A lush, well-tended flowerbed can add a touch of natural beauty to any landscape, but only if the flowers you grow in it are given the best possible environment in which to grow. Weeds, ground frosts, waterlogged soil and other problems can quickly wipe out more delicate flowers, especially when they are very young.

Adding a layer of mulch to the surface of your flower bed soil can do a great deal to help you avoid these problems, and if you choose an ornamental mulch you can make your flowerbed look even more attractive at the same time. Timber mulches are particularly popular and widely used as ornamental mulches. Wood chips made from the entire tree are particularly popular, but shredded bark mulches, made from the outer bark and sapwood of a tree, are also becoming widely used.

However, while chipped and shredded timber mulch are both made from trees, that is where their similarities end. These two types of ornamental mulch have very different properties that can make them more or less suitable for your flower bed depending on the types of flower you grow. If you are trying to choose between wood chip and shredded bark mulch for your flowerbeds, keep the following guidelines in mind to ensure you make the best possible decision for your flowers.

Bark mulch for wind, wood chips for rain

Many amateur landscapers use liberal amounts of decorative wood chips to protect flower beds and other patches of exposed earth, only to have all their hard work ruined when their wood chips blow away the next time it gets a little windy. Most types of wood chip mulch, particularly those made from lighter softwood timbers, can be vulnerable to high winds and may need to be replaced and/or worked into the soil occasionally to prevent them from simply blowing away.

Bark mulch tends to be much more wind resistant, as the irregular shreds of bark and sapwood have a tendency to 'lock' together into a single, semi-cohesive layer. They also tend to be more resilient to foot traffic. Unfortunately, this presents a different problem — an impacted layer of shredded bark mulch can create a waterproof layer that prevents rain and sprinkler water from reaching your flowers. Periodically breaking up this layer with a garden fork or shovel will help prevent these problems without making your bark mulch vulnerable to wind.

Shredded bark is better for your budget — most of the time

Unlike wood chip mulch, which tends to be made from whole trees specifically grown for mulching purposes, shredded bark mulch is usually a byproduct of the timber and/or paper industry. As such, it tends to be significantly less expensive than wood chip mulch, especially when purchased in bulk from a reputable mulch supplier. This makes it an attractive choice if you don't have a lot of money to spend on mulch or need to mulch a large, expansive flower bed.

However, because many bark mulches are industrial byproducts, cheaper bark mulches may have been contaminated with heavy metals, alkaline salts and other industrial contaminants. While these chemicals are not present in concentrations that pose any danger to humans, they can cause serious damage to particularly young and/or delicate flowers and may also reduce the quality of your soil. If you choose bark mulch, investing in high-quality, purpose-made mulch from a dedicated supplier can help prevent a lot of long-term soil problems.

To learn more about mulch options, contact a mulch delivery service.