A home gardener, uncertain about the aesthetics of a new design with brightly colored mulch, took to the internet to ask for opinions.
"Is this mulch too red?" they asked the subreddit r/Landscaping.
Opinions came in quickly, and they were all over the board.
"As a long time landscaper, eww," one person wrote. "Red mulch is an abomination." Another agreed, saying: "I refuse to put it down."
But others gave their glowing approval, praising the eye-catching quality of the bright colors.
One commenter, however, offered a different reason for their disapproval.
"Friends don't let friends use dyed mulch," they said. Another echoed the thought, arguing: "Any amount of mulch dye is too much IMO."
But another gardener countered: "It's dyed with iron oxide. Doesn't really get much more natural than that."
The hesitation around synthetic dyes, however, is understandable. While red wooden mulch is indeed dyed naturally, rubber mulch is often a similar color — and it's far more pollutive.
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Made from chopped-up pieces of old car tires, rubber mulch is generally regarded as antithetical to the very idea of gardening and horticulture. These tire pieces are not only made of hundreds of chemical components — including known carcinogens — but they've often been exposed to even more toxins during their lifetime as tires. And when they're dumped into gardens, those chemicals leach into the air and the soil over time, often poisoning the plants growing there.
But even wooden mulch is not without its controversies, particularly when it comes to its tendency to smother plants if it's applied too liberally. Many amateur landscapers particularly tend to pile it too high at the base of trees in what's been nicknamed a "mulch volcano," blocking their roots from taking in oxygen, nutrients, and sunlight. These mulch volcanoes can damage and even kill trees if they're left in place for long enough.
Fortunately for the original poster, however, their application of mulch seems appropriate, making their primary dilemma the color itself.
One commenter took a more relaxed view of the issue. "I like it a lot. Goes to show everyone has their own opinion," they said. "Do what makes you happy."
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