Along the perimeter of our back yard and front yard we have plants and trees: all types of flowers, bushes, fruit trees, normal trees, weird so cal trees, etc. I don’t know the names of any of these plants because they basically came with the house. Anyway, none of this is mulched. The soil around these plants is compact and contains sporadic large rocks.

Part 1 – Knowing that one day I’d add mulch around my yard, I completed one round of removing visible/easy-access large rocks and excess dirt. Before I add new mulch, how important is it that I remove more of this dirt? Is it okay if I just add the mulch on top of all of this crap dirt or should I do another round of dirt-and-rock removal? From what I’ve read, it’s good to have at least 3 inches of mulch around your plants/trees.

Part 2 – What type of mulch do you suggest? When I Google "free mulch San Diego" and I get a lot of results. Is free mulch a bad idea? My guess is that you’re going to say that I should pay for organic mulch. I’d just like to hear your thoughts on which mulch is best in my situation.

Part 3 – Once you suggest the type of mulch, do you think it makes more sense to buy in bulk or just to buy by bag from home depot? Any tips on doing this economically? I don’t own a truck but I own a wheelbarrow.

Part 4 – Prior to mulching, do you think I should lay down a layer of the weed-prevention-plastic-liner? Is that worth the time/money/effort?

Thanks for your advice!

First– the main purpose of mulch is to keep moisture around your plants.If your plants are thriving in that crap dirt then it is not crap dirt and leave it alone. You don’t like the look of it then mulch and you don’t have to look at it. If you have removed dirt he best thing you could do is put it back in the form of compost or good soil. Removing soil from plants exposes the roots. The rocks were probably shading the roots of the plants and cutting down on moisture loss from the sun.

I have never heard of organic mulch. Mulch can be anything that helps retain moisture and does not depleat the soil of nutrients like fresh wood chips that deplete the soil of Nitrogen as it breaks down. Plants that like acidic soil benefit from pine needle mulch. Some people use straw in their garden. You can use shreaded leaves or grass clippings, but I think you are talking about cedar bark chips. Some like the look of red others like the black and yes 2 to 3 inches would be about right. If you can get it free go for it, just make sure it is not fresh wood chips. If you are using cedar bark mulch I don’t think you can buy in bulk at least you can’t here. The coarse one doesn’t break down into soil as fast as the fine one

As far as I’m concerned landscape fabric is a waste of money. It doesn’t prevent weeds from sprouting in the soil on top of it. It only prevents them coming up from beneath it. It does tear or you cut it to put plants in and the weeds come anyway. Then you have the problem of digging it out.

I hope this answered all your questions