Beware of Toxic Mulch

Article by: Michael McGroarty

Mulching beds , A Waste of Packaged Gold has become extremely popular these days, and mulch can be really beneficial to your plants , Recycling Carwash Wash Water for Landscape and Toilets and the soil , Lawn Care Business Owners - Don't Buy Yourself A Job in your planting beds, , Rose Gardening but there are things you need to watch for.

Here in Ohio the most popular type of mulch that people use is shredded hardwood bark mulch, which is a byproduct of the timber , Weathervanes - Monitor your Wind Direction with Beauty! industry. When they haul the logs into the sawmill the first thing they do is debark them. Years ago the bark was a huge problem for the mills because there didn't seem to be a useful purpose for it, until people realized the hidden benefits that it held. Still to this day, the bark is a headache for the saw mills, and they don't always understand how to , Lawn Care Business Owners - Don't Buy Yourself A Job properly handle it.

They like to pile it as high as they can so it takes up less space in their yard. , 5 Great Tips For Building A Fish Pond The mulch really tends to back up during the winter , Why Teak Furniture is the Better Choice months because there is little demand for it. In order for the mills to pile the mulch high, they literally have to drive the large front end loaders up onto the pile. Of course the weight of these large machines compacts the mulch in the pile, and this can become a huge problem for you or I if we happen to get some mulch that has been stacked too high, and compacted too tightly.

When the trees , Abatement and Consistency Philosophy are first debarked the mulch is fairly fresh, and needs to decompose before we dare use it around our plants. , Corylopsis (Winterhazel) - Spicata The decomposition process requires oxygen and air , Gardening - When to Prune flow into the pile. When the mulch is compacted too tight, this air , The Protea Family (Proteaceae) flow cannot take place, , A Few Simple Facts About Purple Martins and as the mulch continues to decompose it becomes extremely hot , Adirondack Chairs - How to Care for and Clean Them as the organic , The Protea Family (Proteaceae) matter ferments. Sometimes the extreme heat , Lawn Care Business Owners - Don't Buy Yourself A Job combined with the inability to release the heat , Lawn Care Tips - Six Easy Steps to a Great Lawn can cause the pile to burst into flame through spontaneous combustion.

In other cases the mulch heats , 5 Things To Consider Before Purchasing a Push Reel Mower up, cannot release the gas, , Landscaping Tips: Boost Energy Efficiency with Shading Trees and the mulch actually becomes toxic. When this occurs the mulch develops an overbearing odor that will take your breath away as you dig into the pile. When you spread this toxic mulch around your plants , Why Teak Furniture is the Better Choice the gas , Abatement and Consistency Philosophy it contains is released, and this gas , Landscaping Tips: Boost Energy Efficiency with Shading Trees can and will burn your plants. , Green Thumb Gifts: Beyond Gardening Gloves

It has happened to me twice. Once at my own house, , Lawn and Garden Care - Simple Tips For Success and once on a job I was doing for a customer. This toxic mulch is very potent. We spilled a little mulch in the foliage of a Dwarf Alberta Spruce that we were mulching around, and just a few minutes later brushed the mulch out of the plant. , The Protea Family (Proteaceae) The next day my customer noticed that one side of the plant , Lawn and Garden Care - Simple Tips For Success was all brown. The mulch had only been there for a matter of minutes.

Not only did I have to replace the Dwarf Alberta Spruce, but the mulch also damaged at least 10 other plants , Choosing the Perfect Landscape Painting that I had to replace. I once saw where somebody ordered a truck load of mulch, had it dumped in their driveway, and as the toxic mulch slid out of the dump truck onto the asphalt the toxic gas , The Secret to Pruning Apple Trees that was released settled on the lawn , 5 Things To Consider Before Purchasing a Push Reel Mower next to the driveway.

The gas, , Spring Flower Gardening not the mulch, turned the grass , Green Thumb Gifts: Beyond Gardening Gloves brown next to the mulch pile.

This same person spread several yards , Simple Lawnmower Maintenance of the mulch around their house , A Few Simple Facts About Purple Martins before they realized the problem, and it ruined many of their plants. , Seeding a Lawn

Now here's the hard part; trying to explain to you how to , Corylopsis (Winterhazel) - Spicata identify toxic mulch. It has a very strong odor that will take your breath away. But then again almost all mulch has a powerful odor. This is very different than your typical mulch smell, but I can't explain it any better than that.

The mulch looks perfectly normal, maybe a little darker in color , Lap Pools - Great Exercise Inside Or Any Size Backyard than usual. If you suspect a problem with the mulch you have, take a couple of shovels full, and place , Choosing the Perfect Landscape Painting it around an inexpensive plant. , Are There Really Black Roses? Maybe just a couple of flowers. , Green Thumb Gifts: Beyond Gardening Gloves When doing this test use mulch from inside , Seeding a Lawn the mulch pile and not from the edges. The mulch on the edge of the pile has more than likely released most of the toxic gas , Gift Ideas for Bird Lovers that it may have held.

If after 24 hours the test plants , Abatement and Consistency Philosophy are okay, the mulch should be fine. The purpose of this article is not to induce panic at the mulch yard, , Whack 'Em Back - Getting More Flowers by Pruning but toxic mulch can do serious damage. At my house , The Protea Family (Proteaceae) it burned the leaves right off some of the plants , Your Step By Step Guide To ing The Perfect Lawn in my landscape, , Abatement and Consistency Philosophy and burned the grass , Lawn and Garden Care - Simple Tips For Success next to the bed , Gardening - When to Prune all the way around the house. , Fuchsia procumbens It looked like somebody had taken a torch and burned the grass , Abatement and Consistency Philosophy back about 2" all the way around the bed. , Corylopsis (Winterhazel) - Spicata If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it.

You are welcome to use this article on your website or in your newsletter as long as you reprint it as is, including the contact information , Corylopsis (Winterhazel) - Spicata at the end. Website URLs must be active links. You are welcome to use this article with an affiliate link, http://www.freeplants.com.

Michael J. McGroarty is the author of this article. Visit his most interesting website, http://www.freeplants.com and sign up for his excellent gardening , Corylopsis (Winterhazel) - Spicata newsletter.Â Article provided by http://gardening-articles.com.

What's Inside
Theme Gardens - Flower gardens , Patio Umbrella Covers are for enjoyment. They provide you with visual beauty, the joy of working with soil , 10 Tips to Care for Your Antique Ceramics and plants, , Mulchers - A Buying Guide and the pride of showing others what you have created. As a gardener, one is always experimenting and learning anew what delights a f...
Front Yard Landscaping Ideas - How To Plant And Care For Shrubs - Caring for both trees , Teak Furniture - A Cut Above The Rest and shrubs , Teak Outdoor Furniture - Where Function Meets Beauty is basically done in a very similar manner. The one major difference though, is that a tree , Easy Concrete Pavers usually only has one trunk, whereas a shrub , Delavay's Blueberry (Vaccinium delavayi) can have several stems or trunks. And the planting of both trees , Weathervanes - Monitor your Wind Direction with Beauty! and shrubs , How Do I Keep My Pond From Turning Green? ca...
Hammock Chairs - Relax in Style - I know what a hammock is, but what is a hammock chair? I have seen them advertised on line, but I really had no idea what one was. Turns out they are a hot , Daylilies - The Perfect Perennial trend in outdoor , Hardy Hibiscus seating that offer functional flexibility in a variety of styles, colors, , 6 Steps To A Greener, Healthier Lawn ...
Are There Really Black Roses? - Throughout the course of time, black roses , Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) have conjured up a variety of symbolic meanings. From unnatural worlds to death, vengeance, farewell or rebirth, the black rose , The Basics of Growing s has come to be viewed in a number of different ways depending on the occ...
The Basics Of How to Plant Container Gardens - All the information , Garden Shed - Using It as a Workshop or Craft Room you need to know on how to plant , Industrial Blowers Container Gardens. , Automate Your Lawn Work This article will show you how to plant , Orchids Are One Of Nature's Most Beautiful Flowers successful and healthy , Bonsai Plant Care: What You Need to Know Container Gardens. , Important Uses of Weeds in the Lives of People When you are ready to mix ingredients, be sure the soil , Aluminum Sling Patio Furniture. Comfortable Seating for Outdoor Settings is damp and workable. To determ...
Beauty After life - Plants For Drying - Grasses - Dried plants , Landscaping - Using Native s Saves Water and dried flowers , 10 Tips to Care for Your Antique Ceramics are midway for people who cannot afford gardens , Birdhouses or costly fresh flowers , Free Landscaping Ideas - How To Correctly Plant a Tree and artifical flowers , Planting Bulbs for Springtime Blooms or plants , Landscaping - Maintaining A Landscaped Garden for decoration. The household , Finding the Best Pond Pumps woman will get immense satisfaction, if she can nurture the hobby of making these...
How To Start Your Garden From Seeds The Right Way - Green house , Organic Hydroponics - Simplified gardeners are typically of two minds when it involves planting. One group of gardeners prefers to use seedlings to start their gardens, , How to Extend Your Living Space Outdoors - Working with Color while another group would rather feel the sense of accomplishment from planting seeds. , Orchid Myths -The Truth It all dep...
Spring Rose Care - The Easy Way - Spring rose , Italian Vegetable Seeds care will help get your roses , Mint: The Herb of Hospitality off to a more enjoyable blooming season. , The Basics of Growing Roses Modern roses , The Truth about Bulb Flowers are the longest blooming of all shrubs. , The String Algae Blues Many varieties start flowering , Italian Vegetable Seeds in mid-late spring, , Italian Vegetable Seeds with recurrent bloom cycles through late fall. , Growing A Brush Cherry Bonsai In Your Garden Unless you ar...
The Plant Philanthropist - One year after we moved into our new ranch-style home, , Recipes for Concrete and Hypertufa the Merion Bluegrass lawn , Plants - Your New Roommate was growing , How To Build A Waterfall well and the basic flower , Permanently Remove Green Pool Algae beds were mapped out. A new home , Lawn Disease And What To Do About It doesn't need repairs, , How to Build a Fence but a myriad of needs kept cropping up to soak up any available money. A...

Beware of Toxic Mulch

Landscape Gardening

Seasonal Gardening