Right Mulch for Beach Plants

Question from Jokhanah:
I am caring for a parking strip planted with grasses, Russian Sage, Lavender and the like. It is near the beach and needs a mulch to keep down the weeds — bark doesn’t seem right — too “forresty”.

Saw dust?? maybe with a little compost? What do you suggest?

Answer from Pat:
I totally agree with you that bark is not a good mulch for a beach location. I don’t like chipped bark as mulch in any location either at the beach or inland. It looks too commercial and also if it becomes accidentally buried it subtracts nitrogen from the soil in order to rot. I do, however, favor shredded “walk-on” bark even at the beach since it is similar to the duff under beach-side trees. It can be purchased bagged or in bulk.
Beware of dyed bark or wood mulch since this too is highly artificial looking. Some of it is little better than machine-splintered scrap wood. It is really bad looking and doesn’t even appear to work well.

Sierra company makes a good ground redwood bark product but it is not long-lasting and might be tracked onto the sidewalk. Shredded walk-on bark, by contrast, stays put. Shredded cedar bark is available bagged sometimes at Dixieline and is good looking but not very long lasting. It resembles “gorilla hair” mulch and it needs hand spreading, but once in place on the ground it does stay put. When I can get it I use it in my own garden in certain areas. Any of these mulches need replacement from time to time as they rot but when they rot they improve the soil in the process.

Another possibility for a beach area is to use bagged or baled river pebbles. The rounded types are what one needs and I have used some lovely ones in my own garden that I purchased from a rock company in large quantity. The negative side is that they can get mixed in with soil. (I have placed mine over landscpe fabric on a pathway and in this case they don’t sink into the ground. On the plus side, rocks or pebbles help stop weeds and also shade and cool the ground. Plant roots like getting beneath rocks, but of course rocks or pebbles do nothing to improve the humus content of the ground.