Question
My husband wants to purchase the reddish bark mulch this year as he thinks it would look very nice around our home (and it would).  I've heard that you have to treat the bed soil somehow if you are changing to red mulch.  Is that true  Also, we have landscape fabric under our old mulch.  Do the beds need to be aerated (hard to do through the fabric!)?  Thanks for any suggestions.

Answer
Anne,
The dyed mulch products are attractive and long-lasting. There is no need to treat the soil when using dyed mulch. You will need to remove most of the existing mulch down to the landscape fabric. This is especially important if your current mulch is pine straw, as straw is difficult to cover completely. I would recommend using the absolute minimum of dyed mulch to cover your landscaped area. The reason is this type of mulch decays VERY slowly. Over the years, you will want to freshen your mulch and eventually it will become too deep unless you remove some of the old. There are some water-soluble dyes you can spray on your mulch to refresh its color. I've used them and they work well. There is no need to aerate the beds. This would destroy the fabric. One other concern is that some plants, especially azaleas and other acid-loving plants may need supplemental acid since the dyed mulch will decay so slowly no acid will be released into the soil. Also, if you have alot of trees, you may have to blow or rake the leaves from the mulch in the fall to keep it clean.
Good luck, Doug Roberson