Choosing between Rock and Mulch

Are you having trouble choosing the right mulch for your landscape? Mulching certainly has its benefits and if you choose the right mulch, you’ll get the pristine and polished look you’ve always desired in your yard. Our tree removal experts will go over the pros and cons of different types of mulch to help you make an informed decision.

The benefits of organic mulch

Organic mulch is mostly recommended by your local Toronto arborist for flower beds as well as around trees for different reasons.

Helps to Grow Faster
First, it can help the trees to grow much faster and utilize less water. You will spend less time watering when you use mulch on the trees.
Saves Water
You will spend less time watering when you use mulch on the trees.
Provides Nutrients
Organic mulch also introduces nutrients that helps trees and plants to thrive.
Maintains the Right Temperature
Mulch can be applied to stop weed growth and maintain just the right temperature in those hot summer months or cold winter.
Minimizes Erosion
Most importantly, mulch can help minimize soil erosion.

Pros and Cons of Using Rocks

If you don’t have organic mulch, you can still use rocks in your garden to serve more or less the same purpose. Rocks come with the following advantages:

They are easy to maintain
Low cost
Inflammable so perfect for areas prone to wildfires
Help to keep weeds away
Prevent soil erosion especially in areas prone to strong winds

Keep this in mind, using rocks:

However, rocks can be extremely hot which could raise the temperature of the soil and stress the tree or plants. Rocks do not offer any nutritional benefit to the plant or soil. The other issue could be that rocks create alkaline soil which can also stress the trees because most of them thrive better in acidic soil. When the wind blows, some spots can be created between the rocks where the weeds start to grow. Therefore, organic mulch is often recommended more than rocks.