What can I use in flower beds instead of mulch?

What can I use in flower beds instead of mulch?

7 alternatives to traditional mulch

• Bark and wood chips. Frequently used on flower beds and around small bushes and shrubs, bark and wood chips are known to provide nutrients to the soil as they decay.
• Pebbles and rocks.
• Leaves and pine needles.
• Grass clippings.
• Rubber mulch.
• Compost.
• Newspaper.

What is an alternative to using mulch?

However, several mulch alternatives are cheaper or even free. For example, mulch alternatives such as rock mulch, pebbles, crushed shells, straw mulch, or even compost can substitute traditional mulch. Depending on your yard, some of these alternative mulch ideas may also work better than wood or bark chips.

What can I use instead of mulch for ground cover?

What Kind of Ground Cover to Use? Choose a ground cover that is appropriate for the location you want to plant it in. For shaded areas, try golden saxifrage, hosta, vinca minor, Oregon grape, or lungwort. If you want year-round greenery, use an evergreen like cowberry, bearberry, rosemary, or harebell.

Should flower beds be mulched?

If you’ve taken the time to create attractive flower beds, you’ll want to keep them healthy. Using flower bed mulch is one way to do this. Mulch keeps weeds at bay and protects your plants’ roots. It also shields the soil, keeping it moist and preventing it from washing away.

Is mulch really necessary?

The first, and probably the most important, is for water conservation. Mulch stops the top of the soil drying out, keeps the soil moist, and can reduce watering by about 60 per cent. Mulching also prevents weeds and weed seed germination, which compete with plants for moisture and nutrients.

Can Pebbles be used as mulch?

If you haven’t already, it’s time to take out that digging tool and break ground. April showers bring May flowers, but they also bring weeds. You can drastically cut down on weeds in your garden by adding mulch or pebbles. Mulch and pebbles work to reduce weeds by blocking light to the plant.

What do you cover flower beds with?

Mulch simply is any material used to cover the soil surface. Mulching your landscape is inexpensive and is one of the easiest jobs you can do as a homeowner. Mulch helps to moderate soil temperature and retain soil moisture which is good for the health of your plants.

What can I put around a flower bed?

• Using Landscape Edging. The right lawn edging can transform your yard by creating defined areas for mulch, flower beds, plants and shrubs.
• Brick Edging.
• Concrete Edging.
• Edging Stones.
• Landscape Tree Ring.
• Metal Edging.
• Plastic Edging.
• Rubber Edging.

What is the best kind of mulch to use in a flower bed?

We recommend aged hardwood mulch, applied in a light layer, around your flower beds. Well-aged wood mulch is an ideal choice for flower beds, as it adds nutrients to the soil as it decomposes. Softwood mulch, usually made from pine, can add a bit too much acidity, and doesn’t decompose quickly.

Are rocks or mulch better?

Rocks are better at weed-prevention than mulch and are also lower maintenance. Stones can also add to the aesthetics of a property. However, rock cover is not good for gardens that receive a lot of sun because they retain more heat than mulch. Ultimately, it all comes down to personal preference.

What is the best mulch to use?

Shredded bark is one of the most common and least expensive types of mulch. It comes from a variety of sources, including cedar trees. Shredded bark is one of the best mulch types to use on slopes and it breaks down relatively slowly.

What type of mulch to choose?

Choosing the Best Type of Mulch for Your Yard Straw. Straw tends to be the cheapest of all mulches, but it is also the least recommended. Bark Mulches. Mulch made from bark (typically from fir, pine, redwood, and spruce trees) create a natural, woodsy look. Wood Chips. Cocoa Mulch. Pine Needles. Leaves. Gravel.

What are the types of mulch?

Broadly speaking, homeowners select from two basic types of mulch: organic and inorganic. Organic mulches—hardwood and softwood chips, bark, evergreen needles, leaves, grass clippings, compost mixes, newspaper and cardboard, and a variety of other plant byproducts—consist of materials that decompose over time.

How do you apply mulch to flower beds?

Use a 4 to 5 inch mulch layer in sandy soils and a 3 inch layer in loam soils that retain water well. To prevent weed seeds from germinating in your flower bed, apply mulch right after the soil thaws, usually in late spring but before the warm season begins. Before applying mulch remove all weed plants from the soil.