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Loving Your Little Landscape

I have never been a natural gardener. For years, I struggled to keep basic houseplants alive, only to kill them at the first opportunity. It was difficult and stressful to buy a home with a yard, but I knew that I might be able to learn what I was doing wrong and correct the problem. To start off, I focused heavily on the lawn, and tried hard to keep it trimmed and well-maintained. Next, I cleaned up the flowerbeds. It was a lot of work, but I knew that it would pay off in the end. When I was done, my front yard was gorgeous, and guess what--it even stayed alive. This blog is all about loving your little landscape.

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Loving Your Little Landscape

How To Make Your Landscape POP! With Colored Mulch

by Charlotte White

Mulch serves several functions in the landscape. It helps control weed growth, retains moisture for plants, and regulates soil temperature. But mulch also adds to the aesthetics of the garden or landscape, and with so many choices in colors, you can find one that makes your landscape pop!

Colored mulch gets its color from a vegetable base to give it a hue not naturally found in nature. Think of it as jewelry to help dress up your landscape.

How do you know which color is best? There a few tips that can help.

Color Coordinate With Plants

A colored mulch shouldn't distract from the color of plant blooms or foliage. So, don't choose a color that goes against the color. Instead think of a color that enhances the shades in the garden.

For example, white flowers look gorgeous against a background of red mulch and make the entire area stand out, while black mulch makes green foliage stand out.

Color Coordinate With Your Home

If you plan to use mulch around trees, small flower beds and bushes in your yard, choose a color that complements your home.

Black mulch harmonizes well with gray and contemporary homes. For brick homes, chocolate brown mulch adds color without distracting the eye from the brick. Red mulch used in landscaping around a red brick home wouldn't blend well, and may even be distracting. A contrasting color, like brown or black, adds more visual appeal.

More on Color

Each shade has its pros and cons for use around colored plants. Try to envision how you want the landscape to look as you think about these tips.

  • Red mulch works best with light-colored shrubs and vegetation. It provides good contrast for light-colored plants and it also adds beauty to rock gardens.
  • Brown mulch had a neutral color that works well with both dark and light-colored plants. It complements all shades of green, making it ideal for use around trees and shrubs.
  • Black mulch works well in almost any landscape in terms of color, but black also attracts heat and shouldn't be used around delicate plants.

Mulch adds to or takes away from the overall appeal of your landscape, so it's important to choose the right color. It is also important to replace mulch as it fades to preserve the vibrant, rich color that ties your entire landscape together. Look around at neighbors' yards for ideas as well, and as you do, take notice of the drastic difference between a mulched and un-mulched landscape.

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