Adding mulch to your outdoor landscaping is a great way to bring curbside appeal to your home. A fresh application of mulch dresses up garden beds and creates a backdrop for your shrubs and flowers. Mulch is available in many shades. You may wonder what colors would match best against the surface of your red brick home. We've consulted landscape and design recommendations to get the answer for you.
When choosing mulch for a red brick house, an accentuating color will look the best. Mulches are typically available in brown or black shades and provide the necessary contrast to highlight a red brick home nicely. Red mulch is best avoided near brick as it is not as visually appealing.
When considering mulch for your landscaping, you'll have many choices in both color and texture. Read on to explore your options in choosing a mulch that perfectly highlights your home and landscaping and to learn a few other details you may not have considered about mulch.
Choices In Mulch Colors
Many people don't consider that not only will you see the mulch as you approach your home, but when you look out your windows, you'll also be greeted by your landscaping. Choosing an aesthetically pleasing color for both inside and outside viewpoints helps you create a space you'll love looking at.
Brown Mulch
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Brown mulch provides a soft backdrop that is pleasing to the eye. It gives a very natural appearance and provides a great background for plants and shrubs. Many mulches fade out to a brown color over time, so starting with this color will give you the best option for keeping the color true as time passes.
Click here to see this brown mulch on Amazon.
Brown mulch provides a great neutral backdrop for a red brick home. It blends yet accentuates without providing excessive contrast. Additionally, brown mulch will make your plants and flowers stand out.
Black Mulch
Black mulch is very striking and provides high contrast against a red brick home. This may be too jarring for some. Your black mulch will fade over time, becoming a duller shade of black.
Click here to see this black mulch on Amazon.
If your landscaping contains a large amount of green foliage, black mulch will really make these plants stand out. Remember that black mulch does attract and hold heat, so if you have a large amount of delicate or heat-sensitive plants, you may want to steer away from black mulch.
Black mulch matches very well with gray and contemporary style homes.
Red Mulch
Red mulch isn't the best choice with a red brick home because the contrast level is low, and it tends to be too much of a similar color to provide an adequate background; however, red mulch looks fantastic with a white home. The high contrast of a white house with red mulch is a classic landscaping look. Additionally, the red mulch matches well if you have colors of terra cotta, gold, and warmer tones in your outdoor space.
Click here to see this red mulch on Amazon.
Red mulch is a good highlight for plants with a lighter green shade and works well in rock gardens. Keep in mind that red mulch can stain concrete driveways and sidewalks.
What Color Of Mulch Fades The Least?
Regular mulch can fade as quickly as within one to two months. Brown or black dyed mulches last the longest. These rich colors can last for a year or sometimes even longer.
Natural materials such as pine needles, cedar mulch, or pine bark are not dyed and will not fade as quickly as the dyed mulches. Of these choices, cedar mulch will retain its color the longest.
Click here to find this cedar mulch on Amazon.
Click here to see this pine straw mulch on Amazon.
Does Mulch Attract Bugs?
Unfortunately, mulch can attract insects. Different types of mulch are attractive to various pests. It's not actually the mulch that brings the pests; rather, the environment that it creates makes the right home for various insects. Let's look at which insects and mulches seem to enjoy each other.
Termites
Termites enjoy the cool, moist protection provided by mulch, not the mulch itself. They can be found beneath wood, gravel, bark, and rubber mulches. Termites prefer wood types of loblolly pine, white birch, and slash pine.
Ants
Ants enjoying making a home in decaying wood and will build nests in wood mulches. A more shallow mulch bed can discourage ants from choosing your landscape as a potential home.
Cockroaches
Roaches like the decomposing material and moisture associated with mulch. They seem to be more attracted to wood shavings and chips.
Mosquitos
Wet mulch attracts mosquitos as a place to lay their eggs. However, the aroma of cedar repels mosquitos. Make sure your mulch bed is well-drained to avoid it holding too much moisture.
Spiders
Spiders also like the moisture of mulch and will use a mulch bed as a nesting place. They tend to be more attracted to pine bark and wood mulches.
Pest Resistant Mulch
The good news is that if the pests above give you the creepy crawlies, you can still find ways to enjoy the beauty of mulch without sharing it with these insects. Inorganic mulches made from plastic, rocks, or rubber are alternatives to organic mulches. Cedar and Cypress mulches naturally repel many insects, including cockroaches, termites, certain ants, carpet beetles, and cloth eating moths.
Do You Have To Remove Old Mulch Before Applying New Mulch?
While it's tempting just to add new mulch over an existing bed, you should remove the old mulch first. Adding to existing mulch can result in rot, nutrient starvation in your soil, and plant death. Remove as many layers of mulch as you can before applying new mulch.
What Color Of Flowers Look Best With A Red Brick House?
As with your mulch color, choose flowers that will contrast with the red of your bricks. Don't use red flowers. They will blend into the brick and won't be visible. Choose plants in shades of green, a complementary color of red, with contrasting blossoms. White, pink, or yellow are great choices to stand out against your brick.
Putting It All Together
A fresh layer of mulch in your garden beds, paired with a pop of color from plants, shrubs, and flowers, creates an attractive view for your home. Consider which you prefer, high or low contrast, to guide your color choices. Brown mulch will give a natural backdrop, while black is a higher contrast with bolder impact. If you worry about pests, it may influence your choice of mulch material.
After you've created the perfect outdoor landscaping, you'll want to sit on your front porch and admire it. Our post, "15 Types of Porches Every Homeowner Should Know," will help you create a space for relaxing and enjoying the outdoors.
You'll also need a comfortable place to sit as you view your garden beds. Our post, "5 Best Rocking Chairs and Rocking Benches for Your Porch," will help you finish off your cozy porch.