A piece of jewelry is the finishing touch for an outfit.

In the garden, that makes mulch the equivalent of a chunky bracelet.

Mulch dresses up a garden and makes it look finished and polished.

Over the years, I've used Western red cedar, pine bark, cocoa bean hulls, cypress mulch, newspapers, glass clippings, synthetics and plastic. I prefer the look of natural mulch over synthetics. In flower gardens, I avoid coarse blends, preferring the look of finer textured mulches.

I don't use a lot of mulch in the backyard because my dogs are likely to eat it. After a weekend spent yanking out an infestation of daisy fleabane among the lilies, however, I'm seriously considering putting down a layer of newspaper covered with mulch in the back of the garden. I'll sneak and do it when the dogs are napping indoors; otherwise they'll be curious about what I'm doing.

Mulch does more than put a pretty face on the garden. A nice layer of mulch reduces weed growth, which is a time-saver for busy gardeners. We're not having to weed and re-weed beds through the growing season.

It also conserves moisture in the soil, reducing water requirements, and minimizes soil erosion. Most experts say mulch doesn't affect soil pH. Mulch also keeps soil from splashing onto plants during rain showers and helps reduce the spread of disease spores that may be lurking in the soil.

Organic mulches decompose and add nutrients to the soil and improve drainage. Inorganic mulches such as gravel, rocks, garden fabrics and plastic are decorative or have specific applications. A lot of gardeners love cocoa hull mulch (mostly because it smells divine, but the smell dissipates too quickly), but don't use it around nosy dogs. They're attracted to the aroma too, and can become very ill from ingesting the mulch, which is derived from processing the cocoa beans. It's well known that chocolate is toxic for dogs.

The choice of mulch should fit the setting, and that can be problematic in vegetable gardens. Many vegetable gardeners like black plastic because of its solar effect. It raises the soil temperature for warm-weather vegetables like tomatoes and peppers, so they can be planted sooner in spring. The plastic blocks the sun to prevent weed seed germination, but water and oxygen can't penetrate the plastic, which can lead to lack of moisture and aeration. That, in turn, can encourage disease and reduce yields. Soaker hoses under the plastic can help, or replace the plastic with a different mulch in mid-summer. Plastic isn't a good choice for cool-weather crops like lettuce because they prefer cooler soil temperatures.