Rustic

A Rugged, Natural Choice

Medium Grind Rustic Mulch comes from the same type of material that is often found at your city's tree limb drop-off site and given away at no charge.

A few differences are

  • We Sift It. The most valuable difference is that we sift the dirt and leaves out of the mulch fiber. This removes the media that holds seeds and the media that they sprout in. Sifting also creates voids in the mulch where the small particles would have lodged, allowing the larger mulch fiber to intertwine and lock together.  For an in-depth discription, see the article on our homepage, "How to make your mulch last for three years."
  • We Grind Twice.  Double grinding the Rustic Mulch provides a more uniform particle size than any city's free mulch - eliminating any out-of-place "sticks."
  • We Load It.  When you purchase Rustic Mulch from us, all you need to do is unload or  spread the mulch. If you can get someone to load your pickup at the city's limb drop-off area, you are doing very well.

Rustic Mulch is a wonderful choice if you are looking for a low-cost material with a natural, and rugged look.  Rustic Mulch's color is a pleasant mix of earth tones. The colors range from dark browns to light earthy tans.

19
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1-5 cubic yards purchased

Out of Stock

13
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6 plus yards, volume discount

Out of Stock

Is Price a Consideration?

Rustic Mulch is our most economical mulch -- a great option when you need a mulch that will retain moisture, supress weeds, stimulate biological activity, and give a gardener great odds for growing successful trees and plants while remaining on budget. When a skilled gardener can prevent losing plants, even the least expensive mulch has great value.

Benefits of Rustic Mulch

  • All natural, no colorants added
  • Attractive look of color and texture
  • Reduces water loss
  • Supresses weeds
  • Insulates against hot & cold
  • Promotes a benificial environment for soil biology: earthworms, atinomecyetes, protoza, bacteria & fungi
  • Adds nutrients
  • Most economical mulch we offer

Recommended Uses

  • Great for an all-natural or organic garden because it comes from locally grown brush and trees.  We cannot say it is certified organic because we do not know exactly how the wood fiber was grown, nor do we have any paperwork to proove the authenticity of the fiber being certified organic.  Nonetheless, it is as natural as any gardening material we know of in our marketplace.
  • Because Rustic Mulch's texture is gnarly, it intermingles and locks together.  This quality imparts excellent staying power and allows the mulch to retain well in exposed and windy locations.
  • Budget friendly for those general applications on acreage trees and less color-sensitive garden beds.

Directions for Use

  • Confirmation - Be sure to cross reference the product on your receipt of purchase to confirm you are reading the directions of use for the correct product.
  • Location of use - Our medium grind mulches work well in any area that is large or exposed to wind.  A key benefit of our medium grind mulches is how they lock together, helping them remain in place during high wind.  (Also see depth in regard to wind.)  Consider the colors that are in the area where your mulch will lie. A good color choice will accent any nearby buildings or naturally occuring color such as foliage or blossoms.  Consider consulting a color wheel.  Amazingly enough our bachelor boss is even learning to use one.
  • Weed barrier - A barrier is considered optional. We have seen many successful mulched beds both with and without weed barrier. One consideration in forgoing weed barrier is the interaction of the life in the soil with the mulch layer.  Without a barrier, biology such as earthworms are more easily able to thrive in the area where the soil and the mulch mingle.  Another consideration for going without is that when you allow the longer spears of mulch to drive into the soil and mingle with it, a bond is formed that contributes to the lower level of mulch remaining in place.  Whereas the opposite is true when a weed barrier is present.  The barrier may form a fault line where the wind can easily lift the mulch particles away.
  • Depth - We recommend that you apply a depth of 3 - 6" of medium grind when mulching an open area. The goal of an adequate depth is not only to supress unwanted seed germination, but also to construct a mix and match of particles allowing the pieces to lock together and form one united mat of mulch.  When we mulch too thin (under 3"), the mulch particles lie mostly horizontal and roll on one another rather than locking together. When we mulch too deep (over 6") with medium grind, the soil is starved for the airflow that it needs iin order to maintain a diverse biological ecosystem.
  • Surface cover - Keep in mind that our medium grind mulches are meant as a decorative surface cover rather than a soil amendment. Long term, medium grind will contribute to your soil fertility; however, in the short term, a fully composted soil amendment will provide superior results when incorporated into your garden beds soil.
  • Using color - When considering Rustic Mulch, color should not be your deciding factor.  The general effect of Rustic Mulch is a rugged natural, almost wild appeal.  Since our Rustic Mulch is not color enriched, its color endurance will be significantly different than other mulches that we offer.  The color of Rustic Mulch begins as a pleasant mixture of browns, ranging in tone from dark brown to light tan.  After about six months, the mixture of browns will mellow into a gray tone.  If you are looking to craft a rugged natural atmosphere, then the colors and longevity of our Rustic Mulch is for you.
  • Using texture - Texture is also a key consideration. You may want the texture of your landscape to be complementary.  Rustic Mulch's gnarly fiberous grind brings with it a rugged texture.  The rugged texture of a medium grind mulch be a wonderful complement to the texture of large bushes and trees.  Large plants rise above the medium mulch rather than get lost in it.  The large leaves of the plant complement the large particle size of the medium mulch.  Together they compose a harmonious look in your landscape.  If your goal is to cultivate a stage for smaller plants to perform from, then we encourage you to consider using our fine grind mulches.