mulching help

[deerhunter0743]

I have begun doing alot of mulching recently in a "no matenience" nieghborhood where the people are responsible for their own mulch but dont exactly have the tools to do it so it has hit off big...my question is: Is it neccesarry to remove the old mulch before adding and 1"-1 1/2" on top? the original layer is maybe 3-4"s deep and I have been just putting it on top but I was told over mulching will kill a tree, bush, flower etc... is this true and how much is too much? Thanks

[Scaper-S2k]

You really shouldn't have any more than 3" total when you are finished. And even 3" is quite a bit.

Removal of the old stuff should be extra.

[Hawk83]

I would just spread the new mulch on top of the old, given that the old isn't too deep as it is.. but while we are on the subject of mulching, not to hi-jack your thread Deerhunter, but what would you guys charge for spreading 6 yards of mulch with a 2 man crew- if i'm getting $35/yard for me the mulch, taking maybe 4/5hrs do to it, does $400 sound rigyht?? I have a mulch job to do this week that will be the first time i spread with a helper and the first time spreading more than 3 yards also...any thoughts?

[srlawnservice]

Shredded hardwood we charge 75/cu yard. So that would be 450 plus any other work such as re-edging, weeding, etc.
RL

[Hawk83]

75/ yard is what you pay for it prior to spreading or thats including your mark-up? i am paying around 30/yard b4 spreading, and i usually go up and charge up to 40/yard with my pick-up and delivery of the material, and then i start my hrly labor charge..

[deerhunter0743]

we(there are 2 of us) do 2-3 yards for 200 so I'd say your in the ball park, maybe 450?

[srlawnservice]

75/yard is materials and spreading for shredded hardwood. I pay 25/cu yard for materials and use bagged.

For other types of mulch I charge 95/yard installed.

One guy should be able to pick up/deliver/install one yard of bagged mulch in one hour using bagged.

RL

[highlander316]

here I pay 20/yard. To spread it (labor + materials) charge roughly $50-55/yard depending on how much is used. This price doesn't include edging beds though. On a typical house in the area, I charge roughly $100-125 to edge the beds.

[Hawk83]

so noone here thinks that $400+ for bed prep, pick up & install 6 yards of mulch is unreasonable? i just wanna make sure that im on the right road with this bid.. the material alone (hemlock blend bark) costs $204 b4 i even pick it up..thanks for any thoughts!!
hawk

[Scaper-S2k]

If the materials cost you $204, then $400 isn't enough.

[highlander316]

im thinking closer to $575, if not more? But I don't know how much bed prep is involved. The $400 alone is the minimum I would charge just to buy and lay the mulch. It would probably be more than $450, probably more like $475.

[Hawk83]

ok, cool!, i figured 400 hundred as a very low number just to throw out there, but the way i calculated it, it actually came out to be more than that. im just glad i wasn't shootin too high on this one. Never had a job that had so much bed space that the customer actually wanted mulched so i was just a little unsure when i figured out it to be such an expensive job, or at least at my stag. now i won't hesitate to get what i originally figured. thanks guys!!

[MES]

We put down six yards, edged the beds ( not by hand ) and a little weed eating=just under $700. Just my two cents. Don't undercut yourself.