What type of Mulch

mj12

I am here in Detroit Mi. I want something to put in all my flower beds. All I have is locust trees and boxwood plants. The deer eat everything so this is what I have. I am looking for a good mulch. My local options are some sort of sweat peat mix, hardwoods shredded, mixed hardwoods shredded real small. Or ground up pallets dyed to the color of my choice. My soil is mostly clay. I am not concerned about retaining water, more just having healthy soil and covering up the weeds. Any recommendations? Something i can find local, any sort of mix I should order? I do not want any sort of ground cover plants.

joecaption

I use nothing but Cypruss, any box store will have it. In the spring it always goes on sale for 50% off.
Reasons being it does not break down and make a nice top soil for weeds to grow like hardwood does. It does not mold up.
It repels insects.
Add some Preen to it to stop the weeds from germinating.