Mulch cost?

[Akaz1976]

How much does mulch cost? We moved into our first home with lawn and it seems that there needs to be a beginner guide to lawn care (including cost estimates etc).

[pepper3245]

in our area you're looking around $26/yard for bark mulch + delivery

[Akaz1976]

Thanks. How much would a yard of mulch be in volume? I have a small SUV (Santa Fe) and how heavy will it be for unloading.

Does the mulch have different colours? quality?

[QTheNukes]

Thanks. How much would a yard of mulch be in volume? I have a small SUV (Santa Fe) and how heavy will it be for unloading.

Does the mulch have different colours? quality?

1 Yard is a volume - picture a metre stick, minus 3 inches, in a cube. 1 Yard is a lot, and not ideal to put in an SUV as I assume its loose. I would guess you could put 3 yards in an SUV without the seats in before you start making an insane mess? 1 yard is also 27 cubic feet and one yard covers approximately 12x12 feet area 3inches or so deep.

Heavy depends a lot on how dry it is, if its stored outside it will weight a ton, a lot less the more dry it is.

[CSK'sMom]

Just to clarify because your post is rather confusing... What do you intend to do with the mulch? Hopefully you're not going to put it on the lawn as you ask about mulch and talk about lawncare in the same post. The mulch pepper is talking about is used as weed and moisture control for planting beds...

[Akaz1976]

Sorry about the confusion. As you can tell, i am a complete and utter novice.

the mulch we intend to get is for our flower beds infront of the house. The flower beds had no flowers to speak off since they probably had never been maintained. Now we have removed all plant life from those beds and just plain soil. We plan on putting in mulch (with Solar lights) to give it a neater look with out having to actually maintain anything hopefully.

[CaptSmethwick]

IMO, the best mulch is CPM (composted pine mulch). It is not cheap because the product is pricey and delivery is usually the same whether you have 1 or 9 yards delivered.

CPM is good for keeping the moisture in the soil to help your plants grow. If you haven't any plants, that's not your concern anyway. I would just go to a nearby nursery and buy plastic packages of CPM and toss them in the back of the Sante Fe. Although the packages are pricier than bulk CPM, you'll save on delivery - which is often $50+.

[pepper3245]

to keep it very low maintenance put heavy duty landscape fabric on the soil prior to the bark mulch. You may need to refill with mulch every couple years as it will eventually settle and turn gray.

[CaptSmethwick]

to keep it very low maintenance put heavy duty landscape fabric on the soil prior to the bark mulch. You may need to refill with mulch every couple years as it will eventually settle and turn gray.

You certainly can do that but it's not a combo I like doing. I find that it gets messy when the mulch decomposes too much and severe windstorms seem to blow mulch away more with this set-up and I've seen the fabric itself pulled up (although it could be tucked or pegged at edges to lessen this) - it seems as though 3" of CPM just isn't heavy enough.

I'm sure the fabric-mulch set-up is fine but I haven't liked my experience with it. Depending on your planting, though, you can most definitely do riverbed stone on landscape fabric - no wind will ever blow that stuff away. I've had a number of beds done like this for years and it's 100% maintenance free. Looks good with minimalist plantings of less herbaceous plants and shrubs.

[Akaz1976]

can you explain the riverbed stone option? how much does it cost? where do i get it? is it mostly just bunch of small stones?

[CSK'sMom]

That's exactly what it is on top of landscapre fabric Akaz. Can be either pea gravel or larger rounded stone referred to as river rock. Mulch will decompose over time and essentially end up as soil in which weeds still grow.

Pea gravel and river rock can be bought from many of the big box stores but it usually cheaper from a landscape/stone yard.

[Kenny Blankenship]

How much does mulch cost? We moved into our first home with lawn and it seems that there needs to be a beginner guide to lawn care (including cost estimates etc).

If you only need a bit, go buy it by the bag for about $3. We get ours from Rona for our small flower/shrub beds.

[CaptSmethwick]

That's exactly what it is on top of landscapre fabric Akaz. Can be either pea gravel or larger rounded stone referred to as river rock. Mulch will decompose over time and essentially end up as soil in which weeds still grow.

Pea gravel and river rock can be bought from many of the big box stores but it usually cheaper from a landscape/stone yard.

Exactly.

I would personally stay away from pea gravel except for paths. Riverbed stone ranges in size and the diameter should suit the application. I would recommend 2-3" around foundations and 1" in beds that are farther away from large structures.