Landscaping with Mulch

Landscape mulch can greatly enhance the landscaping around your house as well as the curb appeal.  This is done primarily by developing shapes and areas around the house that can both smooth the view of your property and help direct your eye to selected accent areas or plants.

Landscape Design with Mulch

Mulch can be used to create a controlled pallet that frames other features within the landscaping. The ability to create open, weed-free areas shaped to provide a certain look is often the goal in designing a great-looking landscape.  Either to focus on an area or to cover what may be difficult areas, creating strategically-placed features and shapes with mulched beds can help draw your eye to the plantings, features, walls or trees they may surround or even the plantings themselves.

The human eye has a very strong affinity for circular forms. Most of us are able to visually find the center of a circle, and we naturally expect to find something interesting there. This is why mulched bedding areas are often curved or some part of a circle to direct the eye in a specific direction.

Focal points in the landscape can be naturally-occurring or strategically-placed features or plantings that draw the eye to them. This gives the design of the garden a more dramatic, orderly look. All gardens need at least one focal point. A small garden may need only one, while larger gardens may need several that help move the eye from point to point. A flowing bed bordered by a couple feet of mulch enhances the effect.

In garden design, curved paths and beds are created by using circles, arcs, or circle segments. Our minds naturally recognize these as being a part of a full circle, whether they're complete or not. So, the deepest point of an inside curve, which is the relevant center of its surroundings, is a natural place for focal points that can be made to stand out with an appropriate mulch to accent it.

Simplicity

Simplicity is actually one of the principles in design and art.  If you are just starting out with a landscape plan, one recommendation would be to just keep things simple to begin with. You can do more later.

Simplicity in planting, for instance, would be to pick two or three colors and repeat them throughout the garden or landscape. Keep decor to a minimum and within a specific theme.  Another idea is to keep the color of the mulch one that fits well with the plantings or possibly boulders that are consistent. 

Balance

Symmetrical balance is where there are more or less equally-spaced matching elements of the garden design. With a garden equally divided, both sides could share all or part of the same shape, form, plant height, plant groupings, colors, bed shapes, theme, etc.

In your design plans, consider color, texture, and type of mulch so that it can help set the tone here too and provide a neat, low maintenance area. 

Think about scale. Small areas can look more extensive when small size gravel is used. With large open areas you may want to use a very coarse bark mulch or larger stone gravel to show more interesting texture from a distance. The scale of plants, rocks, and other features also play a part.

The right kind and color of mulch can increase the value of your home by a significant percentage. A good, thick layer will greatly reduce the need for weed maintenance. The aesthetic value, vegetation control, and moisture-retaining quality make mulching a worthwhile upgrade to your landscape.

Landscape mulch is a great way to make the yard look finished.

For unusual landscape accents with special or hard to find materials, contact us. Having studied the industry, we have a number of resources for unique products. To figure what you need now that you have designed the project, check our Mulch Calculator.