“Beauty bark” is a regional term to describe a type of mulch made from wood chips or wood shavings. Basically, it’s another type of organic mulch, since it’s made from natural materials. Other types of organic mulch include hay, straw, leaves, and even grass clippings. 

Beauty bark is popular because it comes in a wide variety of sizes, colors, and textures. It gives your garden or property a clean and polished look while suppressing weed growth and retaining moisture in the soil. 

Adding a layer of beauty bark to exposed soil can minimize time spent weeding, fertilizing and watering. Depending on your needs, you may want to consider a size that’s most appropriate. For example, large wood chunks are great for paths and walkways where soil improvement isn’t a top priority. Larger wood mulches are great for preventing erosion and weeds, but they don’t add much nutrients to the soil. Finer, smaller wood bark mulches are best for garden beds because they decompose faster, adding nutrients to the soil. 

Beauty bark has many other uses besides gardening. For children’s playgrounds and playsets, playground mulch made from cedar is an excellent choice. The cedar keeps the bugs away while providing a soft wood carpet that’s safe for kids to play in. 

And if you need to impress that prospective home buyer, dark bark fines are ideal for decorative landscaping. The deep chocolate color combined with the pleasant aroma lends any property an air of sophistication.