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The best mulches for trees are wood chips, bark nuggets, or pine straw. Depending on your goals, you may want to avoid using plastic, stone, rubber, or wet grass clippings. Plastic mulch prevents water from reaching the mulched areas of your tree, stones don’t offer any nutritional benefits to the soil, rubber can release byproducts into the soil when it decomposes, and wet grass clippings can lead to rot. 

Plastic may prove beneficial in cold climates in the winter, but wood chips are the ideal option for most environments.

Generally, you want the soil for your edible plants to have good drainage, organic matter for nutrients, a loose texture (like loam soil), and a balanced pH level. However, the type of plants you're growing will dictate the exact characteristics your soil needs to thrive. For example, brussels sprout prefers more acidic soil, while broccoli prefers more alkaline soil. 

The best size river rock for your landscaping project depends on how you plan to use the stones. Generally, most river rocks used in landscaping are between 1/2 and 8 inches in diameter. For walkways and pathways, smaller rocks between 1 and 3 inches are suitable. For water features, medium-sized stones from 2 to 5 inches often work best. Garden beds can benefit from a mix of medium and large stones, ranging from 3 to 8 inches. These sizes can cover applications like decorative flower beds and drainage areas around foundations or retaining walls. For added visual interest, landscapers sometimes intersperse smaller river rocks with large boulders.

The difference between river rock and landscaping rocks is size, smoothness, and use. River rocks are smooth and flat, as if polished by water, and come in diameters between 1 and 8 inches. Landscape rock can vary in size from small pea gravel installations to car-sized boulders. However, landscaping and river rocks are interchangeable in many situations. River rock is best for pathways, walkways, garden bed mulch, water features, and planting accents, while small landscape rocks can serve as a walkway base, gravel playground areas, and filler between pavers.