Keeping water off of the mulch for at least 24 hours after application can help with color retention. To maintain the most vibrant looks, you should plan to replace it at least once per year, or more depending on your needs and preferences. However, like all wood mulch, it breaks down over time, and like all colorized mulch, it will fade over time. But thanks to the brand's '12-month color guarantee,' Vigoro says the color shouldn't fade in that length of time. This means that a small investment can really go a long way in large areas that need to be covered with mulch. Made of wood, this shredded mulch comes in three colors, black, brown, or red, with some colors looking more natural than others. One bag of the Viogoro Premium Wood Mulch contains two cubic feet of mulch, which should cover 8 square feet, three inches deep. The Spruce Home Improvement Review Board.If you want to use dyed mulches, simply research where the mulch has come from and fertilize plants with a nitrogen-rich fertilizer.

Since these mulches are not dyed, they will also not fade as quickly as dyed mulches and will not need to be topped up as often. Colored mulch in gardens can actually rob the plants of the nitrogen they need to survive.īetter alternatives to dyed mulches are pine needles, natural double or triple processed mulch, cedar mulch, or pine bark. When wood breaks down, it requires nitrogen to do so. They will help retain soil moisture and help protect plants during winter, but they do not enrich the soil or add beneficial bacteria and nitrogen, as natural mulches do.ĭyed mulches break down much slower than natural mulches. Safety of Dyed Mulch in the Gardenīesides the potential dangers of colored mulch and pets, people, or young plants, dyed mulches are not beneficial for the soil. It can also be harmful to people spreading this mulch and animals who dig in it. CCA-treated wood can kill beneficial soil bacteria, beneficial insects, earthworms, and young plants. Using CCA to treat wood was banned in 2003, but many times this wood is still taken from demolitions or other sources and recycled into dyed mulches. These recycled bits of treated wood can contain chromates copper arsenate (CCA). While most natural mulches, like double or triple shredded mulch, cedar mulch, or pine bark, are made directly from trees, many colored mulches are made from recycled wood– like old pallets, decks, crates, etc. This is pretty rare, though, and usually, it is not the dye itself that is of concern with the safety of mulches, but rather the wood.

Generally, if the price of dyed mulch seems too good to be true, it probably is not good at all, and you should spend the extra money on better quality and safer mulch. Some cheap dyes, however, can be dyed with harmful or toxic chemicals. I sometimes encounter customers who ask, “Is colored mulch toxic?” Most colored mulches are dyed with harmless dyes, like iron oxide-based dyes for red or carbon-based dyes for black and dark brown.

Continue reading to learn more about colored mulch vs. Dyed mulches can be very aesthetically pleasing and make landscape plants and beds stand out, but not all dyed mulches are safe or healthy for plants. In fact, rock tends to heat up and dry out the soil. While rock needs to be topped off and replaced less frequently, it does not benefit the soil or plants. Although the landscape company with which I work for carries many different types of rock and mulches to fill landscape beds, I always suggest using natural mulches.

Scotts triple shred mulch