Color Mulch Frequently Asked Questions

Colored much offers enhanced UV inhibitors that prevent fade to grey over regular aged mulch. Vivid colors available also add depth to your garden beds!

The colorants in our colored mulch are safe for people, animals, and the environment. In fact, recent independent laboratory studies looked at colored mulch very closely to determine its toxicity.

In the studies, toxicity is tested using a variety of reaction types — from acute oral, skin, and inhalation toxicity to eye and skin irritation. The results place the colorant used in colored mulch into the lowest and safest level of toxicity possible — Category IV ― the same level as the sugar you put in your coffee (which is not to say we recommend consuming it). By contrast, table salt and baking soda have higher levels of toxicity.

Bulk mulch sold by the cubic yard can be calculated by measuring your garden beds length and width. You multiply these two numbers with your height(?/12) and divide you answer by the magical number 27 to get your conversion to cubic yards.

Alternatively, you can click here and plug in your numbers to our handy mulch calculator below!

We don’t make Gold Colored Mulch because there is no safe way to make it locally! We refuse to use pallets, C&D and fresh logs & chips. When using pallets and construction debris you just can’t be sure what harmful chemicals, heavy metals, or debris are present. Many pallets come from over-seas where the pesticide and chemical use is not as regulated. In order to make appealing gold mulch, colorant needs to be introduced in freshly ground logs or chips. This sounds good, however you then skip the heat generation step. After our product is ground we let the product sit and generate heat within the pile destroying anything harmful for safety. Since a byproduct of the “cooking” process is a slightly darker product, were just not able to color it back to a lighter shade. If your set on a lighter color mulch consider our Brown Colored Mulch.

In the manufacturing process of colored mulch, water is a crucial dispersant. Both colorant and water are injected to encapsulate the much for the best possible appearance. A cure time is needed for the water to evaporate. While mulch significantly cures in our holding bins, it is best practice to avoid mulching on days where you are expecting rain within the next ~24 hours. If your mulch is already delivered and you think it might rain, just keep it in pile form and mulch after the storm is over!

Colored mulch will not stain a properly sealed driveway.  If you have missed a sealing treatment on a concrete driveway then it’s best to have a tarp handy. Place it near the drop spot and we will handle the rest.  If you forgot to supply a tarp, you can hose down the area or pressure wash if required.  Rainfall usualy takes care of this on its own, however. Usually our clients do not use tarps for ashphalt driveways, however if you supply a tarp we will gladly spread it out for you!

Cubic Yard Calculator

How to Mulch

  1. Prepare for Mulch Delivery
    1. Concrete or Pavers- Tarp recommended. You will want to leave a tarp on the driveway for the delivery man.
    2. Asphalt – Properly sealed driveways do not need a tarp, but if you supply one we will gladly spread it out and dump on top!
  2. Edge Your Beds – Take a nice sharp shovel and make a 3″ channel around your garden beds. This will keep much from spilling on the grass.
  3. Clean Garden Beds – Loosen hard clumps of soil and old mulch. Remove or till leaves and tree waste.  Pull Weeds.
  4. Pre Treatments – Apply weed killer if wanted. (Proper mulch thickness will reduce your need for pre-emergent)
  5. Transfer Mulch Into Beds– Use a wheel barrow or 5 gallon buckets to transfer your mulch into little piles around your garden.
  6. Spread Mulch – Spread mulch by hand or garden shovels/rakes being careful to lift leaves of small plants(such as hostas). Make sure mulch is around 3″ thick and surrounding all plants. You will want to slope beds away from the house, fill small voids and level a little with mulch; this is all good!
  7. Allow Colored Mulch to Cure – For the next 24 hours colored mulch should not see precipitation.  Turn off any sprinklers and check the weather forecast. If it does rain, you can lightly till mulch to turn it over to restore vibrant colors.
  8. Clean tools and driveway – While not usually needed, incase of color leaching you can use a garden hose or pressure washer to clean driveway and tools.
  9. Maintenance – You can lightly till mulch to bring up vibrant colors again. Breaking up matting or compaction also helps with rainfall retention and aeration.
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