What Mulch is Best?

Q. This is the mulch I am using around my plants (Scotts Brown Mulch) is the right one or is there something better?

Scotts Brown mulch from reader

A. It depends on what you want out of your mulch. Mulches are laid on the surface and they are intended in some cases to primarily improve the aesthetics of the property or they might be used to improve soil or plant health. 

Viragrow Brown mulch. This mulch is colorized with a latex based colorant that is nontoxic to plants and soil microorganisms but "organic" or "natural" purists would probably not want to use it.

Scotts has at least three different kinds of brown mulch. I believe they are all "colorized" or a water based colorant is added to the wood chips to improve aesthetics. The quality of the mulch depends also on the source of the wood product. It should be listed on the bag. 

Viragrow's Red Coarse Cedar is an all natural product made from forest products.

If wood-based construction materials are used there could be fire retardants and glues involved which lower the quality of the mulch. If you want a mulch for aesthetics then pick one with colorants added if you need that color but realize that the color is short-lived (two or three years) and more needs to be added to renew the color. 

Viragrow "Gorilla Hair" mulch is made from all natural forest products (redwood) and available in bulk.

If you are focused on improving soil health focus on wood products that decompose easily in moist soils and stay away from construction materials and use "green waste" products or "forest products" instead. If you are focused on plant health then pick a mulch that decomposes easily and improves soil health and put it down deep enough to preserve soil moisture and reduce weed populations. This is a minimum of three inches deep. 

Viragrow's Sequoia Blend is another natural forest product mulch made from...you guessed it...Sequoia that had been harvested or removed for other reasons.

Keep all mulches away from the trunks of newly planted trees and shrubs unless the mulch is very coarse and permits drying of it between irrigations. 

Viragrow colorized mulches are treated with nontoxic water-based colorants.

Colorants typically are not specific problem with soils or plants but are not considered "natural" and some people who want "organic" or "natural" products used in their landscapes would not use it. It is your choice but make sure any mulch is at least three inches deep after its application to get all of the benefits from a mulch.

Viragrow Delivers!