Pulaski

If you have more than a couple of square feet to cover, find a local landscape supply business to bring you some in a dump truck, because buying it 2cuft at a time in sacks from Lowe's or HD will cost you a packet. Of course once you have a truck you can collect it yourself straight from the landscape supply business - and F150 will hold 2cuyds, but in my experience you get a lot more than you actually pay for and 1.5cuyds is actually substantially more than 2cuyds true volume. And it is much easier to unload if you put a tarp in the bed as a liner.

IMO regular hardwood mulch is fine, but get "double ground" mulch if you want to go fancy, and it is much easier to shovel it off the driveway than off a soft surface such as grass.

Personally I would just doing any weeding and then cover over the old pine straw with the new mulch.

petitefrancaise

the hordes of gardeners near me use the bagged stuff. It is much easier to haul bags around than load up wheel barrows and then clean everything up afterwards. Dump the bags on the beds, open and spread. done.

Pulaski

Have it dumped on a tarp and/or use a blower and there is "no" clean-up!

I guess it really depends on the cost and the quantity - if I mulched everywhere I have that needs periodic mulching it would take probably 4-5 dump trucks, each containing about 14cuyds actual (billed for 10cuyds) it would be 60-75cuyds or 800-1,000 cuft, which at $3 for 2cuft would be $1,200-$1,500. .... Delivered by the dump truck load the same amount would cost me $300-$400, though I have had "rough mulch" (freshly chipped logs and shredded branches) delivered for as little as $75 for about 25cuyds, which I have used to tame the edge of the woodland.

tom169

For the areas I'm looking at doing today it's probably 4 bags worth. When I come to doing the rest of the landscaping it might be worth a truckload.

WEBlue

Why dig out the old mulch?? Just cover it up with the new mulch.

Mulch is like gold! If it's really old, it may already be enriching the bed with new organic matter. Straw mulch (if that's what the old stuff is) is particularly good for preserving the soil health underneath AND for moisture retention. Just cover it over with the new mulch--less of the new layer will be needed that way.

(However, if you've got weeds you don't want growing in the old straw mulch, that's a different story.... though I would still save & reuse as much of the old mulch as is possible after pulling/digging out weeds.)

Beaverstate

Indeed, decaying vegetation is what a garden is after.

Pulaski

I think he's talking about "pine straw" (very long pine needles) which is a popular to use as mulch in NC. ..... But I agree, I'd still just bury it under new mulch.

Beaverstate

Instead of you all I am sure you meant Y'all.

tom169

It's all intertwined with weeds. I figured it'd be easier to get it all out with a shovel and start again.

Rete

Yup That is what they use down here in Mississippi since we are the in the Pine Belt. Hate those ****** trees.

tom169

That's 2/3 ready for a mulch drop. The 3rd will have to wait. It's too hot for this Yorkshire man.

Pulaski

"Too hot"!?!? It's 9.30 in the morning!

tom169

I'm drenched!

anotherlimey

I didn't have that much to cover, but I did 40 bags this year when they were on offer at HD for $1.50 each. HD and Lowes do the same offer every year at the same time.

WEBlue

Oh I thought he meant the real hay-bale type of "straw", which is highly prized where I am for vegetable garden mulching. You buy a square hay bale, undo it, loosen it, then spread it over your veg-growing garden area very early in the spring. Then you dig down through it (like with a "plug" bulb digger) and plant your veg. It keeps the soil loose and healthy underneath, needing much less summer irrigation, and earthworms love the straw-covered dirt!

I do prize pine needles for mulch though. We have mostly pitch pines here (though sadly their numbers are decreasing with global warming) & I like to collect the dropped needles to mulch my steep back hill. The pine needles interlock nicely in place & resist washing down the hillside in rainstorms, much better than other mulches for erosion-prone areas....