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Ugh, I can't imagine using rubber mulch. Covering your yard with old tires, whether they're shredded or not is just unattractive and not exactly environmentally friendly. Those things can burn out of control if ignited.
I have read that using rubber mulch is one of the most environmentally unfriendly things one can do. Over time the rubber breaks down and the chemicals leach into the soil, the same as any other environmental disaster. I would not want to eat anything that is grown in soil anywhere near rubber mulch. As a poster above said, rubber mulch should only be used on blacktop playgrounds underneath exercise equipment to provide a softer landing place for those on the exercise equipment.
Yeah, I don't really like rubber mulch. I'm just bummed that cedar costs more.....
Of course it would be my preference for the mulch that's NOT on sale.
But, I suppose people in he11 want ice water too.
Apple brand computers cost more than other PC's, iPhones cost more than androids, Wranglers cost more than no name jeans, organic produce costs more than non-organic, etc., etc., etc.
As presented, the question is of an extra $40 - $50 A YEAR (the price of cedar versus hardwood) or an extra $80-$90 A YEAR (the cost of cedar mulch versus no mulch purchased at all, since you did the rubber thing in an earlier year). I can't imagine such a small amount of money mattering. If your budget is that tight, I apologize. I can't believe it, though...does $90 a year really matter to anyone in the USA??? How can it possibly? And regarding the price difference between cedar and hardwood...it is not even $50 A YEAR. Well anyway...rubber mulch is ugly, hot, and smelly and tacky. NO. Buy the hardwood mulch or cedar mulch. You can't take that $50 a year with you. Happy Gardening.
Westside, you're right, of course. you really are...
Friends are often on me about fretting over small amounts of money...but small amounts become big amounts over time....
And I watch the small amounts AND the larger ones...
As I've said my only real frustration is that CEDAR is never (HARDLY ever) put on sale?
We know the answer....because they don't have to, people who want cedar will pay the extra for it.
Well, people who want mulch will pay for it too, and yet stores put the hardwood stuff on sale, and it's already cheaper.
Instead of putting the already cheaper mulch on special buy, why not keep that price where it is and put the higher priced cedar on sale.
I bought 7 bags today....and need 14 more.....
hardwood on sale....4 bags for $12, so three dollars a bag...
cedar -- $3.75 a bag
So I bought 4 bags of hardwood, and 3 bags of cedar.
Over the next few weeks when I feel like I'll get the rest.....
If you have dogs, or dogs will have access to your mulched areas, don't use rubber! There has been quite a lot of press coverage about it in the veterinary and dog communities. If a dog chews on or swallows hardwood or cedar mulch, it will pass on through. Rubber mulch will plug the dog up, with possibly fatal results. Or at the least a big surgery bill, if you're lucky enough to figure out what's going on in time to try to fix it.
My other thought may not be applicable to your area, but it's worth mentioning. Our local landfill (I'm in Northern California) recycles yard waste and clean wood products into landscape mulch which they then sell. I don't know any more than that . . . I see people coming out of the landfill with trucks loaded with the mulch, but I've never used it so I can't speak to the price or any other aspect. But it might be worth investigating. It appears just like any other mulch, but, again, I've never been up close and personal with it.
I feel your pain . . . I'm going to have to re-mulch this year too. I may just have to check out my local landfill myself!
It used to have to be bought only bagged but I've seen a few places now in our area that sell it by the yard, just like other mulches.
It's probably pricier than any of the others though. I haven't had to add/renew any in any significant quantities for quite a few years, so I'm not sure.
We got rubber mulch and LOVED IT. None of the issues listed by previous posters was a problem - no weird smell in hot weather, it didn't look fake, it allowed water to easily flow to the plants,
And then. THEN!...the tree leaves began to come down in the fall. And that's when we realized that we'd be raking up leaves AND all that beautiful, expensive rubber mulch.
We'll never do rubber mulch again.
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