Why Medford is a fair test
Medford gives you both extremes in one town. Frontages along the Mystic River side and around Medford Square sit wide open and south-facing, nothing between the bed and the sun all day. Go north and the lots on the Middlesex Fells edge are under oak canopy, damp longer after rain, cooler at midday.
How do Hemlock and Black Mulch compare?
| Hemlock Mulch | Black Mulch | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per cubic yard | $63 | $58 |
| What it is | Undyed double-ground bark | Dyed double-ground hardwood |
| Fresh, then later | Reddish-brown, weathers silvery grey | Near-black, fades grey-brown in sun |
| Texture | Coarser, fibrous | Finer, knits into a mat |
| Weight per yard | 500–700 lbs | 600–800 lbs |
| Safe near vegetables | Yes — undyed | No |
| Main drawback | Greys out, $5 more a yard | Colour is temporary, dye can mark pavement |
| Best fit | Woodland beds, shade, edibles nearby | High-contrast beds along walks |
How does Black Mulch behave over a hot month?
Fresh, it is the best-looking mulch we sell — double-ground hardwood takes colour evenly, the fine texture rakes flat and uniform, cut edge lines stay crisp. A dyed mulch in an unshaded, south-facing frontage lifts toward grey-brown over a season. In a shaded Fells-side bed the same material holds much longer.
Two other honest notes. Finely ground and heavy at 600 to 800 pounds a yard, it knits into a mat and can crust over, shedding water instead of passing it — scratch it with a rake once a summer. And if it rains on freshly spread mulch before you have swept, the dye can mark light concrete. See the Black Mulch product page.
How does Hemlock hold up?
Hemlock starts reddish-brown and that colour is the bark's own, so it never looks artificially dark and never has a moment where the colour looks like it failed — it lightens gradually to silvery grey. Plenty of people want exactly that, and it looks correct in a woodland bed under oak or pine, which is most of North Medford.
Its drawbacks are real. It costs $5 more a yard, and it will not give you a dark bed in September no matter what you do — if the look you are buying is deep uniform black in late summer, Hemlock will disappoint you. On a genuinely steep slope, neither of these shredded products beats pine bark nuggets. See the Hemlock Mulch product page.
Which is worth the price difference?
In a full-sun frontage where you want dark, buy Black and budget to refresh next spring. In a shaded or woodland bed, buy Hemlock: it ages rather than fading. If anything edible is in the bed, Hemlock, and that is a rule rather than a preference. Neither feeds your soil in a useful timeframe either; if the soil under the bed is tired, that is a compost job, and the US Composting Council covers the difference. For depth around trees and shrubs, follow the UMass Extension landscape program.
Medford is 8.2 driving miles from our Dispatch Office in Dorchester, inside the flat zone, so delivery is $100 flat per load. Mulch loads run to 10 yards, but loads count per line item — Hemlock for the back beds and Black for the front is two loads and two fees. One mulch for the whole property is worth $100.
Common questions
Will Black Mulch stain my walkway?
It can mark light concrete if fresh dyed mulch is rained on before the pavement is swept and rinsed.
Does Hemlock repel insects?
No. Red Cedar is the mulch with the aromatic reputation.
Can I put Black over last year's Hemlock?
Yes, provided total depth over the root zone stays around 3 inches.
Compare all five mulches in the mulch collection or start from mulch bed refresh, order for your address in the Medford landscape supply collection, or text bed dimensions to (617) 286-2740. No minimum order.
Related reading: How to Fix Storm Erosion on an Attleboro Slope and Boundary-Zone Pricing: A Mansfield Contractor's Delivery Sheet.
