I think this stuff is new this year, or I’ve never noticed it before - Ordinary shredded wood mulch tinted dark black. Ho Depot had two brands, a cheepie that had a lot of gray, and a more expensive name brand (Scott’s I think) that was jet black. I bought one bag to try out near the roadbed of the railroad It looks great, just like dirt from a distance!
I’ll try and get some pictures in between raindrops this weekend, before the annuals I just planted die 
Jon
You sure it ain’t shredded tires?
That’s what they use for footing at my wife’s horse arena.
You know that gave me a great idea…next time they replace the footing, I’ll try some as mulch.
jb
Jon Radder said:
I think this stuff is new this year, or I've never noticed it before - Ordinary shredded wood mulch tinted dark black. Ho Depot had two brands, a cheepie that had a lot of gray, and a more expensive name brand (Scott's I think) that was jet black. I bought one bag to try out near the roadbed of the railroad It looks great, just like dirt from a distance!I’ll try and get some pictures in between raindrops this weekend, before the annuals I just planted die
Jon
Ken Brunt said:Hi Ken -
Bought some of the black stuff last year by accident. I was informed by my son who is employed by a rather large wholesale nursery that the stuff isn't the best thing to use around plants. It obsorbs a lot of heat in the sun and depending on the company produceing the stuff, the dye may not be all the good for the plants either. He rattled off a few other non-layman reasons why it's wasn't so good, but it was all greek to me.................since he's the expert, I usually go with his opinion......;)
Well, I can kill plants without any help. My “garden railroad” so far has only about 4 sq. ft. of garden that I am responsible for. Last year I planted some nice small leaf flowering annuals in this bed and as soon as the flowers that came on them dropped, they never flowered again, and didn’t grow well at all. Last year I used peat moss as a dirt cover in that bed.
I went ahead and used the black stuff and tried the same flowers again this year. We’ll see. It is Scott’s brand and it is a shredded wood product. I’ll read the bag again for any warnings about heat or plant problems. This bed gets very little sun (probably why the flowers fail), so the heat issue may not be a big deal.
Jon
The Agway near here got that in last year, and calls it “Black Forest Mulch”. We got 6 yards delivered last year, and have another 4 sitting in the driveway right now for this year. I like it much better than that flourescent orange junk they have.
I have used what they call in these parts shredded hardwood mulch which is very dark in color as I think it contains a lot of bark. It tends to fade some with time but I like the color better than cypress mulch and this stuff eventually breaks down to improve the soil. Occasionly it will get spots of mold on it in places where it doesn’t get and sun but they can be removed or turned under.
Most of that colored crap is junk wood, shredded pallets and such, then it’s run through a mixer where the die is added. Read the bags, if it says shredded BARK mulch, yes you can claim it ads nutrients. If it’s shredded heartwood there’s barely any nutrients in it, unless its oak. It’s recomended that you wear gloves and not use it unless the sun has time to dry if for atleast 2 hrs before rain. If your mulch is growing mold, i’d scrape it off and get rid of it!! There’s a difference between rotting and decomposting mulch, ones good ones bad, do I need to tell you which is which?
I have used “BLack Forest” or “Tripple ground” mulch for over 20 years. I use to run a Lawn care business and that is about all I would use. It is almost as fine a dirt, very black in color and breaks down in about one season. Not real good at holding ground so if you on a hill side not what I would use. Can’t beat it for looks. It realy sets everything off very nicely. As for plant, know your plants and if they even like to be mulched at all. The biggest proble I ahve seen over the years is people trying to grow shade plants in sun and sun plants in shade. I would read the tags and don’t buy just because they look good at the store. Ran into lots of that. Just love it when a customer would say " But It looks so nice at the store"
If I ever get my Railroad to the point of adding the garden part I will must likely use the tripple ground.
Geoff
We have several trees, so an investment in a shredder many years ago had merit. All our mulch is home-grown; the only ingredient we had to add that wasn’t provided by the garden itself was patience.
Incidentally, since I got a bunch of you pro landscapers listening, what do ya call the black shredded rubber mulch? The kind they use in kids playgorunds and such? I was wanting to experiment with some as ballast in my raised yard, won’t be around plants and sech…
Bart Salmons said:Ground Up Tires???????????????????
Incidentally, since I got a bunch of you pro landscapers listening, what do ya call the black shredded rubber mulch? The kind they use in kids playgorunds and such? I was wanting to experiment with some as ballast in my raised yard, won't be around plants and sech......
Go with the Scotts brand if you use the rubber mulch, ther was an article about a year or so ago on tv, they compared several brands, scotts won, the color stays well. Although I’m curious as to why you would go with rubber mulch which is relatively expensive $15-20 a bag, when you could get 1-1a stone for $10 a TON If you don’t happen to have a quarry around check with local paver/wall installers they should be able to deliver if you can’t get it yourself. Crusher fines tend to wash away if that’s your problem, the 1-1a are the next size grade up and tend to hold their ground better!
As for mulching with this stuff around plants, fundamentally it’s a bad idea, It tends to heat up the ground, which evaporates water in the soil and it provides no nutrients. Stick with the bark mulches for around plants
Mark
Landscaper w/ degress in Horticulture (AAS) and Landscape Architecture (BLA)
The area I was planning on using it is fairly small, but its on a raised frame with hardware cloth and weed barrier covering the space between the track. Rock is HEAVY and its the wrong color…