When creating a beautiful outdoor space, you often start with an empty space. Expansive backyards, empty decks, and beautiful front porches are easy to fill with plants, lighting, and furniture.
11.06.2024 - 00:47 / thespruce.com / Ashley Chalmers
One of the most satisfying gardening jobs is laying mulch for the first time. When done well, it creates an instantly defined, crisp appearance to your garden beds, and can make any landscaped area look polished and beautiful.
But fast forward a few seasons and your once-fresh mulch can look drab, dingy, and flat. This is a great sign you should probably replace your mulch, but do you really have to wait until things get this bad?
As it turns out, no. According to experts, most home gardeners should replace their mulch at least once a year. And, if you plan it right, you can do it so that your garden beds always look lovely.
The Spruce / Jacob Fox
According to Gene Caballero, co-founder of GreenPal, one of the reasons it’s so tricky to know when to replace your mulch is because this isn’t a one-size-fits-all situation. Caballero says it largely depends on the type and condition of your mulch.
“Organic mulches, like wood chips or bark, generally need to be replaced once a year as they decompose and enrich the soil,” he says.
On the other hand, if you use an inorganic mulch, like rubber or rocks, Caballero says you might only need to do a refresh every year, depending on the appearance.
Sarah Warner, Greenhouse Manager at the Case Western Reserve University Farm, agrees that frequency depends on your type of mulch, but her criteria is slightly different.
“The larger the mulch particles, the less you may need to mulch, and the smaller the mulch particles the more you may need to mulch,” she says.
Warner explains that wood chips might take longer to break down while leaves will probably need to be replaced more often.
“Adding wood chips once a year may suffice but adding leaves three times a year may be needed,”
When creating a beautiful outdoor space, you often start with an empty space. Expansive backyards, empty decks, and beautiful front porches are easy to fill with plants, lighting, and furniture.
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