Lee’s Landscape News          

Soon the procession of pickup trucks will begin in and out of the garden center as spring inspired folks improve their landscape beds with a fresh dressing of mulch.  This time of year when not loading mulch, I’m often answering questions about mulch on the phone. And you thought my life wasn’t glamourous....

Imagine if you will a dewy weekend morning in spring.  The tulips and daffodils are in bloom as you approach 2 men in conversation by a skid loader, a slight steam rising out of the just turned over pile of mulch behind them. Waiting your turn you lean against a pickup truck as the mavens of mulch speak.

“How much ya gittin fer a scoop now-a-days?”

“$28.00”

“Holy Mackerel!  I can get 3 scoops up north a ways for that much!”

“Well, yes and there’s nothing wrong with their mulch. Actually mulch is generally sold by the cubic yard.  But since this isn’t a unit of measurement people deal with very often we’ll just say it’s a scoop. Of course there are different sizes of loader buckets, and judging the volume of them can be tricky depending on the angles and lengths of the sides. This loader bucket when level is 20 cubic feet.  When it is heaped up a little it is more like 27 cubic feet, or a cubic yard. It may take 3 or 4 scoops with a smaller loader bucket to make a yard. Other buckets we have here hold much more than a yard.”

“OK well go ahead and give me a good yard then.”

“A yard is a specific unit of measurement, 27 cubic feet, and we are able to get very close to that. ”

“Well maybe I don’t need that much.  I’m just doing the front of my house today.”

“If you want to estimate for 2” deep, multiply the area you are covering by 0.17 that gives you the cubic feet.  Then divide by 27 and you will know the cubic yards.”

“I better call my nephew...he has a computer.”

“Or since you probably only want to take one yard in your S-10, you could take a yard now and then make a guess at how much it will take to finish later.”

“I can just pile the extra up around my trees like my neighbor does”

“Sounds like your neighbor is a volcano mulcher. Piling domes of mulch up around the trees is actually harmful to the tree, depriving its roots of air and water and creating a home for pests and disease up against its trunk.  Mulch around a tree should be no deeper than 2” and not piled against the trunk at all.”

“There are pests and diseases in the mulch?”

“Not normally. It’s basically ground bark and wood. Some insects do like wood but not in this ground up form. Keeping your mulch loosened is a good idea.  Helps with letting the moisture and air in and out too. Some mulch companies have an issue with sour mulch. When mulch composts it can turn sour if not turned often enough. A slight woodsy manure smell is fine when you put down fresh mulch; but when it smells of vinegar, rotten eggs or strong amonia there is a problem that can have an immediate negative impact on your plants.  I “restack” our mulch frequently to keep making room for the next semi-load; so it is always being turned over here and we don’t have a problem with sour mulch.”

“Hey I had some weird stuff growing in my mulch last summer! It looked like someone spilled this brown blob of dusty fungus by my hollies! When I was out watering I hit it with the hose and it kinda put off a puff of smoke and then washed off.”

“Oh yeah.  We call that dog vomit fungus.  I normally enjoy the latin names for things, but when you say dog vomit fungus it is so descriptive.”

“A dog was a puking in my mulch?”

“Not that I know of. This is just a fungus...like a mushroom. There is wood in the mulch.  If the temperature and moisture is right and the spores blow your way then this fungus may make its strange appearance. I usually just kick it around till the conditions change and it goes away. We get a half dozen panicked calls about it every year, but it’s not that big a nuisance really. So what kind of mulch do you want?”

“What’s the difference?”

“Our black or red mulches are ground lumber that is dyed with a non-toxic natural colorant.  Once the dye is set these mulches are very fade resistant.  There are times in the spring, when the mulch is being freshly produced, that the dye will come off on your hands,  tools, and clothing.   Most people are already wearing their work clothes and have come to expect this tradeoff for the dyed mulches long lasting effect. Some will use tarps to protect their driveways, but if you pre-wet the drive with your hose and then rinse it off you shouldn’t have an issue. The dye is well set in the mulch we have today.  Our hardwood mulch is mostly ground bark.  It is a dark brown color at first and then lightens in color through the season eventually breaking down and adding nutrients and structure to the soil. It is the preffered mulch from a gardeners point of view. We sell more of the dyed mulches to those who have the basic shrub foundation planting who want a clean look to their beds.  Since the dyed mulches are made with a raw uncomposted lumber, some make an issue of it’s robbing nitrogen from the soil. Actually what can happen is the microbes that break down that raw wood are consuming nitrogen. The degree to which this impacts your plants is debatable, but if this is an issue for you then counter with a fertilization program or use the bark mulch.“

“So it’s either dyed mulch or bark mulch?”

“We also carry a few different mulches in bags”

“Hey!  Is that cheaper?”

“Generally by volume it costs half as much to use one of our 3 bulk mulches, but many have good reasons for buying the bags.  They are easy to grab and throw in the trunk, then carry or wheelbarrow around the yard.  Some people have their beds so lush with shrubs and perennials they really don’t need a big load of mulch in one spot. Also some just prefer the types or qualities of mulches we have in bags. Often it’s a case of brand loyalty.  Others like to get away from the standard look and use cypress, or pine chips, or even lava rock.”

“Are we allowed to volcano mulch if we use lava rock?”

“Don’t make me come over there... Stone mulches can look pretty nice, but you want to put down a sheet of plastic or weed mat first so it doesn’t work into the dirt.  Edging on a lawn can be an issue with stone mulches.  And of course stone has different physical qualities than the wood mulches.  It can absorb and hold heat, baking the moisture out of a sunny bed in summer.  Proper plant selection and watering become more important if you choose stone.  And as a landscaper I have to tell you...if you ever have to remove it you are in for a long back breaking day!”

“aaa the kids would just throw it around anyway, better just give me a yard of the black; and make it a GOOD yard!”

“aaargh...”

“what?”

“Just practicing for ‘Talk like a pirate day’”