Hey Bren, I use different types of mulch on different properties depending on budget and ease of access on the property. The one product I will never use is any colored mulch. Try finding out what they use to dye this stuff with, regardless of color, and no one has ever answered me. I've also shied away from the Cypress and Cypress blended products. I just don't know where the wood is being sourced from, and Florida has seen plenty of habitat loss already. What I use primarily now is the Eucalyptus mulch. I know that is a crop grown for many uses, and I feel better about that. It does cost a bit more per bag, but I like the way it holds up, and I also like the look. If I can, I use truckloads of wood chips from local tree services. Fortunately, I know quite a few of the owners of the companies down here, and I can ask them for a "clean" load. No palm fronds, not too leafy, but the leaves help to breakdown the wood chips quite nicely. These guys are usually more than happy to deliver a load. It is one more load they won't have to pay for to dump, and it is of no cost to you. This is a little more labor intensive, lots of shoveling and carting wheelbarrows, but I can be very liberal with the amount I put down because I know that it will break down fairly quickly. For instance, at my house, I packed mulch in some places about 8 inches high, knowing that it would drop down to 4 inches in several months. That way, I got to smother the weeds too. I just went lighter around the base of the plants. The results of the broken down mulch are very nice. Its like that black gold soil, loaded with organic content. I'm sure using pine needles would be very beneficial too, and also acidify the soil in the process. I guess what it comes down to is that if you are mulching to try to keep weeds down or eliminate them, you have to lay it down very thick. Hope this helps.