Question
I live in the foot hills of NC and I'm in a quandry as to what kind of mulch to use.  I currently have small pine bark nuggets throughout my beds and have a lot of area to cover.  It has been very costly to use the bagged pine bark, but I haven't really purchased enough to get great coverage in all my beds. I was wondering about pine straw as an option or the finer, almost dirt-like mulch.  Which one would last the longest, get the most coverage and still look the best for the long haul.  Or should I stick with what I have and add to it?  Can I put one kind of mulch in the front yard and a different in the back yard?  Any suggestions?  Thanks.  

PS  I do not have raised beds

Ginny

Answer
Ginny,

As for mulch,  I'm strictly a compost man myself.

As both pine bark, or pine straw decompose, which they do slowly, they tie up a significant amount of nitrogen to do it.  This is nitrogen which is not getting to my plants.  Yes they do provide the insulating effect for the root zone of the plants, and they do help retain some moisture, but I just can't get over the nitrogen loss.  Also, pine products can tend to make soil acidic.  The effect isn't dramatic, but it can build up over years of using the same mulch.

Of those two, pine straw will stay around longer.  It is made up of lignin, among other things, which is verrrry slow to break down.  

Here in Portland I never see pine straw, but we have more types of Douglas Fir and Hemlock bark than I've tried to count.  But I still stick to aged & sifted compost.  This might be the finer dirt-like mulch you refer to.  It insulates, retains 10x its weight in water, can suppress the light triggered weeds, and provides significant nutrients to the plants it's protecting.

Regarding mixing and matching mulches.  I don't put different mulches where I can see them at the same time.  I want my plant choices to provide the variety in my beds, not the mulches.  But a backyard/frontyard separation seems like it wouldn't be too noticeable (especially if you have a memory as bad as mine).

Have you tried having mulch (of any kind) delivered by truck?  It's a lot cheaper than the bags.  It's usually sold by the cubic yard, so you just have to do a little math first, to figure out how much to order.

Hope this helps.
Mark in Portland