Save Money On Mulch With A Gardening Tip We Should Have Thought Of

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Across the board, home maintenance costs are high, taking a significant chunk out of homeowners' paychecks each year. While you wouldn't give up homeownership for anything, it's worth thinking about ways to save money on your home and garden budget so you have wiggle room in other areas. From budget-friendly DIY garden path ideas to finding out how to save money on garden soil, we're always looking for simple, clever ideas that can help stretch your landscaping dollars. That's why this money-saving mulch hack feels like one we should have thought of sooner; it's a bulk purchase trick that makes mulching easier while helping to keep your garden budget in check.

On his TikTok channel, creator JDrewSilvers shares an easy tip that makes buying mulch in bulk worth it. In his video, he shows how he places produce shipping baskets all over the bed of his truck before the mulch is dumped into the bed of his pickup. He then rakes it out flat so each crate is filled, and places them in a garden cart to spread around the yard. As he points out, this method not only saves money, but it's also more eco-friendly since you're avoiding the plastic bags that come with bagged mulch. And, once you have the crates, which you can usually pick up at farmers' markets and produce stands for a few bucks, you can use them again and again.

In the comment section of the TikTok video behind this money-saving mulch hack, people have a lot of helpful advice. Some shared that they employ a similar method using five-gallon buckets or milk crates, and several suggested adding a tarp underneath to make it even easier to clean out the truck bed. One viewer remarked that buying mulch in bulk makes a lot of sense, but she always hated unloading it onto the ground only to have to turn around and shovel it right back into a wheelbarrow for spreading.

Another person commented that they could use this tip if they only had a pickup, but creator JDrewSilvers noted that a trailer works just as well. Others chimed in with small tweaks and suggestions, with one person recommending a tailgate unloader to make the job even easier. With the money you save on mulching your yard, you might be able to afford one like this HAUL-MASTER Truck Bed Cargo Unloader, which costs only $54.99 at Harbor Freight.

So, how much money can you actually save by buying mulch in bulk? Besides being more environmentally friendly, is it actually worth it? To calculate how much money you can save by buying in bulk, all you need to do is multiply the cost of a 2-cubic-foot bag (the most common size) and multiply that by 13.5, which is the number of bags in a yard of mulch.

So, for example, if you take a bag of Vigoro 2 cu. ft. Premium Wood Shredded Mulch, which is $3.33, you'll spend about $45 (13.5 times $3.33) on a cubic yard of mulch when you buy it by the bag. Compare that to the $30 that the video creator said he paid for a yard, and that's a $15 savings per yard. While that might not seem like much, it represents a 33% savings. If you could achieve that level of savings across the board, you would see a big difference in your annual landscaping expenses.

The savings don't end there, though. Using mulch is one of the best ways to conserve water around the home, because mulched plants don't need to be watered as often. Therefore, you can also save money on your water bill.