Vote: Red or black?

[grumpiebk]

It's the home stretch of landscaping. Red or black mulch for the rear landscape berm? We are going with grey Mexican pebbles in the bottle palm beds on each side of the spa and in the podocarpus privacy hedge line on the right side.

Sorry for the terrible pic but my windows need to be cleaned and the glare isn't helping.


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[Jimrahbe]

Brian,

I vote RED mulch...

Jim R.

 

[Kpag]

Can I vote "neither"? I think black or red will compete with your existing design elements. Do you want to "draw the eye" to your mulch or the fabulous pool/spa? Natural/dark brown mulch wouldn't be a distraction.

 

[Cmasty]

Dyed mulch is Not good for the soil or plants plus it fades. Natural Pine bark mulch or needles is best.

 

[grumpiebk]

Can I vote "neither"? I think black or red will compete with your existing design elements. Do you want to "draw the eye" to your mulch or the fabulous pool/spa? Natural/dark brown mulch wouldn't be a distraction.

Sure can. It's not a bad idea. Our berm used to be the focal point. Certainly the pool and deck is now. But we do want some contrast between grass and berm to show defined flowing curves. We thought red would give us this but may fight the pool. The black will be less of a contrast but will offer more pop on the flowers and plants we've planted. Brown is kind of an in between but doesn't appeal to our transitional contemporary design preference.


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[pooldv]

Well, since none of the above is an option. I prefer shredded cedar mulch because it doesn't float and it naturally repels insects.

 

[JamesW]

Black Mulch Dye in Pool

Colored mulch can dye the pool water if it gets in the pool.

 

[grumpiebk]

Thanks all. I am pretty sure we are deciding between red and black tho. Either will be dyed, but the mulch will be 12+ feet from the pool and also separate by plant material, aluminum edging and stone beds. So while there is a thread in an extreme case, it's highly unlikely to affect the pool.


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[JoyfulNoise]

Yeah, dyed mulch is no bueno....do what we do in the southwest desert here - rip out all the wasteful water-intensive grass that requires endless care and fertilization (bad for Mother Gaia!!), grade it all with decomposed granite and top it with 3/4" (no minus) decorative rock!! You can even add plastic landscape barrier and do different rock colors in a mosaic pattern. Snake shapes are easy to make. Or a nice "happy sunshine" shape.

No water or fertilizer required and your carbon footprint will be minimized!!

You can give Mother Gaia a hug with your landscape project and be a good earth-citizen!

Or, ya know, if you want to be wasteful and destroy the planet for future generation, I guess cedar mulch is ok....




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[grumpiebk]

Yeah, dyed mulch is no bueno....do what we do in the southwest desert here - rip out all the wasteful water-intensive grass that requires endless care and fertilization (bad for Mother Gaia!!), grade it all with decomposed granite and top it with 3/4" (no minus) decorative rock!! You can even add plastic landscape barrier and do different rock colors in a mosaic pattern. Snake shapes are easy to make. Or a nice "happy sunshine" shape.

No water or fertilizer required and your carbon footprint will be minimized!!

You can give Mother Gaia a hug with your landscape project and be a good earth-citizen!

Or, ya know, if you want to be wasteful and destroy the planet for future generation, I guess cedar mulch is ok....




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Dang, Matt. Tell me how you really feel. I suppose I can still tell my landscaper to put the 7 pallets of sod back onto the truck.


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[pooldv]

Ha, you probably get plenty of rain there. It is Matt's fault he chose to live in the desert with about an inch of rain a year.

 

[Donldson]

I think Matt was joking. The multiple exclamation marks are not his normal style. Nor is chanting to Gaia unless he is on one of his legendary benders. The cohesiveness of his post tells me he likely isn't though.


I do think you are underestimating the chances of runoff getting in your pool, so if you are going with a dyed mulch I would go red so you can easily identify if it happens.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Dang, Matt. Tell me how you really feel. I suppose I can still tell my landscaper to put the 7 pallets of sod back onto the truck.


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Nooooooooo....Mother Gaia is shedding a little tear ....

Ha, you probably get plenty of rain there. It is Matt's fault he chose to live in the desert with about an inch of rain a year.

10 inches.....TEN. INCHES.

(And only 92" of evaporation annually!!)


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[JoyfulNoise]

I think Matt was joking. The multiple exclamation marks are not his normal style. Nor is chanting to Gaia unless he is on one of his legendary benders. The cohesiveness of his post tells me he likely isn't though.


I do think you are underestimating the chances of runoff getting in your pool, so if you are going with a dyed mulch I would go red so you can easily identify if it happens.

After a day with 4 kids, the benders are a given....


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[slpybeartx]

I vote black.

 

[woodyp]

I vote cedar mulch too.

 

[Marlahoutex]

I vote neither. Go natural. We like native hardwood mulch because it doesn't float away. I didn't know that about dyed mulch so I'm glad we aren't using it.

 

[sham]

please not red Your landscaping looks perfect in the photo. I love the look of dark brown mulch and have it in my front flower bed, but just natural non-dyed hardwood mulch is best.

 

[grumpiebk]

please not red Your landscaping looks perfect in the photo. I love the look of dark brown mulch and have it in my front flower bed, but just natural non-dyed hardwood mulch is best.

Do you have a pic?


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[atttech-2]

how about a 2" layer of compost it starts out black, will lighten a bit to a black greay over a season helps with water retension and if/when it starts to get too shabby looking you just lightly till it in and add a bit more.