I replaced the gravel with shredded cedar mulch, which has done wonders for my garden. In the spring I have been scraping all the mulch off, working some compost and fertilizer in, putting the old mulch back, and adding new mulch on top.

Last week I read an article that said you should not re-use the mulch, it should go to the compost pile. Any thoughts on this? The old mulch may be a bit gray, but would there be any reason you couldn't reuse it? My landscape is very rustic and I don't mind the gray color.

Thanks for your help, as always!

I’ve never heard of that either—and have never replaced any mulch. When I plant I rake it back away from where I’m gonna dig the hole, and when I’m done I push it back where it was to start with. A couple days ago I just took all the mulch off of the top of two whisky barrels I have in the front yard, and it’s now in a big plastic pot waiting to be put back on top of the soil in the same whiskey barrels when they’re planted for this year. I do tend to add a little more on top around my perennials each year because the stuff that’s on the bottom that’s in contact with the soil gradually composts into the soil, so I just make sure there’s a good layer there. There is a color contrast when I put fresh stuff on here and there, but in a couple weeks it fades and all looks the same again. The only thing I know of that you shouldn’t do with wood mulch is mix a whole bunch of it into the soil if you have things growing there or are going to be planting things there since undecayed wood would bind the nitrogen in the soil while it was decaying, so you’d probably wind up with some poor looking, struggling plants until the majority of the wood was decayed.

Other than that, I agree with BP, was the writer in the mulch-selling business? Besides, if "old" mulch wasn’t safe to put back around plants, it wouldn’t be safe to put it on the compost pile either!

As long as it’s not rock, it’s good!
Skybird

That you both for your input, I'd rather spend my money on new plants than mulch any day!

Donna - contact your extension office, I don't know off hand, but if you want organic information, let them know that. If they won't give you organic call another office or call CSU Boulder directly and let them know that that office would not give you the info you wanted.

Oh, as a sidenote, the El Paso County extension office has the Master Gardner program back and they just published an article about mulches that I thought was pretty interesting. I remeber we had the great rubber tire mulch debate going a while back and they concurred with our opinion. I will bring it with me tomorrow for anyone who wants to read it.

Billie