While the grass begins its evolution from brown to green as spring takes hold, many in my neighborhood are turning green as well, green with envy. We are all familiar with the process that I have explained before, rake out the old mulch, place in bags and then put these bags in a yard waste container (think of this as an annual recycling process), load up the trunk with new wood mulch, spread mulch, head back to the store for that one last bag and repeat these steps twice a year, every year.
Life could be much easier if we all jumped on the recycling bandwagon and began to use rubber mulch. Not only could we retire the annual mulching routine, we would also be saving our landfills from becoming filled with old tires, and we would also have a yard that looks great 365 days a year…for many years to come.
If you have little ones and a backyard play area, using rubber mulch will help lessen injuries from the inevitable falls while at play. Recycled rubber mulch is the safest groundcover for playgrounds…period. Tests show that when the same amounts of wood mulch and rubber mulch are used, the rubber surface has a fall height rating twice that of wood.
In addition to safety and longevity, recycled rubber mulch will not rot, compact, attract insects, wash away, or lose its original beauty for season after season after season after season. When it comes right down to it, everyone has a choice, but for me, I prefer to enjoy my yard, not spend countless hours working in it.