Dark Brown Mulching Landscape Ideas

Front Yard

• Plants and trees near the front of your home maximize curb appeal. Adding cocoa shell dark brown mulch around trees and plant beds creates a unified, polished look that will get darker with age. The mulch offers a sharp contrast to grass and gives the appearance of a lush, rich landscape. Spread a layer 4 inches thick to reduce to amount of weeding required.

Patios and Decks

• The area beneath a raised deck gets very little sun and can fast become a home for shade-loving weeds. Adding a thick layer of dark mulch under a deck will block weeds so you can easily store garden and lawn supplies. The dark color blends seamlessly with the shaded space, directing attention up towards the deck area rather than beneath it. Around a patio, dark mulch offers a visual extension of the paved area, adding subtle, soft texture to a hard paving surface of stones, bricks or pavers.

Alternate Terraces

• Stepped terraces add function and depth to a hillside. If you have tiered terraces built into a slope, use dark mulch on alternate levels and complementary red mulch on other levels. Alternating mulch colors accentuates the structure of individual terraces, while stopping weeds from spreading in hard-to-reach areas.

  On a sunny hillside, dark pine bark mulch won't fade as quickly as lighter wood mulches. It also brings out the earthy tones of the retaining walls whether they are formed by stone, brick or timbers.

Focal Point

• In a landscape rich with colors and textures, establishing select focal points can be a challenge. If you wish to highlight a garden, pond or other feature, frame it with a border of dark mulch and spread light much over the interior or around the pond. Clean, defined borders tell the eye where to go without taking attention away from the feature itself.