Ez Straw® was founded in 1985 with a simple mission: to provide premium straw mulch products that make lawn care and landscaping easy. For over 35 years, we’ve stayed true to that goal by continually innovating and improving our line of seeding mulches, repair mixes, and straw mulches. Our products are now used by professional landscapers, golf courses, parks departments, and home gardeners across the country.
Our History
Ez Straw® began as a small family-owned business in Iowa. Our founder, John Smith, was a third-generation farmer who saw the potential for using straw as a mulch product. At the time, mulching was done by hand using loose straw, which was messy, inconvenient, and led to a lot of wasted material. John knew there had to be a better way.
After months of research and experimentation on his family’s farm, John developed a method for compressing straw into tightly bound bales. This allowed for easy transportation without waste. The dense bales also stayed put on slopes and other areas, unlike loose straw which tended to blow away.
In 1985, John launched his first product: Ez Straw Seed Mulch. This revolutionary new mulch made planting grass seed simple. Instead of laboriously spreading loose straw over seeded areas, landscapers could now just unroll the durable compressed bales. The seeds and fertilizer were fully contained inside, eliminating mess and giving the grass perfect growing conditions.
The success of Ez Straw Seed Mulch allowed John to quit farming and focus full-time on the mulch business. Our headquarters moved out of John’s barn into a small production facility where he hired local workers to help produce the mulch bales.
Growth & Expansion
As word spread about Ez Straw mulch products throughout the 1990s, demand grew rapidly. Major retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s began stocking our bales on their shelves across the country. We expanded our production capacity by building a large manufacturing plant to keep up.
In 2002, we introduced Ez Straw Repair Mix, specially formulated to fix bare spots and grow thick grass in poor soil conditions. This product line helped cement Ez Straw® as the go-to brand for everything related to seeding and repairing lawns.
Ez Straw embarked on a period of rapid growth in the 2000s. We acquired smaller mulch manufacturers to bolster our production capacity as well as expand our product catalog. Innovations like Ez Straw Decorative Mulch brought new visual appeal to commercial landscaping.
By 2010, Ez Straw had grown to over 300 employees working at production facilities and offices in 5 states. Our products could be found at thousands of retailers nationwide from small gardening stores to huge home improvement chains. We also became a top choice of professional landscapers and golf course groundskeepers.
Today, Ez Straw continues to experience strong growth as environmentally-conscious consumers and municipalities look for alternatives to harmful pesticides for weed control. Our mulches prevent weeds without the use of chemicals. Many cities now rely on Ez Straw for curbside straw mulch distribution programs that help residents maintain weed-free lawns.
Our Facilities
Ez Straw operates 6 production facilities strategically located across the Midwestern United States to efficiently distribute products nationwide. Our two main plants in Iowa and Indiana house state-of-the-art compressing and packaging equipment that can produce over 200,000 pounds of mulch per day.
We source our straw from over 500 local farms in the Midwest. This provides abundant raw material while minimizing transportation costs and environmental impact. At our plants, the straw is compressed, loaded with grass seed mixtures, and packaged into our signature Ez Straw bales.
In addition to production, our Iowa headquarters is home to our executive offices, R&D lab, and training center. Here, our team of agronomists and engineers are continually testing and developing new mulch formulations to meet evolving customer needs. We train all new employees and distributors at our headquarters to ensure the Ez Straw standard of quality is maintained.
Our Products
Ez Straw offers the industry’s widest range of premium seeding and repair mulches, including:
- Ez Straw Seeding Mulch – Our flagship product for sowing new lawns or overseeding existing grass. Contains fertilizer and grass seeds within the mulch for optimum germination and growth. Available in different seed varieties to match different climates and conditions.
- Ez Straw Repair Mix – Blended specifically to fix bare spots and grow thick grass in poor soil environments. Dual-acting formula provides both quick foliar green-up along with long-term seed establishment.
- Ez Straw Decorative Mulch – Enhances the visual appeal of lawns and landscapes with its attractive natural wheat-gold color. Provides all the weed and moisture control of typical mulch with an elegant finish.
- Ez Straw Playground Mulch – Soft shredded straw mulch that cushions falls and impacts on playgrounds. Highly absorbent to prevent muddy puddles from forming. Handsome natural look.
- Ez Straw Pet Bedding – Comfortable and highly absorbent bedding for pets made from 95% straw and 5% paper fiber. Dust-free, hygienic and disposable. Safer and cleaner than hay.
- Ez Straw Erosion Control Blankets – Woven straw mats that provide immediate erosion protection on slopes and channels when ground cover is establishing. Can also be used as turf reinforcement in high-traffic areas.
No matter the specific landscaping application, Ez Straw has the right mulch product to make the job easier. Our comprehensive selection provides solutions from lawn seeding to decorative accents to erosion control and more.
Our Commitment to Quality
Maintaining the highest standards of quality has been a core value since Ez Straw’s founding over 35 years ago. We’re committed to consistent product performance and purity across our entire family of mulches.
Our Iowa headquarters houses an advanced R&D lab where our agronomists rigorously test samples from every production batch. This ensures proper seed germination rates, purity from weeds/pest, and strict adherence to our premium mulch specifications.
We continuously research and trial new seed varieties, plant nutrients, and innovative natural binders that can improve our products. For example, we recently incorporated a new patented biopolymer into our Seeding Mulch that boosts moisture retention for better germination.
Our dedicated training staff provides mandatory instruction to all new hires and seasonal workers so everyone understands and executes our strict quality control procedures. We frequently audit our procedures across every facility to maintain consistency.
We’re so confident that every Ez Straw bale meets our lofty standards that we proudly stand behind our products with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you aren’t happy with the performance of our mulches, we’ll resolve the issue to your satisfaction or provide a full refund. Our excellent consumer ratings prove that we deliver on this promise.
By refusing to compromise on quality, Ez Straw has earned the trust of professional landscapers and homeowners across America. When you buy Ez Straw, you can feel assured you’re getting a premium product backed by over 35 years in the business.
Our Customers
Ez Straw provides mulch products to a wide variety of consumer and commercial customers:
- Professional landscapers – Our seeding mulches, repair mixes and erosion control blankets are used extensively for lawns, golf courses, parks, athletic fields, and commercial landscaping. We supply over 5,000 landscaping companies across North America.
- Government agencies – Hundreds of cities and municipalities purchase Ez Straw products for public parks, playgrounds, sports fields and municipal landscaping projects. Our decorative mulches are popular for downtown beautification.
- Garden centers & farm retail – We supply independent garden centers as well as regional and national chains like Tractor Supply Company, Walmart, Costco and True Value. Home gardeners will find our products on shelves across the country.
- Direct to consumers – Homeowners can order directly from our website to repair and establish lawns. We also operate a monthly subscription service that ships our mulch and soils on a recurring basis.
- Export – We distribute mulch products to over 18 countries overseas primarily in Latin America and Asia to meet growing international demand.
- Pet specialty retailers – National chains like PetSmart along with independent pet stores carry our Ez Straw small pet bedding products. Our odor-controlling mulch keeps dog runs clean.
No matter if you’re a home gardener or a golf course superintendent, Ez Straw has the products to meet your unique landscaping needs. We’re proud to count a wide variety of residential and commercial customers among our many loyal fans.
Our Values
Ez Straw’s success over 35+ years stems from our deeply held company values:
- Innovation – We constantly pioneer new mulch formulations and landscaping products that solve customer problems. Our R&D lab is always testing new ideas.
- Efficiency – We eliminate waste and streamline processes to provide the highest quality at the best value. Our Midwest facilities optimize transportation efficiency.
- Environmental Responsibility – Our mulches are sustainable, all-natural, and locally sourced. We actively conserve resources and recycle materials in our facilities.
- Customer Service – We make sure every interaction with Ez Straw is positive. Our staff is empowered to quickly resolve issues to customers’ satisfaction.
- Community – We remain actively involved in the local communities where we operate by donating mulch for parks, habitats, and public spaces.
By staying true to these core values, Ez Straw maintains the strong reputation we’ve built over 35 years in business. We’re committed to earning your trust every day.
The Future of Ez Straw
As Ez Straw embarks on our 4th decade in business, we’re more excited than ever about the future. The growing popularity of sustainable landscaping practices and non-chemical weed control will continue to drive demand for our mulch products. And we’ll keep pushing to develop innovative solutions.
Some of our goals moving forward include:
- Expanding our biopolymers research to naturally enhance more products without chemicals
- Optimizing our Midwest supply chain logistics as input costs fluctuate
- Developing new mulches tailored for arid climates and unique landscape challenges
- Growing our direct-to-consumer monthly delivery subscriptions for convenience
- Formulating an all-natural “Weed-Be-Gone” mulch that inhibits unwanted vegetation
After 35+ years, our passion for creating premium mulches and making landscaping easy burns brighter than ever. We can’t wait to introduce the next generation of innovative Ez Straw products.
On behalf of our entire team, thank you for choosing Ez Straw! We look forward to helping your next lawn and landscaping project succeed.
