Rubber Mulch
 

We are starting to plan landscaping and are very interested in using rubber mulch.

I know some people love it and some hate it. I'm only interested in hearing replies from those who have actually used rubber mulch in their own landscaping.

If you are willing to PM your address to me, I would love to drive by and see it in your landscaping. I can't tell from my "drive bys" if I'm seeing natural or rubber mulch. Handling it also, it is difficult to tell the difference.

Our goal is to put it down and forget it. Please let me know how you like it!

Again, please! Replies from those who have rubber mulch in their landscaping only.

Thanks so much!!!

No replies? Come on now, someone out there has to have rubber mulch!!

Perhaps posting under the "landscaping" forum would help...it's always better to be specific...well...not always...

We have rubber mulch and have had it since Feb of 08. We've never regretted it. Highly recommend and I'm sending you a pm

I have rubber mulch and love it. My address is 1981 Glenarden Path

The Worst "mulch" in the Wold!
 

I used Brown Rubber Mulch to begin with,,, I got really tired of it blowing around with a good wind, but the big issue was with heavy rain it would float over the landscape curb we have and into the yard. Happened all the time. We switched to large Bark Rock. little more expensive,, but so much better. Just MHO. :beer3:

We have rubber mulch in part of our landscaping only because initially we did rock and didn't know about rubber mulch. I hate the rock now when weeds come up and even with weed cloth they do it's horrible to try and weed! My husband and I have used the rubber mulch in the rear of our home and love it. Ours has never floated away or blown away but that may vary I guess depending on how you lot is laid out and how open it is. Ours does not smell like many say it does and we love the look. Oh and our plants do awesome with it!

Rdhdleo, would you be willing to pm me your address or some photos. I would truly appreciate it! Also where did you buy your mulch??
Thanks so much!!

Dotti, some of it contains known carcinogens. Here is some info. EHHI :: Exposures to Recycled Tire Rubber Crumbs Used on Synthetic Turf Fields, Playgrounds and as Gardening Mulch

Dotti..did u receive my pm? Contrary to what I have read about "floating away" I would guess it depends on the size. As I said earlier, had ours since 2008 and none of it has floated or blown away.

As far as weed or grass growing in rock,, it will do the same in rubber mulch. Rock or rubber does not matter. The only difference is with the rubber mulch easier to move out of the way to pull the weeds. But if you are spraying weed killer it will not matter.

We had the big mulch, brown in color, I ended up digging it all up and gave it away. My neighbor is in the process of digging theirs out now.

It is what it is,,, maybe a little cheaper depending on how much you need. I got the bark rock for 90.00 a yard. Made a big difference.

If you have the landscape curb around the house with gutters coming into them,, the water can move the rubber mulch around,, I use to get the rubber mulch piled up in spots,, Even with just a hard rain and floods your flower beds it will move the mulch. If you use a leave blower to blow out the beds for grass and so on, the weed blower will blow the mulch around much easier than rock.

I know people that have it and like it, but then again a lot of friends that have it have it pulled out for rock.

I agree,,, The rubber mulch does not make your plants grow any better than rock.

Here is some reading on rubber mulch.

http://www.natureswayresources.com/D...ubberMulch.pdf

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...ulch-vs-14899/

Is Rubber Mulch Safe for Plants?

I was not meaning to say my plants did well "because" of rubber mulch, just stating that in spite of my using it they did well. Sorry you were confused! Again to each their own, weeding is more difficult with rock than mulch which is why I like it better also. In our back area we do not have the concrete curbing just the landscape border most use and still no floating or blowing but again I said that is probably because it is a more sheltered area in the back. There's no right or wrong go with what you personally like.

Cfrance, thanks for this post. I know there are chemical concerns, but it sounds as if most of the testing was done in the factories which manufacture the mulch. I would think that the closed environment would make the affects much more of a concern.

I can't help but think that once this is put in place and subject to the elements for days, months, years, that the possible health concerns would be minimal. Of course I can't know for sure.

I am looking at the wind and sun outdoors today and it makes me think the off-gassing etc, would dissipate very quickly. Just a guess on my part........

I was thinking of it in terms of whether you have a pet or children that might be playing in it. I saw something on television about children developing cancers whose suspected cause is from playing on it in playgrounds.

Probably neither of those situations would pertain to you, but I thought I'd mention it as an FYI.

We want to do a "one and done" approach to mulch. So that means stone/rock or rubber. We hear comments that the stone gets too hot and burns some of the plants in the heat of the summer.

We also like the recycling aspect of using rubber mulch. Lord knows the two of us have left enough of a carbon foot print already! Nice idea to recycle tires in a beautiful, useful way.

We are just just gathering information at this point. All comments are greatly appreciated!! Especially PMs with addresses to see it used in your yards. Keep them coming!

Thank you, Thank you!!

I understand where Bonanza is coming from with this post. Those of us that love to garden and work in the yard are constantly trying to amend the "sand" we are working with in The Villages. Top soil is expensive and even if you bring it in it needs to be refreshed and rebuilt and and mulch is the only hope for that. Even if you don't bring topsoil in using mulch instead of the other options helps to at least build soil. But if gardening isn't your thing, not to worry, the plants seem to hang in there even under less favorable conditions of rock or rubber mulch.

I truly understand. My husband likes to garden and our garden is nothing elaborate but we have for the most part chosen wisely in what we have planted. Everything is frost/cold hardy. Our gardenias bushes/trees have gotten over 5ft. tall and produce hundreds of blooms several times a year, our rose bushes/dwarf trees also do extremely well. We used minimal topsoil and fertilize very little. I guess perhaps we have been lucky but everything thrives. We wanted to minimize the work and this has worked out great for us. I wish everyone happy gardening!

Gardenias! Love 'em!! I thought it was too cold here. That's great that yours do so well. I may have to plant some. As a kid, we had gardenias planted outside my bedroom window. Their fragerance was lovely! I'll bet your yard is just beautiful.

Thanks Dottie. Our yard is nothing special but we enjoy it. We bought 3 of the Gardenia plants at a flea market in Sanford years ago and never knew they could grow so big! Then added another we bought at one of the nurseries out here not sure which one though. They all thrive like crazy and are frost hardy. The ones we got in Sanford did exceptionally well and yes they smell awesome!