Making the most of your mulch and which type you should chose

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – No one actually likes to do it, but it's necessary for a good-looking, healthy yard: Mulching. And there are a variety of options.

“Mulching is important. It's kind of the aesthetics too. You can kind of finish off your beds or your garden with mulch and it finishes things off for you," said Jeff Wallitsch, of Wallitsch Gardens. "But there's a lot of benefits for mulching. It's going to help with moisture retention and also help with weed control."

One variety is a chunky wood chip, also called pine nuggets.

“This is great if you have a woodland sort of garden, you can use this. I've also used this for like a natural pathway,” Wallitsch said.

Basic hardwood mulch helps improve the soil.

“So this will decompose quicker than any of your other mulches. But what's great about it, you can till it in your garden. It adds nutrients, it adds value to your soil over time,” Wallitsch said.

Cedar Mulch is also an option, which has a bit of fluff to it and can be used in larger areas.

Then there’s Jeff Wallitsch’s favorite – pine needles.

“I just like it because it is really good with weed control. And then it's just more of that real natural look,” he said.

But more important than all the varieties is making sure you get a quality mulch.

“You know you can get bags of mulch for a dollar. That’s not necessarily a great idea because you’re going to find a lot of debris, a lot of trash, there could be weed seeds in it, there could be insects in it. It's not necessarily treated very well,” Wallitsch said.

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