The increasingly-used process of mulching provides valuable benefits to both soil and plants, and is something that is advised. You will find one problem, though, at least in a number of parts of the country. The reason being that in these places a waste product maded by sawmills, hardwood bark, is shredded and used to make a mulch which has become commonly used. The sawmills had complications getting rid of the waste bark which resulted from the process of denuding the logs before sawing them.
Using the bark to make mulch was a handy alternative for the lumber yards, but it's not perfect. As a space-saving measure, the bark is heaped into piles, which can get very high in winter season when demand is low. The danger for your back garden arises from the mulch being compacted too tightly by the front end loaders having to drive up onto the heaps. The bark substance won't decompose unless it's given oxygen, and time, which is achieved by air passing through it. The temperature of the rotting bark, when it's so compacted that airflow is limited, can get very high, and there's even the danger that it could catch alight.
Once it heats up, it also triggers the mulch to become toxic, because it can't release the gas. Digging into the mulch and distributing it releases a terrible stink and also creates a danger to your plants. The gas which is part of the mulch can be released, and if this happens the plants will be burned. Spread the hazardous mulch around the plants, and in a matter of minutes they may be brown. If you happen to get a mulch pile like this and it gets distributed on your yard it could turn the grass brown. Unfortunately you'll only recognize that the mulch was toxic when you discover the undesirable "browning of the green."
You cannot easily identify bad mulch by the smell, because while it has a strong smell when you dig into it, so does good mulch, and it's not that dissimilar. A darker color could also indicate the mulch being bad, and if you plan to be safe then you could check it by surrounding a sacrificial plant with some of the mulch. Make certain that you take mulch from deep within the pile, and not on the edges. If nothing has happened to the plants for more than 24 hours, the mulch should be fine.
Now this probably isn't really that major of a problem, but when it happens to you, you probably would have liked to know about it. Going to the hassle of mulching and after that learning that it had destroyed your plants may just make you a little unhappy. Steer clear of toxic mulch by purchasing from a place you have faith in and who can give you some type of guarantee or assurance - you do, after all, want to get the benefits of mulching.
Author Resource:-
The author writes on many gardening and environmental websites focusing on eco friendly living. She is particularly interested in organic gardening practices like using only eco friendly weedkiller.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articlemarketinghome.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites