Depth of Mulch in Flower Beds??

[jequigle]

I did a quick search on here and couldn't find a thread but I was wondering how thick of a layer of mulch do you all put down. My standard is 3".

I am asking this because I have in ground and in wall pest control and the guy came today and told me I had to much mulch in my flower beds. I put 3" in mine and all of my customers flower beds. Then he told me not to have any touching the foundation of the house. He went on about about termites and mulch.

So what is your standards?

[ArenaLandscaping]

New Bed- 2"
Existing Bed- Dusting - 1"

[KrayzKajun]

Originally Posted by ArenaLandscaping

New Bed- 2"
Existing Bed- Dusting - 1"

Same here. And no mulch touching foundation
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[knox gsl]

Depends on the mulch type. triple grind really fine 3" standard mulch larger chips 2".

[FoghornLeghorn]

3 inch mulch new beds, 1 inch for touch ups.

How would a pest control guy know anything about proper mulch depth?

What he probably meant was actually, "you're mulch depth makes it harder for me to have a quick easy job here, so instead of explaining that the extra mulch makes it harder for me to dig down and place my pest control box, I'm just going to tell you that you put too much mulch in."

[johnsonslawnmanagement]

Industry Standard is 3" and maintained at that depth
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[MSeals]

Depends...If its a new bed, i'll usually do 3". If its just refreshing a bed, ill do an 1". It also depends on how fine the mulch is.

[PlantscapeSolutions]

We're usually going to average about 1.25". This allows the mulch to be broken down fairly well over 10-12 months and your ready to sell your customer more mulch. The mulch not only helps keep in moisture but it's about aesthetics as well.

If you pile on the mulch too much it will not break down for two years and you will be stuck with faded ugly mulch. For some of our accounts we will aerate the mulch and churn it after 5-6 months. This exposes the under layer of mulch and gives your client fresh looking mulch. This also fluffs up the compacted mulch which causes it to dry out more quickly and slows the decomposition process which is a selling point.

[Kennedy Landscaping]

Usually try to stick between the two and three inch range when mulching beds. Sometimes if its just a dress up layer I'll do a little thinner, such as an inch and a half or so...

[tyler_mott85]

Important to leave a good base layer of mulch undisturbed. It's this compacted layer that actually prevents weed germination and is where the decomposition occurs. Drives me nuts seeing companies do one of the following two things. 1) Pull out all mulch and put new down. 2) put down 3" of mulch every stinking year right up next to the plant base thereby smothering plants root zones.