Shredded rubber mulch is 10 bucks a bag at Lowes.
How well does it hold up? Does the color fade? I’ve seen it in red and dark brown. The red is very pretty in beds.
This is for around a bed of shrubs. I still wonder about chemicals leaching out? How that will effect the plants and environment.
The big advantage is longevity. I shouldn’t have to replace the shredded rubber mulch for 10 or more years. Wood mulch often floats away during heavy storms.
But, I haven’t used it before and wanted to hear from people that have.
Around here, I’ve really only seen it on playgrounds. It seems to hold up pretty well but there may be a reason no one is putting it on their lawn or around their shrubs. It’s either wood or rocks.
I also see no reason it wouldn’t float away same as wood during heavy storms. Hey, even the rocks sometimes wander during a gully-washer.
I’m pretty sure the commercial landscapers use it at shopping centers and big stores. There’s always greenscape areas around the parking lots.
I see a lot of red mulch. I assume it’s shredded rubber.
Red mulch is usually wood that’s been dyed that color.
Mulch from organic material (wood, pecan or cocoa hulls, peanut shells, etc.) breaks down and helps regenerate the soil, in addition to encouraging microbial & microscopic biodiversity.
Shredded rubber doesn’t do any of that, although it does suppress weeds & retain moisture like any other soil covering.
Rubber floats, so it’ll still wash away.
This guy may be the ultimate rubber mulch fan.
*"It’s stupid and it stinks – literally. On a hot summer day, it smells like hot tires. Don’t know about you, but Eau de NASCAR is not a fragrance I enjoy wafting through my garden.
Secondly, colored mulch looks horrible. Put down purple or orange mulch in your yard and you might as well wear a T-shirt that reads, “Ig-nant & Do’nt Care.”
Thirdly, natural mulch slowly decomposing over time is a GOOD thing. Adding organic matter to the soil loosens it, increases nutrient and water retention, and feeds earthworms and beneficial soil microbes.
Finally, rubber mulch isn’t a healthy choice. Like everything else, it does break down, and when it does, it leaches a witch’s brew of heavy metals and toxic chemicals into the soil and ground water. Rubber mulch is also a fire hazard – it burns at a much higher temperature than natural mulches and belches toxic smoke.
So forget rubber mulch. That extra bounce it puts in your step just ain’t worth it."*
Discarding rubber into the environment some would consider littering, made worse by its non-biodegradable nature. Not saying I agree with that totally, but that is another side, you are putting something down that practically can never be gotten rid of (though some can be manually removed). I would think about this part before going this route, do I want that (or some of that stuff) stuff there forever, do I want the job down the road of manually removing it and soil to dispose of it, or just leave it in the ground?
Playparks usually have the government’s backing to 1: provide the safe play space, but also 2 the funding and equipment needed to clean it up once it’s done, including removing all the dirt and refilling the dirt, if such concerns are raised.
I can’t speak for the rest of the country but, here in the Midwest, we (I work for a commercial landscaper) never use the stuff and I never see it specified in project manuals. If I did see it spec’d we’d probably laugh at it and try to talk the general contractor out of it. It’s hardwood mulch all the way, unless they want to get fancy with shredded pine.
The only time I see it used on commercial projects is for play surfacing. Even then, most plans call for poured-in-place rubberized surfacing rather than rubber mulch.
Regarding the longevity aspect - the fact that it may last ten years doesn’t mean it will do its job for ten years. A lot of ‘stuff’ will find its way onto the mulched bed, leaves, grass clippings, and more dust & dirt than you might imagine. Within a year or two you will have to deal with weeds popping up in the rubber mulch, and then what do you do? Wood mulch just becomes part of the soil, and you can add to it. Rubber mulch stays intact, so you either pile more on top or remove the existing layer and replace it.
Also economically its not that great, either. Your “ten bucks a bag” is for 0.8 cubic feet. That same Lowes sale(at least at my local store) has “No Float” cypress mulch at $2.42 for 2 cubic feet. Two cubic feet of the rubber mulch will run you 25 bucks, which equals out the cost over ten years, but only if you don’t have to do anything with/to the rubber mulch over that period.
Other than under a swing-set, I’d never consider rubber mulch. Each year I get a few small trailer loads of mulch and we spruce up our planting beds. I think I pay $15 a trailer load.
I appreciate your replies. I was unsure about trying the shredded rubber mulch. Hadn’t occurred to me it would stink on a very hot day. I was concerned about toxicity.
I’ll probably go with shredded pine or “No Float” cypress mulch. I like red, but don’t like dyes that eventually will leech into the soil. Natural is better.