Stop in for a cup of coffee

You know the wood 'mulch' that is so popular in the stores make a great habitat for fungi ? Can make the siding look pretty bad- some of them shoot their spores out. We were using wood mulch in the park around some of the trees to keep the mow and trimmer cowboys from cutting up the trunks, and on some walking paths but thats about it.
so, other than wood mulch-what else do you use?