This is the year I’m finally going to start doing some landscaping on our property. I don’t think that this is the year that I’ll make huge progress in that area since I have some other huge projects to focus on. Specifically, a great deal of this year will be focused on our bedroom suite. But at the very least, I’d love to mark off some planting beds in certain areas and get those areas marked off, weed-free, and mulched. And then maybe I’ll buy a few trees and shrubs and get those planted.
My main goal for this year in the area of landscaping will be to focus on the planting beds around the front and sides of the house, the planting bed around my workshop, and the areas lining the front sidewalk and driveway. As I’ve mentioned many times, landscaping is not my wheelhouse. I feel so lost and completely out of my element when I start thinking about these projects, but I’m excited to step outside of my comfort zone, get my hands in some dirt, and give it my best effort.
Thankfully, I won’t be winging it without a plan or vision. If you’ll remember, Matt bought me a consultation with a local landscape designer for my birthday a couple of years ago, and that designer came back with a gorgeous plan for me. That landscape plan was so pretty that I had it printed as large as possible (a free gift from a very generous reader!), and I framed it for the wall of my studio. (You can see that project here.) When I sit at my desk, that landscape plan is directly in front of me, so I get to admire it every single day.
I’m going to try to stick with this plan as closely as I can, but I’m sure I’ll be making some tweaks along the way. The designer did exactly what I wanted and asked for, but practically speaking, my dream for our property that I shared with him is probably way out of our price range. But I’ll use this plan as my guide and get as close as I can within our budget.
But here’s the overall view of the plan…
Like I said, it’s ambitious. 😀 But I’m just going to start with baby steps. And marking off some planting beds and getting those weed-free and mulched seems like a baby step I can handle this year.
A couple of weeks ago, I was actually trying to decide between mulch and pea gravel, and I wanted to get an idea of what types of bed liners were available. So I headed to Lowe’s and Home Depot to see what they had. As far as lining the edges of the beds, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this picture ever since I saw it about a year ago.
Those faux rocks from Grandin Road (affiliate link) are so pretty, and it’s exactly the look I want for at least some of the beds. But I also want to line the entire walking path around our 1-acre property with those, and at the cost of $180 for every 14 rocks, that would be ridiculously expensive. That’s one reason my mom and I want to try our hand at making our own faux rocks when the weather gets nicer (which I talked about here). I’ve been saving every cardboard box I can get my hands on since we came up with that plan. And for my walking path, I’ve decided to use crushed granite.
But while I was at Home Depot and Lowe’s to see what was available to cover planting beds, I came across this rubber mulch.
I’m sure I’ve heard of this before, but I just didn’t think anything of it or log it into my memory because it wasn’t something I was interested in at the time. But since I was specifically looking for something to cover planting beds, I was like, “Wait! What? Rubber mulch? That’s a thing?!“
I love so many things about this. First and foremost, I love that rich, dark color. It comes in several colors, but the dark brown is what caught my eye. I love that it doesn’t have to be replaced each year. I love that it won’t decompose. And I love that it’s made from recycled materials that are kept out of the landfills. What I didn’t love about it is that this particular one is chunks of rubber. Plus, I wondered if rubber would leach something into the ground that would or could be harmful to plants or humans.
So I kind of filed that idea in the back of my mind and moved on. But last night I came back to it because now that the front steps of my workshop are finished (you can see those here if you missed that post), I’m anxious to nail down a plan for the beds around the workshop and the walking path from the workshop steps to the carport. Here’s the general idea of what this area will eventually look like…
Of course, it won’t be exactly like that. You can see that in the design, the walking path goes from the side of a front porch in front of the workshop to the area between the workshop and the carport. The plan was clearly designed for a building that sits right at ground level. In reality, the workshop sits 15 inches off of the ground, so instead of a little porch in front, I have steps. And instead of a level concrete area between the carport and the workshop, I have a ramp.
So the walking path will need to come off of the front of the steps instead of the side, and it will need to go directly to the carport instead of the ramp. But those are minor adjustments. The overall plan can still take shape, including that cute little freestanding round deck off of the front left corner of the workshop.
But back to that rubber mulch. With that idea in mind, I searched online last night to see what other brands and types were available, and I came across this shredded rubber mulch.
Now that’s more like it! That looks exactly like real mulch, right?! It’s so much better than those chunks of rubber. And yes, the upfront cost is a lot more than regular mulch, but the product description says that it maintains it’s color for twelve years. TWELVE YEARS!! And it actually has a 12-year color warranty. That’s a whole lot of time saved when compared to having to re-mulch planting beds each year.
The company says it doesn’t attract pests or ants like wood mulch can. (Again, I have no experience with real mulch to know if it does or doesn’t attract pests, so I’m just passing along what they say.) They claim it conserves ground moisture and can reduce water usage up to 30%, which sounds great for an area like central Texas with our scorching hot, dry summers. They say it doesn’t fade, rot, or compress. It doesn’t require any maintenance. And best of all, they claim it’s non-toxic and safe for humans, animals, and the environment. The description says it “does not release any chemicals into the Earth during its lifetime.”
I can’t see a downside for using rubber mulch other than the upfront cost. But all of those other things seem to make it worth that initial price. Right? And while it doesn’t have very many customer reviews on the website, the few customer reviews are all glowing reviews with 5-star ratings. In fact, one of the reviews says that this doesn’t aggravate allergies or asthma like wood mulch can, and another one says it looks and feel like real wood mulch.
So, what say you about rubber mulch? Have you used it? Were you pleased with it? Did it last? And if you’ve used it, what brand did you use? I’d love to know your thoughts and experiences because it sounds so good that I’m ready to make a purchase. But as always, I like to get opinions on this stuff (especially in these areas that are so outside of my areas of expertise and knowledge) before jumping in with both feet on something like this. Is rubber mulch a good idea? Are there any downsides that they’re not sharing? Tell me everything you know and have experienced with rubber mulch.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
