Which Mulch is the Right Mulch?

Mulching season has begun, and every season, the question is whether there is a better way.

We're told to do it for the health of the trees and shrubs, but often it blows away, adding nothing to the soil, or it forms a hard, hydrophobic layer that defeats its purpose.

Leaf Humus

A better way, definitely, isn't the colored mulches produced by our favorite chemical brand.

Recently, we've worked on ensuring our garden beds are full of plants, reducing the need for mulch in those areas and leaving leaves to create a natural mulch.

Raw wood chips are great, but not always suitable around formal areas; leaf humus/compost is best in garden beds to support plant growth and fill out. All bark hard wood mulch is good for the formal aesthetic in tree wells along a drive (but my least favorite, why can't we plant something in the tree rings instead?)

What do you go to for mulching? What can we change to improve the process?

All bark mulch