Rubber Mulch?
 

Is the use of rubber mulch a good idea in TV?

I wouldn't use it. Too permanent and doesn't look "natural". I prefer pine straw or pine bark nuggets.

We have the rubber mulch in St. Augustine and love it. Nothing has come through and it doesn't lose its color or disappear. We will use that in the Villages, or rock. I heard that the straw holds ticks but I don't know that for sure.

Does rubber mulch have a rubber odor? I want to remove the straw from our front yard but not sure about using rock.

Rubber Mulch
 

Our neighbors have rubber much. True, it doesn't lose color, but when we get heavy rains it floats into our yard and I have to pick it up and toss back. Also, several months ago I kept smelling something and thought it was mold somewhere on our lanai. Couldn't find anything and finally realized it was the neighbors rubber mulch. Every time it gets wet (rain, sprinklers) it really smells strongly of rubber.

thanks for the feedback. I think i'll stay away from the rubber mulch.

i would suggest you get more than one opinion before you make up your mind, we have friends with rubber mulch and they have not had any of the experiences noted by moongirl. i suspect moongirls neighbors may have bought an inferior product. our friends love theres and we are there all the time and have never smelled rubber....gn

We bought ours at Lowes, and it didn't smell. Didn't even run away with the raindrops, but I guess that depends on the pitch of the land. I do think a snake might have liked the warmth of it, though, as I did see one slither underneath.

Maybe moongirl's neighbor used chopped up foam rubber. I'll still plan on doing research. I wonder if this rubber mulch is from old tires.

This topic has come up several times and I have replied to each and I certainly don't mind repeating my positive comments again as we love having rubber mulch. We've had it down now for 3 years and have absolutely no complaints with it. It does not float, it does not smell regardless how it gets wet and have never found and critters nesting. We purchased our mocha brown rubber mulch at Brown's Distributors in Fruitland Park. We are BIG fans of rubber mulch :)

We tried the rubber mulch and didn't like it at all. It would float on the walkways, driveways, on the grass and became real messy. Had it removed and went to stones.

A neighbor of our had it as well and removed it for the same reason we removed ours. Maybe quality does have a lot to do with it, yet we had a professional landscaper do the job. Our neighbor did not have the same landscaper as us, so I guess we can't blame the landscapers, huh? Or maybe?

Thanks Kaydee.

a neighbor has rubber mulch and it looks great.
It's much cheaper than stone.
I think I read it's 5 times heavier than wood mulch.
I have wood mulch and it really doesn't blow around or wash that much at all,
but it does a little at times.

I think it's not a bad option, but stone/rubber/wood all have some pro and con.
Good luck.

Rubber Mulch
 

My neighbors' rubber mulch is a reddish brown material and looks like chopped up tires. The chunks are different sizes and shapes. Don't know if there are different types. It was put down by a "supposedly" professional landscaper along with the "poured" curbing. Almost all of it has washed from his side yard to ours during the last couple of rains we've had. And the rubber smell is always there. Sounds like from other posts, there may be some types/brands that don't smell/float.

Our neighbors to the east had rubber mulch in Emmalee Villlas. It would wash out into and down the street in a heavy rain. Methinks there must be varying grades of rubber mulch because some replies here state that their rubber mulch doesn't wash away.

Here in Maine we have massive beds around our dwelling. We have to buy 10 cubic yards just to refresh the mulch every 3-4 years or so. It is a lot of work and costs over $30/yd.

A high quality rubber mulch that stays put and doesn't smell seems like a good investment.