, do you use pine bark or needles?
If Bark, do you use nuggets (small or large) or fines (the size of your thumbnail).

I've thought about using fines, as I do in 1 of my beds, but the only source I have is over 20 miles away and shipping would be outrageous!

This is a great discussion. I put down shredded hardwood mulch in my sunny areas for the first time last spring and I really hate it. It's a barrier between me and the dirt. If you try to move the mulch aside to plant something, the shreddy compacted clumpy pieces just mix with the dirt and now you've created a spot for the weed seeds to germinate. What I wish I had is an unlimited supply of compost to use as an annual topdressing everywhere, sunny and shady areas alike.

I much prefer stuff that breaks down more readily like pine straw, regular straw, leaf mold, grass clippings. I guess to me appearance is almost secondary.

In my main hosta area there is a volunteer crop of violets that just fill in nicely in all the bare spots. If I put down hardwood mulch there, the violets wouldn't self sow. By June, the violet foliage, which I like, is shading the soil nicely. And if I want to plant something in the violet patch, I just dig them out. The violets and I have a good relationship.

Behind my holly hedge is a whole colony of NOID volunteer ferns which I love. I also have a volunteer Japanese Painted Fern , some white nancy lamium volunteers and some lily of the valley that I never planted. Every year I'm delighted to find impatiens in colors that I never planted. Hardwood mulch would eliminate all of these happy surprises.

Just a final comment about mulch choices. When I went to college in Pennsylvania, they mulched with cocoa hulls obtained from the chocolate factory in Hershey. Quite an aroma!
Christine

The cocoa hulls are great, however they are poisonous to dogs. Christine you might want to look in your area for an organic or composted mulch. That's what you are describing. Here's a link to one here in Mass. There is also a bagged version called Sweet Peat. Here's that link.

Sweet Peet

Here is a link that might be useful: Mad Mic's Mulch

I am in the sawmill business and by necessity the mulch business. All of the colored mulches you are talking about are dyed. This dye is applied (sprayed on) as it is being processed. Also, a lot of the colored mulch is really not bark at all, but instead ground used pallets, wood waste etc. these take forever to break down! I have seen this dye wash off while it was still in the pile if a rain came up before it had had time to be absorbed in to the wood fiber. We do sell these products, because for some reason, they are very popular. Our biggest seller is what we call natural hardwood mulch. We are working on next springs mulch now; we simply put the fresh bark in large rows and keep it turned over several times a week as it continues to break down. By next spring it will be naturally black. You can easily tell what has been aged naturally and what has been sprayed black. Even the natural will fade to a gray, but at least it can work it to the soil and a new layer added. If you like the black, see if you can find a naturally aged product, you will be more pleased. As with everything else, it all depends on what you like. : ) I have added a few pictures of the process. I am not sure if this adds to the discussion or not but Im just throwing it out there. James

Fresh Bark

Turning

And a nautual black bark in a few months

Hi Steve,

I buy as many bags of LeafGro every year as I can afford. The City of Dover has a free compost giva-away also, but I don't have a pickup truck. sigh. I need 10x more compost than what is in my 2 compost heaps. In the 6 years I've gardened at this house, I bet the earthworm population has soared. There are earthworms in every trowelful of soil. That makes me happy. Thanks for the tip about the cocoa hulls.
Christine

I just got dark brown mulch from DD's school-7 yards for 160$- and free delivery! I haven't mulched in about five years-but I've also been in school for the last four so I had other places to spend $$ :) I started raining this afternoon and it's staying where I want It to stay and the rain isn't rolling off of it-I'm happy! I totally forgot the kind I got but it smells like camp! I also agree-mulch or mulch less and what color you choose-totally personal preference. :)

Thanks for the pix, James.

I use pine needles around the hosta as I have plenty.

The woody shrubs and conifers get shredded pine bark.

tj

Until we cut down our five pine trees, we had plenty of pine straw.

Esox, you crack me up: "I just plant hostas anywhere I feel one needs to be, which is pretty much everywhere."

I never throw out any leaves, unless it happens to include a lot of camphor berries, which sprout by the millions. Those I happily donate to the twenty-six trash pickups our city provides annually. I also go collecting the bags of leaves the neighbors put out for trash pickup--what a bounty they are throwing out! My DH operates the shredder but ours is not heavy duty enough to deal with any large twigs, so he sorts them out as he goes. He is a patient man.
Who is learning to count hosta a bit too readily.

Anyway, I'm thinking about getting straight bark delivered, it doesn't look like the shredded bark in the picture above. It is more like the bark in a commercial potting mix. I had one truck load of potting mix delivered to my driveway last week, and I'm using it just about everywhere. Filling in holes where tree roots (from 6 or 7 trees we had cut down) are rotting. Building up a slope in the back garden where water tends to run off--I need it to hang around for the blueberries. Making a mound for the hosta shade structure so they will display better. It is so flat in my garden. Add some depth to the front yard driveway southside under the neighbor's trees--I swear those trees are eating my soil!! Where does it go?

But I can see endless uses for straight pine bark. Like someone mentioned using bark for a walking path. Pretty good when you don't know exactly where it should be located, better than all that hard work moving stones. And you can create a curved path with the bark. Don't know how the two doggies will like the bark though. They don't like to get their feet wet.

Preen sells mulch too. So I bought several bags and put it on walkways so I would not need to weed grass and little weeds, seems to help there. I also spread a can of Preen in March in some areas which had a lot of annual weeds last year, but due to the one week of heat earlier weeds might have sprouted already, so I am pulling young weeds there again.
Bernd

Melissa,

They're nuggets, and they're probably between the size of a nickel and a quarter.

Deanna

I'm an intern for a product called Hippie Mulch Color (hippiemulch.com) that sounds like something you could use. It's a top coat you can spray on existing mulch and it comes in a variety of colors (including browns). It's a water-based, non-toxic formula that's safe for people, pets, and the environment and it's actually pretty innexpensive. It lasts 1 year or longer, so it's not a permanent solution but you won't have to replace your mulch every year. Hope this helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: www.hippiemulch.com

I was just over at my inlaws house and my FIL has a back hosta/ shade garden. He just mulched the paths between the beds with dark mulch. He remarked that he wasn't happy with it, that it changed the whole look to something much more formal ( not his style). Then why choose the dark mulch??!

I think mulch is just one of those things where people have different tastes....kind of like garden style in general, I suppose.

I use whatever I can beg from the tree trimmers. Right now I have two different loads, one is oak chips and the other is pine, mostly needles. Also use some oak leaves, mostly in the vegetable garden. I prefer the weathered wood color for mulch but I'd use the colored stuff if it was free!