 Third in line, shredded hardwood bark. Pine needles work well but look a little out of place on your property where there's no pine trees growing. Shredded rubber is a horrible choice. Dyed mulch is almost as bad. It's ugly, made of wood scraps which can be contaminated, and has no carbon to nitrogen balance. Cypress plates and blocks out gas exchange, and pine bark washes and blows away. What does stay in place and breaks down poorly won't help plant growth.