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This will depend on the depth of the structure. For a landscape, patio, or walkway that’s around 2 inches deep, a ton of gravel will cover around 100 square feet or about 0.6 cubic yards. However, if you’re building a driveway, which should be a minimum of 12 inches deep, you’d need about 6 tons of gravel to cover the same area.

There are two main times of the year to spread mulch—mid-spring and late fall. Spring mulching protects new seedlings as the soil warms up and the rainy season begins. Fall mulching insulates the soil and regulates its temperature as the first frosts arrive.

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.

Colored mulch can be bad for plants in that it robs them of nitrogen as it depletes the soil to break itself down. With this in mind, it’s a good idea to test your soil to check the nitrogen levels. If the nitrogen levels are low, use fertilizer with extra nitrogen or switch to regular mulch.

Another downside of colored mulch is if it’s heavily contaminated, it can contaminate the soil and damage your plants. To avoid this, look for the MSC certification logo on the mulch bag before purchasing.