Dear Dr. Dirt: I am considering planting Knock Out roses and grass along the south side of my house. A friend suggested I use the new rubber (old tires) mulch since it is more environmentally friendly ...

I’ve heard mulches made from ground-up tires could be toxic. Is rubber mulch safe to put on my garden beds? Rubber mulches made from shredded tires are touted by manufacturers as permanent, ...

Happy almost spring! As with so many of these thorny eco-dilemmas, the answer depends upon whom you ask. Passionate people on both sides of the mulch aisle will try to convince you that this product ...

Q: I recently put down recycled rubber as mulch for my front flower bed. It looks great now, and I like what I’ve heard about it not being an attractant for insects. I dug out the bed, removed an ...

Mulch is a blanket, an organic material applied to bare soil around plants. Effective mulches include shredded hardwood bark, pine needles, coarse compost, and shredded native tree trimmings. Mulching ...

If you love your garden, chances are you’ve tried mulching at some point. It’s a go-to move for keeping weeds at bay and holding onto precious moisture. But what if the way you’re using mulch is ...

When it comes to covers for your garden soil, pine straw may be right. You'll only know for sure once you've compared it to ...