Won't be using that line again......

[General Landscaping]

Talking to a new potential customer about some clean up, hedges, and mulch.
When the part about what kind of mulch came up, I told her I'd be using natural cypress mulch........ She told me that she wants red mulch.
I must have made some kind of facial expression that tipped her off that I was not pleased with her selection. She inquired "why not red"; it seemed from the tone of voice that she was genuinely wanting to know if there was something wrong with red mulch.
I told her, red mulch looks fine.... in front of McDonald's.
That must have tripped her b!+ch switch.....game over, no sale.

I must have found a high ranking official in the "red mulch Nazi" movement:hammerhead:

[QualityLawnCare4u]

Every mulch job I have done here the client has requested red mulch and its very popular. With all due respect if thats what she wants to pay for then I feel you should have done it. Now any unreasonable request I would agree with. Just my .02 for what its worth.

[BSDeality]

red is finally almost fizzled out around here. In all my years I have never laid any of it. Every once in a while someone will ask for it and I will tell them there are better alternatives.

[Splicer]

Whats wrong with red mulch??? Seriously...

[BSDeality]

it looks tacky?

[QualityLawnCare4u]

Tacky lies in the eye of the beholder. I have done many things that I did not think looked good but the cleint thought it looked great. As long as the client is happy and pays thats what matters.

[General Landscaping]

I'll mulch the beds with severed chicken feet if they're willing to pay for itpayup
She just responded "poorly" to my guidance.

Red mulch=Tacky........ unless there's a drive-thru involved.

[Dirty Water]

I'll mulch the beds with severed chicken feet if they're willing to pay for itpayup
She just responded "poorly" to my guidance.

Red mulch=Tacky........ unless there's a drive-thru involved.

Dump the red mulch on her concrete drive, and charge her for "concrete staining" when your all done too :)

[QualityLawnCare4u]

I'll mulch the beds with severed chicken feet if they're willing to pay for itpayup
She just responded "poorly" to my guidance.

Red mulch=Tacky........ unless there's a drive-thru involved.

Exactly! Ill mulch it with shredded toilet paper if thats what they want and pay for it. May not like it but as long as the client is happy and fattens my wallet I can live with tacky.

[HayBay]

Is this red mulch chemically treated? That might sway the customers choice.

[dcgreenspro]

they are made from red mulch trees:) just kidding, to quote a famous commercial "if thier a payin', i'm a layin'."

[SamTheLawnMan]

I had a customer that had natural cypress mulch down all last summer but this year they decided to put down the RED (tacky looking) mulch. Well after they put it down and I cut the yard for the first time the guy calls me and says "hey you got some grass clippings in my new mulch" I told him that I always blow any clippings that may have gotten on the mulch off when I blow everything down....then I proceeded to tell him that the reason he sees it now and didn't before is because of the RED mulch. Cause grass is GREEN and the mulch is RED therefore you will see any little thing....LOL.....He says "OK"

[Grassmechanic]

Whats wrong with red mulch??? Seriously...
Red mulch is dyed with colorants containing petroleum based chemicals. I NEVER use dyed mulch and turn down those that request it. If after I explain the inferior qualities of chipped up pallets that are dyed and they still insist on it, then it's C-YA. If they don't care about the long term health of their plants, then I don't want my name on their landscaping.

[grass_cuttin_fool]

I never suggest to the client what I want to use..........unless they have no idea what they want and then I have small lunch type baggies with samples from the mulch yard for them to look at. I have pine, pine bark nuggets, regular hardwood, double and triple shreaded hardwood, then the red, brown and black died mulch.
As far as the died mulch goes........I have one customer that wanted the red mulch 3 years agao and their azeala bushes have not performed well and even declined since. Im in the process now of removing it and replacing it with natural mulch.
Back to the subject..........if they want it then they can get what ever they want......if ya got the money I got the time


wayne

[HayBay]

thats right grassmechanic. Also the dogs, cats, kids putting that stuff in their mouths.

[dKoester]

Who cares if they want red mulch. Do the job and get paid. Its what the customer wants anyway.

[Precision]

I have a limited few clients who have demanded red mulch.

I can usually convince people to opt for another option, Preferrably cypress chip.

I explain about the inferior wood stock used for red mulch (palletized being the better kind and assorted ground debris being the worst), then I explain that red mulch decays 50% faster than cypress chip, so I will need to mulch twice as often AND the red stain usually sun fades (in Florida) within 2 months to a burnt red or bleached red color.

The natural tan color of cypress chip looks great with most any house color and all of my clients who have opted for it have liked.

The worst though is the guy who wanted sky blue tire mulch.:hammerhead: :hammerhead:

[Dreams To Designs]

Red mulch is made from ground up pallets, and it uses nitrogen from the soil as it decomposes. It does not benefit the plants the way a good quality natural mulch does. If your clients demand it, at least throw some bloodmeal down to prevent it from robbing all of the nitrogen from the soil. Hopefully we all try to use good environmental practices when landscaping, but some clients have more money than sense or taste, and we do what we can to stay in business.

Kirk

[Sandgropher]

If you dont like using it tell your customers its the leading cause of death in Australia out off all the mulches....tell her Legionella longbeache.....she will beleive you when she looks it up on the internet.......it dosn't actually say "red mulch" but you have to steer her in that direction.:laugh:



*aussieflag*


sfl flag

[JJLandscapes]

Talking to a new potential customer about some clean up, hedges, and mulch.
When the part about what kind of mulch came up, I told her I'd be using natural cypress mulch........ She told me that she wants red mulch.
I must have made some kind of facial expression that tipped her off that I was not pleased with her selection. She inquired "why not red"; it seemed from the tone of voice that she was genuinely wanting to know if there was something wrong with red mulch.
I told her, red mulch looks fine.... in front of McDonald's.
That must have tripped her b!+ch switch.....game over, no sale.

I must have found a high ranking official in the "red mulch Nazi" movement:hammerhead:


$$$$$ should be onn your mind not mulch color.. whatever the customer wants give it to them and dont care.. i do many ugly things but the customers always right and i bull**** them to make them happy. You know even if there friends or neighbors think its not so nice they will never say anything to the homeowner and bs just like everyone else


i dont like red mulch to much eitehr but it depends on the house color and many many things

[richallseasons]

Whats wrong with red mulch??? Seriously...

to me it doesnt look like its part of any natural landscape and i try not to use it but you do get the customer that really wants it (and then they get it).

[Splicer]

I had a customer that had natural cypress mulch down all last summer but this year they decided to put down the RED (tacky looking) mulch. Well after they put it down and I cut the yard for the first time the guy calls me and says "hey you got some grass clippings in my new mulch" I told him that I always blow any clippings that may have gotten on the mulch off when I blow everything down....then I proceeded to tell him that the reason he sees it now and didn't before is because of the RED mulch. Cause grass is GREEN and the mulch is RED therefore you will see any little thing ....LOL.....He says "OK"
Personally I think thats bull...which is it??? you blow off the mulch or he is going to see it??? Cause if you do what you say and blew the mulch then he wouldn't see it to be asking...Grass on ANY new mulch looks like crap.

But the bulk seem to agree it is bad for the plants ad/or looks tacky..."Looks tacky" is another B.S response IMO because as was already mentioned, beauty is in the eye of the beholder...just because some of you don't agree doesn't make it wrong...certainly no reason to look 'shocked' or 'disturbed' when red mulch is requested IMHO...

As for bad for the plants, what is the difference between dyed red and dyed black??? Other than the color obviously there is none...It is still dyed...yet that mulch doesn't cause plant problems??? I say B.S again and that most likely the mulch is up against the base (trunk) of the plant/bush...

And as for fading, ALL mulches get sun bleached or 'washed out' looking...The sun is rather harsh...

Personally I think the red looks better in some applications (not just restaurants) than others and the same goes for the dark or natural colors as well...:usflag:

[koster_irrigation]

Personally i think red mulch looks better at mcdonalds..

[Precision]

$$$$$ should be onn your mind not mulch color.. whatever the customer wants give it to them and dont care.. i do many ugly things but the customers always right and i bull**** them to make them happy.


that makes you less than an honest business man.

It is one thing if a client calls and says I want red. Tell them ok, but on your visit perhaps suggest a better color /material/ plan.

But *********** and only looking out for the money is a quick way to get a poor business.

[markam70]

Our supplier does carry a line of dyed bark mulches including red. We do not used ground pallets. I personally am not fond of any dyed mulch, but in some situations, it looks ok. The main goal for all of us here should be customer satisfaction.

[lugnut#6]

the eye should be drawn to the plants....not the mulch.

[jameson]

Red mulch?

Indeed there is no accounting for taste.

Reminds me of the apartment complex we maintain that had RED LAVA (VOLCANIC) ROCK lying on top of black plastic.

Priceless.

[lugnut#6]

come to mississippi.....where blowing a tire means a new planter in the front yard

[cajuncutters]

were trying to kill torpedo grass in the lawns and in the flower bed:dizzy:

[Grassmechanic]

As for bad for the plants, what is the difference between dyed red and dyed black??? Other than the color obviously there is none...It is still dyed...yet that mulch doesn't cause plant problems???
It doesn't matter what color it is dyed, it is bad for the plants. If folks like the red/black/gold colored mulch, then get out a 5 gallon bucket of stain and spray away. It is the same thing.

There is this somewhat distorted thinking that mulch HAS to have a visual impact. It doesn't. Mulch has a specific job to do - hold moisture, regulate soil temperatures, and suppress weed growth. If it looks good doing those things, then it is a bonus. Educating the client is an important part of my job and I'm not going to recommend or perform a job for anyone to make the almighty buck. The health of the clients landscape comes first. 20 years ago, you never heard of dyed mulch. It is nothing more than a marketing ploy to turn scrap lumber into something of more value, dollar-wise, to the manufacturers. This also applies to the rubber mulches that have recently made their way into the market.

[mulcahy mowing]

next time say somthing like, "this will blend better with your landscape" or,"this will bring out the color of this plant better"

just my .02

[Critical Care]

If the client wants red bark, you give them red bark. If they want purple, you give them purple. But to protect your image, be sure to stick a sign up on the property like the one below.

[sheshovel]

Red mulch is made from ground up pallets, and it uses nitrogen from the soil as it decomposes. It does not benefit the plants the way a good quality natural mulch does. If your clients demand it, at least throw some bloodmeal down to prevent it from robbing all of the nitrogen from the soil. Hopefully we all try to use good environmental practices when landscaping, but some clients have more money than sense or taste, and we do what we can to stay in business.

Kirk

Exactly..I mean you can get to a point where you refuse work because you don't like the materials you client wants. But it takes some years to get there.
If your business is new it's a bad move to be picky.
Just explain why they might want to change their minds in a business like manner.
In front of McDonalds is a smart aleck remark that your customer did not think was funny.

[AAELI]

All organic mulches, not tires/rock, will require nitrogen to decompose. The more rapidly they decompose the more they will rob the soil and plants of nitrogen. It is not only the red, black, green dyed mulches that do that. They will add to the soil the nutrients in them however small over time.

Learned that well over 40 years ago in the organic garden we used to grow all our vegy's.

Give your customer what they want but be sure to advise them on the practicality, function of various mulches. You inform them of the benefits and possible problems so that they can make an informed decision.

After all it is their house & your job.

[The landscaper]

what colors can you get that are "natural"?

[Precision]

what colors can you get that are "natural"?
not trying to be a smart ass, but any color that wood comes in can be a mulch color.

It would be very expensive mulch to get chipped purple heart wood.

Natural will also depend on your location.

In Florida.
Dark brown - - pine bark. crap, big chunks, decays very fast and floats away
biege - tan - - cypress or pine chip. quarter to slightly larger disks, slow decay, ages to a darker brown and not too floaty
medium brown - - shredded cypress bark. color usually lightens but becomes mottled not too floaty, decays quickly
medly of browns - - Eucalyptus. smells weird at first, medium decay rate, darkens with age

[Critical Care]

I remember that a number of people warned against using Eucalyptus because of the oil in it, which they claim can have an adverse effect on some plants. And yeah, it smells like a cough drop.

Probably the nicest bark mulch in this area is hemlock. It's a very dark brown, lasts quite long, and rakes out nicely.

Precision, I'm with you on the pine bark nuggets. I absolutely hate working around it, especially edging. One outfit here throws it down with their new installs simply because it's cheap and they don't have to maintain it. I think they need their heads examined.