Black Dyed Mulch

[mikeslawnservice]

Does anyone know anything about black dyed mulch? I have heard that it will never fade. Is that true? It is kind of expensive at around $28-$30 per yard.

Should I charge a profit for the mulch and then for my time and if so is about double for the mulch about right????

[Showcase Lawns]

Personally doubling price on mulch isnt too bad. Personally we just pretty much factor in the time and gas it takes to get the mulch then ad that to the price somtimes its not that much more than the mulch. I havent worked with black mulch though so im not sure if it doesnt fade or not. On labor you need to make sure and factor in things like how far you are going to have to move the mulch from the trailer and how many plants u have to work around. Weve done mulch relativaly the same size jobs with huge differences in the amount of time we spend on a job just because of working around a ton of little plants and hard to get to spaces.

[Gary batho]

Spreading mulch can be a real time consuming job. If you have to use wheel barrows and shovel it with a mulch fork you wont make any money if you just double the cost. when I spread a tractor trailor of mulch it takes six guys 8-10 hours to trench bed lines and spread the mulch. the mulch cost $ 850. and I charge between $ 1500-1800 just to spread the mulch by wheel barrows. basicly I triple the cost of the mulch. but I charge by the hour so I do`nt loose and neither does the client

[Showcase Lawns]

Ya i would charge by the hr also if u can. Some people wont pay by the hr they want a quote on the job. In those cases just give yourself some room to work with and add some time in the bid. I guess it depends on how much mulch you are going to spread on how much to charge. Weve never done a job over 5 yards.

[Scaper-S2k]

We install about 600-700 yards of black dyed mulch per year. About the same of the brick red dyed. Around the same for triple shredded hardwood as well.

We get it for around $14.50 per yard delivered.

It will lose it's color over time, don't let anyone tell you different. It holds it's color for a year, but when we re-apply it to existing beds, you can see the deeper color of the new batch. If they are repeat clients, the second round of mulch can be thinnned out much more though.

After they dye the mulch, it should sit for at least 12 days to absorb the dye before they sell it.

Also, when you install it, you want to make sure the top layer dries before any rain. If you put it down and it rains right after, it will wash off a good amount of the color....REGARDLESS of how long it cured at the dealer. Of course, the longer it cures, the less it will wash off. But as long as the top layer dries for a few hours, it is fine. The longer the better.

It will dye your hands toooo!

Side Note: Sometimes we have left over in our dumpers and it rains that night. If it is red, it will drip red colored rain water out of the bed. At our mowing locations, it looks like blood dripping from the bed. Had one old guy ask us if that is what we do with the lazy employees! Jokingly of course!

[Seascape]

Im not having any trouble at all getting 110 per yd from the black mulch. I offer a "absolute black" comes fine and ultra fine. Tell them up front the ultra fine blows out over time and that the edges may need touched up after a few cuts from blowing around it. about 1 per month we prep edges along drives ect.. put it on the bill . people love it.
mike