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Mulch is a great way to help both yourself and your plants. Good quality mulch properly applied will keep the plants roots cool, conserve moisture in the soil, and greatly reduce weed growth. Weeds not only look bad but steal vital nutrients and moisture from the soil. From your perspective it looks great too!

Bark mulch is what is most commonly used. It is relatively inexpensive, attractive and durable, and easy to apply. While it is durable it will break down over time and add a fantastic amount of organic matter to build the soil for even happier plants over time. We sell two different types in bulk (by the yard). Hemlock is the classy, cinnamon colored bark mulch. This is not the nearly fluorescent pained woodchips one sometimes sees at used car lots. Hemlock is $42.95 per cubic yard. The other one is a Dark Pine. Dark Pine is a rich and deep colored, like semisweet chocolate chips.  It is great for making the plants show up extremely well. Dark Pine is $39.95 per cubic yard.

We do deliver to the area. We can usually deliver the same day or next day. The truck fits up to 7 cubic yards, and we have no minimum volume for delivery. We gladly take orders over the phone for mulch deliveries.

$35 delivery $40 delivery $45 delivery
Spencer Charlton Auburn
  East Brookfield Barre
  Leicester Brimfield
  New Braintree Gilbertville
  North Brookfield Hardwick
  Oakham Holden
  Paxton Oxford
  Rutland Southbridge
  Sturbridge Ware (east of center)
  West Brookfield Warren
    West Warren
    Worcester

There are some specialty mulches such as Buckwheat Hulls and Cocoa Bean Shells which can be just as advantageous, but are significantly more expensive.

Other mulches that we do not recommend in general include wood chips, crushed stone, and brick chips. Wood chips will last longer than bark mulch but wood is much different chemically than bark, even though they both come off of the trunk of the tree. As wood chips break down they take nitrogen out of the soil. Nitrogen is essential for plant growth, and is usually the most limiting factor for great plant growth. Crushed stone an brick do not do anything bad, but they do not build the soil by adding organic matter over time. Organic matter in the soil is the key to long term success with your plants.

Following are some charts to figure out how much mulch you need. If you want to figure it out on your own, one cubic yard will cover about 300 square feet to a depth of one inch. For an initial application we recommend about 2.5 to 3 inches of mulch. To "refresh" an previously mulched are only about one inch is needed. deeper applications than this are not better, and can actually cause problems.

    To freshen up an previously mulched area, use a 1 inch depth. This is the number of cubic yards you will need.
  Length in feet
  5 10 15 20 25 30
  Width of bed in feet 5 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5
10 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.8 1.0
15 0.3 0.5 0.8 1.0 1.3 1.5
20 0.3 0.7 1.0 1.3 1.7 2.0
25 0.4 0.8 1.3 1.7 2.1 2.5
30 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0

 

    To mulch a new area use about a 2 1/2 to 3 inch depth. This is the number of cubic yards you will need.
  Length of bed in feet
  5 10 15 20 25 30
  Width of bed in feet 5 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.3
10 0.4 0.8 1.3 1.7 2.1 2.5
15 0.6 1.3 1.9 2.5 3.1 3.8
20 0.8 1.7 2.5 3.3 4.2 5.0
25 1.0 2.1 3.1 4.2 5.2 6.3
30 1.3 2.5 3.8 5.0 6.3 7.5

We also have bags of mulch. In addition to the Hemlock and Dark Pine we usually have Cedar and may have other types as well. To convert cubic yards to bags use the following chart. If you are trying to figure out if bagged or bulk is less expensive, usually bulk is. If you need more than about 15 bags (14-18 depending on type) it is less expensive to get it delivered, even with the delivery charge included.

  Number of bags needed
Cubic yards 2 cubic foot bag  
0.25 3.4  
0.5 6.8  
0.75 10.1  
1 13.5  
1.25 16.9  
1.5 20.3  
1.75 23.6  
2 27.0  

 

 

 

 

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