I think that the best kind of mulch varies from east to west. The best mulch here is South Dakota would be straw, grass clippings or hay, since that is what is available locally and costs the least. Trees are very scarce in the plains so wood chips are hauled in in bags and usually expensive unless you live in the Western part of the state near the Black Hills. Leaves are hard to come by also. If you own a chipper/shredder and have access to tree branches then they would work fine. In the eastern part of the state there are more dairies and horse farms so manure with saw dust sould be the most practical thing to use as mulch. In other words (I'm going on here), use the stuff that is readily available in your own area...it's the cheapest and easiest to get. Stuck
The best mulch to use is whatever you can get for free. Leaves, grass clippings, hay, straw, etc. I've never used licorice root because I've never seen it available here and if it costs I wouldn't buy it anyway.
