Rubber Mulch - Pro's and Con's Needed

[PTY Sparky]

Would appreciate anyone's comments pro or con on using rubber mulch for landscaping. Need the good, the bad and the ugly.

[Happydaz]

I like to have natural landscaping so I have a bias for mulches that break down and add humus to the soil. I personally like pine straw. I can move it aside and plant new plants and then tuck it back around the plants. On the other hand, rubber mulches can be colorful and add some nice contrast to your shrub borders. I haven't ever used a rubber mulch as I am constantly planting new plants and I don't want to mix rock or rubber mulch with the soil. I have observed my neighbors who have rock mulch. When they want to add a plant they first have to push all these rocks out of the way to get down to the landscape fabric. Then they have to cut a hole in the fabric and put the plant in. Then they have to pile all the rocks back around the plant. But you may just be a plant once person and that won't be a factor. Good luck in your landscaping!

[John_W]

The biggest problem with rubber mulch is when it rains it will float away into the yard.

http://everlastrubbermulch.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/IMAG0413.jpg

It would probably be good to use on playgrounds around swings and jungle gyms.

http://www.waysidelawnstructures.com/images/maintenance-free-swing-sets/rubber-mulch/large/vinyl-set-rubber-mulch5.jpg

[Madelaine Amee]

Would appreciate anyone's comments pro or con on using rubber mulch for landscaping. Need the good, the bad and the ugly.

I am a gardener so I don't use rubber mulch, but many of my neighbors have it and it works great for them. The soil in Florida is very poor, so I use a fine pine bark mulch which breaks down throughout the year adding nutrients to the soil. I also use oak leaves (when I can get them) and anything else that will break down naturally into the soil. My garden is pretty well established, through trial and error I have found out what works for me, so it is pretty much self sustaining now. I do, however, have several large pots and I change out the plants in them to whatever I see and like.

[Bonanza]

Would appreciate anyone's comments pro or con on using rubber mulch for landscaping. Need the good, the bad and the ugly.

There really isn't much good you can say about rubber mulch. I even hesitate to call it a "mulch."
It is expensive and obviously doesn't break down to add anything to the soil.

You didn't ask, but stones don't add anything either, but will "bake" your plants in the summer sun.

Mulch does break down over time and environmentally, is the best thing you can use.
My preference is cypress mulch.
It stays in place during the rains and insects don't like it -- a real plus!

[kaydee]

I have rubber mulch ( not shredded or small pieces). Purchased at a facility in Fruitland Park on 441. This has been down for 5 yrs... NONE of it has ever floated away. We have been very happy with it.

[HappyVillager]

Home Depot has a beautiful rubber mulch for $5.95 per bag (0.8cubic feet). Does anyone know if the place in Fruitland Park (or anywhere else close by) has it cheaper. Southern Aggregate is closed today and I wanted to get it tonight to put down tomorrow.

[e-flyer]

There is a guy who sells 2 cu ft. bags at Marion Markets on the weekends. He delivers also for free when he have several delivers to TV. Browns on 441 near The Village Movers and 466a sells rubber mulch in bulk.

[rdhdleo]

We have a huge corner lots and most of all our islands and borders are covered with river rock and people are right, it loos nice lasts but is a pain when you want to change or add plants. BTW our plants have all done well with it. Now in our back we did the landscaping ourselves and used rubber mulch and love it, It does not wash away ever and lasts and is easy to work with when planting. Plus the rubber mulch is made from recycled rubber which also helps the environment. It looks very natural, at least ours does. and bugs don't seem to like it much :) Our plants are thriving !

[kittygilchrist]

Cons: it's ugly, it stinks, contributes nothing organically to soil.

Pros: it gets a few tires out of the dump

Con: want your yard to look like a recycled dump?

[nitehawk]

I have had it for years ---- Love it

[kissmelatr]

I hate it. Removed all mine. Its ugly and when you cut grass you try and blow the clippings off the mulch goes with it. Absolutely hate it.....

[asianthree]

keeps its color, but if you weed you loose mulch each time

[rdhdleo]

Cons: it's ugly, it stinks, it has contributes nothing organically to soil.

Pros: it gets a few tires out of the dump

Con: want your yard to look like a recycled dump?

I beg to differ, our gardens and yard are as far from looking like a recycled dump! Thank you! And There has NEVER been a smell!

[kittygilchrist]

I beg to differ, our gardens and yard are as far from looking like a recycled dump! Thank you! And There has NEVER been a smell!

didn't mean to imply anything about your yard. have never seen it, so how could I?
Rubber mulch rubs me the wrong way | Garden Professors[/url

url=[http://puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Rubber%20mulch.pdf (http://blogs.extension.org/gardenprofessors/2009/09/30/rubber-mulch-rubs-me-the-wrong-way/)

[rdhdleo]

didn't mean to imply anything about your yard. have never seen it, so how could I?
Rubber mulch rubs me the wrong way | Garden Professors[/url

url=[http://puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Rubber%20mulch.pdf (http://blogs.extension.org/gardenprofessors/2009/09/30/rubber-mulch-rubs-me-the-wrong-way/)

No you have never seen my yard or most likely many others that use it so why generalize? That then reflects on anyone that uses it. I agree it's to for everyone but has worked very well for us and we love the look.

[kittygilchrist]

No you have never seen my yard or most likely many others that use it so why generalize? That then reflects on anyone that uses it. I agree it's to for everyone but has worked very well for us and we love the look.

why generalize? the original poster asked for pros and cons. The thread is about pros and cons. We are not talking about your yard only. No offense, but most professional horticulturists, which company I am not in, state objections based on lack of nutrient value, smell, flammability, toxic runoff from chemical breakdown and yes, appearance.

None of them saw your yard. Their business is to opine what is best, not what might make you happy. If you feel that reflects on you, or you feel my post reflects on you, I don't know what to say to comfort you. It is not personal.

[philnpat]

As far as flammability is concerned, pine straw will catch fire a lot easier than rubber mulch.
Telling someone that their yard will look like a dump is downright mean.

[rdhdleo]

why generalize? the original poster asked for pros and cons. The thread is about pros and cons. We are not talking about your yard only. No offense, but most professional horticulturists, which company I am not in, state objections based on lack of nutrient value, smell, flammability, toxic runoff from chemical breakdown and yes, appearance.

None of them saw your yard. Their business is to opine what is best, not what might make you happy. If you feel that reflects on you, or you feel my post reflects on you, I don't know what to say to comfort you. It is not personal.

kitty no one is questioning Pro's and Con's you went beyond that implying peoples yards would look like a recycle dump. I did not take it personally just objected to that statement and how it came across. Seems lately caustic remarks are the norm around here, so sad.

[HappyVillager]

Ok, here's the scoop if you are looking for rubber mulch, here are two local sources:

Browne Distributors in Fruitland Park (352-326-8461) has Everlast brand in 30 pound bags (1.15 cubic feet) for $9/bag. They have 7 colors.

Home Depot has Vigoro brand in 0.8cf bags for $5.95 per bag. They have two colors (cedar red and mocha brown).

When you do the math, Browne's ends up being $7.92/cf and Home Depot is $7.43/cf (unless you are retired military....then you get a 10% discount making it $6.70/cf). So unless you want colors like Ocean Blue or Bright Green, Home Depot wins out.

So we just put down 40 bags from Home Depot (after putting down weed matting) .... (Yes, we need some ibuprofen!)

We love it! We got the cedar red to match our new curbing and think its absolutely beautiful ... and it has a 12 year guarantee.

If you love gardening, go with the real mulch...it breaks down quickly, enhancing the soil ...making things grow better and faster....especially weeds!

If you would rather spend your time doing things other than pulling weeds and putting down new mulch, go with the rubber mulch.

[nitehawk]

Sams is the cheapest

[kittygilchrist]

As far as flammability is concerned, pine straw will catch fire a lot easier than rubber mulch.
Telling someone that their yard will look like a dump is downright mean.

I apologized for hurting someone's feelings. My comment states exactly how I really feel about rubber mulch. I would never say this directly to someone with it in their yard. However in response to someone openly asking for pros/cons as the OP did, I told the truth about my view of it.

[philnpat]

Cons: it's ugly, it stinks, contributes nothing organically to soil.

Pros: it gets a few tires out of the dump

Con: want your yard to look like a recycled dump?

Kitty...
You're inferring that if rubber mulch is used, your yard will look like a recycle dump. That's akin to telling someone that they have an ugly baby...just sayin.

[kittygilchrist]

Kitty...
You're inferring that if rubber mulch is used, your yard will look like a recycle dump. That's akin to telling someone that they have an ugly baby...just sayin.

The connection between rubber mulch and babies is that rubber mulch in playgrounds is said by experts to be dangerous to children.
Regarding its appearance, the fact that a toxic substance can be made to resemble a natural one does not fool me into seeing it as beautiful, rather it causes me to feel angry that it is sold to unsuspecting buyers tricked by the ruse of a deceptive attempt to make it look pretty.

http://www.gardendesign.com/mulch-mistakes
http://www.natureswayresources.com/DocsPdfs/RubberMulch.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F3FnQM1dms

[dewilson58]

Cons: it's ugly, it stinks, contributes nothing organically to soil.

Pros: it gets a few tires out of the dump

Con: want your yard to look like a recycled dump?


I have not used it, but if people use it and like it............GOOD FOR THEM RECYCLING and helping our environment.

[kittygilchrist]

I have not used it, but if people use it and like it............GOOD FOR THEM RECYCLING and helping our environment.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but getting tires out of the dump, shredding them and putting them on your yard isn't exactly...you know...

[rdhdleo]

I hate to beat a dead horse, but getting tires out of the dump, shredding them and putting them on your yard isn't exactly...you know...

Apparently you do like beating a dead horse, so to speak.....

[ivanhoe]

I've found that rubber mulch will not float in a rain storm if you do not have weed matting underneath.
Apparently the matting retards the water drainage and causes flooding that carries away the mulch.

We discovered this the hard way of course.

[gomoho]

I've found that rubber mulch will not float in a rain storm if you do not have weed matting underneath.
Apparently the matting retards the water drainage and causes flooding that carries away the mulch.

We discovered this the hard way of course.

Ivanhoe - I believe if you have weed matting anything, with the exception of rock will float. During the completion of a landscape job in my backyard we had a Florida downpour and sure enough, mulch floating like in a lake. Had the landscaper take out the matting I didn't want in the first place and have
no problem now. I have matting with rock in the front and have more weeds than in the rear with no matting and a good layer of mulch.

[travelguy]

rubber mulch smells like tires when the temperatures are over 90 degrees. i suppose you will get used to the odor.

[rdhdleo]

We have matting under ours and no water retention and our mulch does not float away ever. We sit out in our lanai right next to where we have rubber mulch right outside and there has never been a smell ever! Maybe it's the brand or type, I don't know but we have none of these problems. We've had it for going on 3 years now. Guess we're just lucky. Happy gardening everyone!

[HappyVillager]

We put down a total of 40 bags of rubber mulch between yesterday and this morning on top of professional grade weed matting. Absolutely love the look! Definitely noticed a strong smell of tires as it was coming out of the bags but after it was out in the air, only noticed a faint smell that wasn't offensive to us. When it poured raining today...it REALLY rained hard, i was worried it would all float onto my sidewalk like my previous cypress mulch always did. Nope. Not even one piece was out of place. So happy with this stuff!

And whoever mentioned that Sams was cheapest is correct. Checked it out today before having some of their delicious pizza and its $7.47 per 1.25 cubic foot bag. That equates to $5.98 per cubic foot and is the winner for least expensive.

Obviously, everyone has their own opinions and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but this stuff is just about PERFECT for our tastes and low-maintenance lifestyle.

Highly recommend.

[rdhdleo]

We put down a total of 40 bags of rubber mulch between yesterday and this morning on top of professional grade weed matting. Absolutely love the look! Definitely noticed a strong smell of tires as it was coming out of the bags but after it was out in the air, only noticed a faint smell that wasn't offensive to us. When it poured raining today...it REALLY rained hard, i was worried it would all float onto my sidewalk like my previous cypress mulch always did. Nope. Not even one piece was out of place. So happy with this stuff!

And whoever mentioned that Sams was cheapest is correct. Checked it out today before having some of their delicious pizza and its $7.47 per 1.25 cubic foot bag. That equates to $5.98 per cubic foot and is the winner for least expensive.

Obviously, everyone has their own opinions and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but this stuff is just about PERFECT for our tastes and low-Enjoy your maintenance lifestyle.

Highly recommend.

Glad you are happy with it. We get ours at Sams Club also. Enjoy!