Mulch · Houston
Black Mulch
Our aged native hardwood mulch, dyed black with a carbon-based colorant for a rich, dark finish.
$35 per cubic yard
Retail price at the yard, before tax.
Pick up at the yard, or we deliver around Houston. Delivery details · Contractor accounts
The material
What it is
Black Mulch is our Aged Native Mulch with color added. It starts as a variety of indigenous trees, ground, aged, screened, then ground twice more. The blend also includes cedar. We dye that finished aged mulch black with a carbon-based colorant.
Because it starts as fully aged native mulch, the base material is the same product we sell as is in its natural brown color. Plan on one season of color.
Process
How we make it
The base mulch ages three to six months on our yard and gets flipped twice in that time, and we water the pile during dry stretches from our own water source. Texas exempts mulch grinding from its composting regulations, so aging is not required. We age it anyway.
The trommel screening and the final grind are the same as our Aged Native Mulch, so the texture is consistent before the material reaches the coloring operation.
Uses
Best for
- Front beds and formal landscapes where a dark, uniform look matters
- Around plantings where dark mulch makes green foliage stand out
- Moisture retention, so beds need less frequent watering
- Weed suppression, which cuts down on maintenance
Good to know
Ask what wood is under the dye
The colorant matters less than the wood underneath it. Carbon-based and iron-oxide colorants used on mulch are benign. The real question is what wood was dyed.
Research on colored mulch (peer-reviewed studies cited by university programs) has found that dyed mulch ground from construction and demolition debris can hide treated or painted wood, including CCA-treated lumber that leaches arsenic. One retail colored-mulch sample leached arsenic above groundwater targets, while mulch made from clean virgin wood did not. Less than 0.1% CCA wood in a mix is enough to exceed residential clean-soil arsenic guidelines.
Our Black Mulch is dyed aged native hardwood, the same material we sell undyed. If a supplier will only tell you "recycled wood," they have not told you what is in it.
The smell test works on dyed mulch too. Our Aged Native Mulch page explains what sour mulch is and how to spot it.
Questions about Black Mulch
A carbon-based colorant applied to our finished aged native mulch.
The colorants used on mulch are benign. The thing that matters is the wood under the dye. Ours is clean aged native hardwood.
Plan on one season. The dye maker rates the color for at least a year, but a sprinkler system running three times a week bleaches it faster than a bed that only gets rain.
Keep going
Related
Aged Native Mulch
Native hardwood, aged three to six months, finished through a 1.5 inch screen.
$30 per cubic yardView product
Red Mulch
Clean kiln-dried two-by-fours, hand-picked, dyed with an iron-based colorant.
$35 per cubic yardView product
Proper mulch application for your garden beds
Bed prep, how to tell finished mulch, and how deep to spread it.
Read the guide