Mulch Job, What would you charge?

[dgw]

oh i just read about the request to remove the old mulch


thats unnecessary , if its stilll thick or clumpy run your cultivator or a small tiller through it, and have your helper follow you around smoothing it with the back of a leaf rake

this will break it up and make it smooth

it might take you guys an hour, so 80-100 extra

trust me, its going to to take way longer than you think to try to take out all that old mulch

[dgw]

Originally Posted by Earth_Effects

If your referring to me, I didn't say I used it all the time. I said I use it on new installs where the beds have no mulch in it. I was also simply asking why people thought it was a waste, I find fabric to be somewhat helpful in the northeast. Your entitled to your opinion but don't start bashing someone when you don't know the details. Thanks
Posted via Mobile Device

i think it is because weeds will grow on top of it

plus its a pain, will start to show eventually and looks bad

good soil and weekly maintenance is key

out of all the beds i maintain i only use snapshot or treflan in a few

the rest are easy to maintain because of good soil and being kept up on

[Stillwater]

Originally Posted by ron mexico75

**Using weed fabric to prevent weeds is like wearing a raincoat to stay dry while scuba diving**

I coulden't agree more, useing weed fabric is like useing a condom with a hole in it.

[cpllawncare]

I still kinda new to this as well, but from what I've read about and learned from the other local LCO's is no one around here uses the fabric, I'm going to try finale as my first weed killer from what I've read and talked to folks about, it works better than anything else on the market currently, it'll kill virtually every kind of weed dead as a door nail.

[ron mexico75]

Originally Posted by Stillwater

I coulden't agree more, useing weed fabric is like useing a condom with a hole in it.

Ohhhh! Now THAT'S BAD!

[Century Landscape]

I agree that landscape fabric is a total waste. All the jobs (few) that I used it on, weeds just came right up through it anyway. I used it on some beds around my house and what I noticed is when I water it doesn't filter through the fabric worth a S@!#$ Water goes through the mulch, hits the fabric and runs right out. I pulled up the fabric and underneath, BIG SURPRISE, the ground was dried out and hard as a rock. Since I removed the fabric, water soaks right in through mulch and my plants are looking better than ever.

[Century Landscape]

As far as what to charge on the mulch, local prices will certainly dictate, but we figure 1 man hour per yard of mulch. 2 guys on that, you should have it knocked out in 3 hours easy.

By the way, if they want to pay you to pull out the mulch every year and reinstall AT LEAST 3 inches of new, charge a fair price and enjoy the repeat business!

Also, if you can get a better price on the mulch than the average joe customer, charge a markup on it to what it would normally cost joe!

[poolboy]

Why the hell would someone want the old mulch removed? As long as it's an organic mulch (ie hard wood) you are losing 1 of the major benefits of mulch. Just plain stupid.