Landscape mulch has become very popular
in recent years because of the neat and tidy look it
gives to gardens and landscaping. What some people
may not know is that wood mulch not only looks nice it
is also very beneficial for plants. Mulch reduces
evaporation keeping moisture in the soil where plants
need it. It also prevents the soil from getting
hot during exposure to the mid-day sun, reducing heat
stress on plants. Organic mulch also builds
organic matter in the soil, creating loose, loamy soil
that is a pleasure to cultivate, and it increases the
population of microscopic plants and animals living in
the soil.
May is a good month to apply mulch
around trees and shrubs, because by now the soil has
warmed up and begun to dry. Covering cold, wet
soil slows plant growth and it can cause mold and fungus
problems. Once soil warms up, the microorganisms
become active, breaking down organic matter and
releasing nutrients needed by plants during their busy
spring growth. Mulching now will prevent sunlight
from germinating weed seeds and save you a great deal of
time weeding in June and July.
There are many types of mulch available
in a wide range of colors, textures, and
materials. It can be confusing when trying to
decide on the best mulch to buy. If economics are
an important factor, here is some information that will
help you decide.
Bagged mulches cost about $2 per cubic
foot (cu.ft.), which translates into $54 per cubic yard
(or simply "per yard"). Bulk mulch ranges widely
in price but the average is about $25 per yard, or half
the price of bagged mulch. Specialty mulch such as
cypress or redwood, however, cost as much as $50 per
yard. If you've always bought mulch by the bag and
you don't know how big a cubic yard is, the bed of a
standard sized pick-up truck will hold about 2 yards of
mulch. If you don't have a truck but want to buy
bulk, delivery costs will increase your price. You
can expect an additional cost of anywhere from $25 to
$75 per truckload. If you have a landscape service
deliver and spread your mulch you can expect to pay $50
to $60 per yard for the service.
Many people will select mulch based on
how it looks in the store bin. A word of caution,
if you've never used mulch before, the color of mulch in
the bin is not the color it will be as it ages on the
ground. Once mulch is exposed to sunlight and rain
its color will fade.
There are two main types of wood mulch,
colored processed wood and natural wood. Colored
mulch is made by adding dye to ground up processed wood
such as pallets or lumber. It is a great way of
recycling wood that would otherwise go to the
landfill. Natural wood mulch is made from grinding
up branches and trees that have been recently cut
down. This is how yard waste is recycled in many
communities with curbside collection. Lumber mills
also recycle bark and tree scrapes to make natural brown
mulch.
Although it is much better for plants
to be mulched than not, mulching can cause some problems
and headaches. Freshly dyed mulch can bleed color
onto sidewalks and clothing. Also, the color of
dyed mulch will fade and it can become a very different
color than what you expected. Processed wood has
been kiln dried so it is very dry and blond when ground,
making it ideal for dying. But this characteristic
also makes it less than ideal in the soil. It
breaks down much more slowly than natural wood mulch and
it reduces nutrients in the soil. Homeowners that
use dyed mulch find that they may be stuck using the
same color year after year. By spring, there is
still too much of it on the ground to change to
different color mulch, but they have to add more because
the old mulch looks too drab.
Natural wood mulch contains more
nutrients than processed wood, and it will break down to
form soil faster. It comes in many shades of brown
and usually many different textures. Ground up
tree branches makes mulch that has more fines in it than
ground up tree trunks, which can have many more larger
hardwood pieces. Although some people may prefer
uniformly fine textured mulch, natural mulches that
contains coarse as well as fine sized particles actually
perform better than uniform mulch. It will settle
less than fluffy fine mulch, and the coarser pieces
provide better weed control.
The main problem with natural wood
mulch is that is can harbor pests (such as termites) or
(more rarely) disease from trees that were cut
down. Although it is recommended that homeowners
burn diseased wood, they may not recognize what killed
their tree, and the diseased wood can end up being
processed into mulch. It is good advice if you
have wood siding on your house not to put any wood mulch
up against your house. And be careful of the type
of mulch you use around trees that are susceptible to
diseases. If you like natural mulch but these
potential problems concern you, then the best mulch for
you to buy is mulch that has been composted.
Composting organic matter destroys the pests and
disease-causing organisms.
Composting mulch in windrows and
turning it periodically allows plenty of oxygen to get
into the pile. Composted mulch has a pleasant
earthy-smell not a sour smell. It is a rich, dark
brown color created naturally by the humus that forms
during the composting process. Composted mulch is
already partially broken down so it will settle less
after you spread it on the ground. It will also
enrich your soil more quickly than fresh mulch.
Not many people realize that fresh
mulch can be toxic to plants when the manufacturer has
stored it improperly. Toxic (or "sour" mulch)
occurs when manufacturers create mountains of ground up
wood. Large piles don't allow oxygen to get into
the pile. As the piles heat up, the mulch deep in
the pile becomes sour and has a recognizable offensive
odor. When spread around plants sour mulch can
damage or kill plants. If your mulch smells sour
let your pile sit for 48 hours to release the sour gases
before spreading it.
No matter what type of mulch you
choose, May is the month to get out and spread it around
your landscaping plants. If last year was the
first time you mulched, start by tilling last year's
mulch into the ground to speed up its decomposition and
enrich the underlying soil. Then apply a 3 to 4
inch cover of new mulch. If this is the first year
that you've mulched, consider adding compost to enrich
the soil before applying mulch. Once you begin
mulching every year you will not need to add as much
mulch the next year. Your landscaping will look
better, and your plants will be healthier and grow
faster. The key to growing beautiful healthy
plants is to make healthy, fertile soil.
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