Is it worth hiring someone to mulch my beds?

Often it is not, because mulching is one of the simplest jobs in a yard: weed, edge, spread, rake. Hiring pays off when the beds are large, when they need real cleanup before any mulch goes down, or when moving several cubic yards by wheelbarrow is more than you want to take on. Whoever does it, the result depends on depth and placement, so those belong in the quote.

When doing it yourself makes sense

A small bed or two that is already weeded and edged is an afternoon's work. You buy the mulch, rake it out and you are done. You also control the two things crews most often get wrong: depth and where the mulch touches.

To size the job, one cubic yard covers 324 square feet an inch deep.^[5] Multiply your bed area by the depth in inches and divide by 324. Before ordering, dig into the beds with a trowel. Virginia Cooperative Extension calls for mulch 2 to 3 inches deep around shrubs,^[1] so a bed that still has an inch or two of last year's mulch needs only a light top-up. The full method is in how to mulch flower beds the right way.

When hiring is worth it

The job is big. Many yards of mulch across long foundation beds and tree rings is a full day or more of hauling.

The beds need cleanup first. Weeding an overgrown bed, cutting a new edge and pulling out years of built-up mulch is where most of the time goes, and it is the part people put off.

Old mulch has built up. Over time, mulch can pile up to five, six or more inches,^[4] and excessive mulch reduces soil oxygen and suffocates roots.^[4] Clearing that out is heavy work and worth paying for.

Lifting is hard on you. Bags and wheelbarrow loads are heavy. If that is a health concern, the job is a reasonable one to hand off.

What to make sure a crew does right

A crew that spreads mulch badly can cost you plants. Virginia Tech's guidance is blunt: mulch piled against a trunk keeps the bark moist and open to decay organisms, insects and voles, which may girdle and kill the tree.^[2]

Put these in writing:

• a finished depth of about 2 to 3 inches, not 3 new inches on top of old mulch
• mulch kept off trunks and stems; Clemson Extension's rule is to keep mulch 2 to 3 inches away from the stems of woody plants^[5]
• mulch held back from the house; Extension's termite advice is to pull all mulch and landscaping back at least 6 inches from the foundation^[3]
• weeding and edging before mulching, listed as separate items
• how much old mulch is removed and where it goes

Licences and herbicides

Many mulch services add a pre-emergent weed preventer. That is pesticide work, and in Virginia anyone who uses pesticides on someone else's property in exchange for compensation must work for a company with a Pesticide Business License.^[6] Ask for it before you agree to the add-on.

The Board for Contractors defines landscape service contracting as the alteration or improvement of land by means of excavation, clearing, grading, construction of retaining walls for landscaping purposes, or placement of landscaping timbers.^[7] Mulch spreading is not named in that definition. If your job includes that kind of work, Virginia law defines Class C contractors as those whose single contract or project is over $1,000 but less than $30,000,^[8] and the company should hold a licence you can look up.

How to hire well

DPOR's consumer guide has rules that suit any yard job. Its first tip, where a licence applies, is "Hire only licensed contractors."^[9] It says to get at least three written bids,^[9] and warns: "Beware of any bid substantially lower than the others."^[9] For payment, it suggests you limit your deposit to 10 percent down or $1,000, whichever is less,^[9] and do not pay 100 percent of the bill until the work is 100 percent complete.^[9]

For what drives the price and a quote checklist, see what mulch installation costs in Virginia.

Stop and call a pro if

• Trees have had mulch piled against their trunks for years and roots now circle the trunk or the bark is soft.
• The beds sit on a slope where soil and mulch wash out after every storm.
• You see signs of termites where the beds meet the house.
• You want a herbicide program and are not sure which products are safe for your plants.

Browse the lawn and landscaping answers, see mulch and bed services, or look up lawn and landscaping businesses around Blacksburg. To get written quotes for your own beds, describe the job once and local businesses quote it.