What Mulch Colors Should You Choose for the Prettiest Garden?

Find out how mulch colors can make a big difference to the look and health of your garden.

You’ve got plenty of options when it comes to garden mulch colors, both natural and dyed. In addition to the many practical benefits of mulch, such as conserving moisture, discouraging weeds, and protecting soil, mulch has aesthetic benefits as well. For example, laying down a uniform mulch helps tie multiple garden beds together visually for a more cohesive look. Choose the best mulch color for your garden with these expert tips.

Meet Our Expert

Aaron Steil is a consumer horticulture extension specialist at Iowa State University.

What Color Mulch Is Best?

Color plays a big role in the look of a garden, whether it comes from plants, structures, or even mulch. Depending on the color, mulch can blend seamlessly into the landscape, complement or contrast with the color of a structure or piece of garden art, help plants pop visually or make a statement all on its own.

“Aesthetics wise, I tend to lean towards more muted colors because I don’t want the mulch to upstage the rest of my garden,” says Aaron Steil, consumer horticulture extension specialist at Iowa State University, where he works with Extension offices to answer home gardening questions. “Brighter mulches would work potentially in areas where your goal is to create something that is very eye catching.”

Although he personally prefers natural mulches, Steil says dyed mulches have their place. “I can see using dyed mulches in certain garden styles, especially those where the mulch does play a role in the design,” Steil says. “Landscapes that have relatively sparse plantings or an area along a sidewalk, where you don’t have plants but you do want a border—dyed mulch could potentially serve that purpose.”

It really boils down to personal preference. “Some of us do like those bright colors and like the idea of having it in their landscape and complementing whatever it is that may be growing,” he says. “The customer is always right in terms of taste. If that’s the look you’re going for, [dyed mulches] can be great options.”




Choosing Mulch Colors

Ready to pick a color? Ask yourself these questions.

What are you growing? Foliage plants: Darker foliage plants look better against a light-colored mulch, while variegated plants pop against a darker backdrop. Flowers: white and yellow flowers are set off by a darker mulch.

What does your home look like? Consider the style and type of materials used in the construction. Brown mulch can soften red brick, black will add dramatic flair to contemporary designs or houses with gray siding, and red stands out against lighter sidings such as white, cream, and beige.

What is your climate like? Darker mulches retain more heat, so they can be useful in cooler climates when you want the soil to stay warm and benefit plant growth. They’re not so good for hot, dry climates; use lighter-colored mulch in those conditions.

Dyed Mulches

Here are the most common dyed mulches and what to pair them with.

Black Mulch

Black mulch is dramatic, elegant, and refined. It can define borders and edges or set off garden art or features such as a fountain. Black mulch highlights bright flowers as well as chartreuse, silver, and variegated foliage plants. Because of its added heat retention, avoid using it in hot, sunny areas or around delicate plants.

Brown Mulch

Brown mulch is simple, subtle, and fool-proof because it mimics the color of soil. A universal color that goes with all shades of green, it is perfect for naturalistic and rustic gardens. The neutral look makes a fine canvas for all plants including busy cottage gardens.

Gold Mulch

Gold mulch is warm, yet vibrant. It is a nice backdrop for green and dark-green foliage plants but does not work well with chartreuse foliage. It also harmonizes with vibrant flower colors, allowing them to take the spotlight.

Red Mulch

Red mulch adds a vibrant touch by itself or in concert with the color of structures and plants. It goes well with lighter colors and in rock gardens. It also complements the most common color found in the garden: green. Often found in commercial applications, red mulch can make for an eye-catching picture, but it generally looks less natural than earth-tone mulches.




Is Dyed Mulch Safe?

One question about dyed mulches is whether they contain any harmful chemicals. The dyes themselves are not toxic. It’s the source of the wood that is a potential pitfall.

“Colored mulches are often salvaged wood products [like chipped pallets] that are then dyed,” Steil says. “There comes a risk of getting materials that aren’t very well suited to the garden, in particular certain types of treated lumber that may be used as a base for the mulch and then dyed.”

A chief concern is copper chrome arsenate (CCA), a wood preservative in treated wood. Although it was phased out in 2003, Steil says CCA could still show up in salvaged materials used in making certain mulches.

“We don’t want to introduce that stuff to the soil… anytime we can avoid it, it is best.” Steil recommends looking for packaging containing a seal from the Mulch & Soil Council, which certifies mulches don’t contain CCA-treated wood contaminants.

Natural Mulches

There are plenty of natural mulch options without dyes. Popular offerings include:

Cedar Mulch

Cedar mulch breaks down slowly and looks good in practically all situations. It starts out with a warm honey-like look and fades to silvery gray. “One of the reasons that I like cedar mulch is because it is a very pleasant color and it fades to a very nice color as well,” says Steil. Bonus: it also smells great.

Pine Bark Chips

Pine bark chips are fragments of pine bark with a rich hue and pleasant piney aroma. It looks great in natural landscapes and around acid-loving plants such as evergreens, rhododendrons, and oaks, but it tends to migrate after a heavy rain, so it’s not good for slopes.

Cocoa Bean Shells

Cocoa bean shells are compact, uniform, and dark brown in color. They give a garden a rich, chocolatey aroma, especially after rain. Cocoa bean shells offer a neat and tidy look, perfect for highlighting smaller specimen plants.

Cocoa bean shells are a by-product of cocoa production. Because cocoa contains theobromine, a naturally occurring compound in chocolate that is toxic to canines, dog owners should look for products that are tested and certified theobromine free.

Wood Chips

Wood chips are available for free from some municipalities, utility companies, and tree services. However, the quality of the material can fluctuate and may contain leaf and twig debris. While the extra organic matter is beneficial to the garden, the mix of materials is not as uniform or “clean looking” as bagged mulch. The color can also differ.

“You certainly can get a lot of variation in color, depending on what wood product was used to create the mulch,” Steil says. “They will change color over time—they almost always become more muted—so I definitely prefer to start with something that is darker in color. But sometimes you can’t beat the price of free!”

Mulching Tips

A thick layer of mulch makes an effective weed barrier, but using too much can suffocate plant roots, depriving them of oxygen and inviting fungal growth and root rot. “Put it down at an appropriate depth, not too deep, usually 2 to 4 inches is all that you need,” says Steil. “Typically, putting landscape fabric underneath the mulch doesn’t help with weed suppression and actually can allow the mulch to more easily blow or wash away, so I would skip that step.”

No matter which type of mulch you use, if it’s organic, it will need to be replenished regularly. This is particularly true with those that are dyed, as the dyes fade in sunlight and wood eventually disintegrates.

“The dyes that are used to dye this mulch aren’t toxic dyes, so we don’t have to worry about them leaching or anything like that, but they will fade over time just being in the sun,” Steil says. “All mulches will need to be replenished over time and that’s a good thing. We want mulch to break down some and help contribute to better soil health.”

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Originally published by: What Mulch Colors Should You Choose for the Prettiest Garden?. Read the original article here: https://www.bhg.com/mulch-colors-8703923.

Author: Luke Miller