Posted by Erica Williams on Tue, May 25, 2010 @ 01:43 PM
Mulch can consist of a variety of materials, and by definition, it does a number of things. First and foremost, it’s a protective cover placed over the soil to retain moisture. Mulch also helps to reduce erosion, suppress weed germination and growth, and provide nutrients to the soil as it decays.
Got all that?
In simpler terms, mulch is whatever you put down to protect plant roots. Mulch can be made of many things. There’s rubber mulch, made from shredded tires. Plastic sheeting acts as mulch. Even landscaping rock and gravel can serve as mulch. But at the top of the mulch heap are the environmentally friendly bark mulch and pine straw.
Bark mulch retains moisture longer than most other mulches, but decays quicker. So it’s good for returning lots of nutrients to the soil in the short term, and will save you some watering. For cities with water restrictions, bark mulch or wood chips are the way to go. Wood mulches also help to keep plant roots cool. Temperatures in the south and western states can be scorching. So while you’re trying not to break a sweat, mulching your outdoor plants will cool them off, too.
Pine needles or pine straw, as it’s called in the south, are commonly used as mulch in parts of the country where long-needle pine trees are prevalent. Pine straw also retains moisture which means a lower water bill. Also, a layer of pine straw about 3 to 4 inches thick can practically eliminate the growth of weeds—Bonus!
What other materials have you used or seen used for mulch?
Posted by Sean Kennedy on Wed, Feb 10, 2010 @ 09:37 AM
The more I research the more confused I become about alternative fuel sources. Reading all the articles available about what is fact vs. fiction at least most sources agree that the biofuel debate will continue. Being related to the wood fiber industry I was interested in what Pete Stewart, the CEO of Forest2Market, had to say at the annual meeting of the Mulch and Soil Council. He threw out some statistics about the growing demand for renewable fuels using wood fiber. "The United Kingdom is targeting a rate of 20% of its fuel needs coming from renewable supplies by 2020. To reach this goal it will need to import around 12 million tons of fuel pellets, at least a third of which will likely be imported from the US." He also estimated that the demand for pellet fuel in the US may double in the next decade depending on the renewable resource legislation pending in front of Congress today.
This means a lot to my industry and that is why we are working diligently to provide an economical and sustainable alternative to replacing wood mulch every season. My favorite article I have read I found in Foreign Policy Magazine and encourage you to read it and give your opinions. As the world realizes that the impact of depleting fossil fuels and Sarah Palins "drill baby, drill" is a short term solution to our dependency on foreign oil, there are renewable alternatives for our energy needs and wood may or may not be the best choice. I look forward to continuing this interesting and relevant debate and appreciate your feedback.
Posted by Sean Kennedy on Wed, Feb 03, 2010 @ 10:18 AM
When dealing with questions like this one, I prefer to defer answers to the agronomical and horticultural experts. I searched and searched and went Ivy League this time and found some great, basic facts for nearly every mulching situation. Whether you need mulch to replenish nutrients in the soil, help in a vegetable garden or just looking to spruce up your curb appeal read what the Department of Horticulture at Cornell has to say. I feel this is one of the most comprehensive and informative pieces I have come across while learning about mulch and its various functions. If you have found other educational sources you would like to share, please link in your comments. I hope this is as useful to you as is to us at EnviroColor®.
Posted by Sean Kennedy on Wed, Jan 13, 2010 @ 10:34 AM
Doing research for EnviroColor's 4EverGreen I came across this on the HGTV website. This is great advice from Master Gardner Paul James. I added my thoughts in between. I hope to hear your ideas too.
There are usually two reasons for the two-toned lawn, says master gardener Paul James. "One is that many homeowners desperately want a green lawn year-round so they over-seed warm-season Bermuda or zoysia lawns, which go brown during the winter months due to dormancy, with a cool-season grass that stays green throughout the winter months. In nearly all cases, reseeding must be done every year, and unless the seed is spread uniformly, a two-toned lawn is inevitable."
If you reseed on a regular basis and at the right time for your area, you can achieve the uniformity you desire. Bear in mind, though, that with this kind of lawn, you may extend the mowing season by at least few weeks and you'll have to continue watering for perhaps a few months.
This extra water usage and mowing can come at high expense. Some areas under drought restrictions may not be able to water at all.
The other reason for a two-toned lawn has to do with growing conditions, especially in landscapes with lots of mature trees. Throughout the country and in older neighborhoods in particular, parts of the lawn may be in full sun, while parts may be in the shade cast by large trees. This creates a real problem because warm-season grasses like to grow in full sun and don't like to be in the shade, and cool-season grasses love the shade, but they don't really like growing in the blazing sun. As a result, people wind up with two-toned lawn.
In this type of situation, there is no easy solution, says James. "You can open up the canopies of the trees by removing several of the large branches to let more of the light in, you can limb up the trees to achieve essentially the same effect, or you can forget trying to grow grass under the trees all together and opt instead for rugged, shade-tolerant ground cover, or maybe just a bunch of mulch," he says. "And in fact, that's often the best solution, especially since all the water and nutrients are quickly sucked right out of the soil by the dense tree roots, making it next to impossible to grow grass beneath them anyway."
Using mulch under these tree canopies provides a great looking, cost effective solution to this dilemma. Make sure you mulch all the way to the trees drip line. And remember from previous articles, no mulch volcanoes!
Plus, we at EnviroColor offer 4EverGreen grass and lawn painting colorant as well as Sierra Red, Black Forest and Cocoa Brown mulch dyes.
Posted by Sean Kennedy on Mon, Jan 04, 2010 @ 02:54 PM
Back in 1978 a new term was coined in Colorado that has a growing impact on the landscape business. As water conservation becomes more prevalent all over the world, EnviroColor® encourages the use of this landscape technique to keep "water wise"
Xeros from the Greek, meaning dry.
Xeriscape landscaping is a growing trend among individuals, organizations and corporations who want to do their part is preserving our environment. Through the use of low water consuming plants and gardening practices that support water conservation, we can extend the life of our precious clean water supplies.
Many pursue xeriscaping primarily as a means to lower their own water consumption. This practice has a "bigger picture" trickle down effect. Even if you are not thinking as much about "going green" or helping the environment, you inevitably contribute to building a sustainable future.
Xeriscape landscaping incorporates seven basic principles which lead to saving water:
- Planning and design
- Soil analysis
- Practical turf areas
- Appropriate plant selection
- Efficient irrigation
- Use of mulches
- Appropriate maintenance
By incorporating these seven principles, you can help preserve our most precious natural resource-water.
Mulching Conserves Moisture
Mulch is a layer of nonliving material covering the soil surface around plants. Mulches can be organic materials such as pine bark, pine needles, compost and wood chips; or inorganic materials, such as lava rock, limestone or permeable plastic, not sheet plastic.
Use mulch wherever possible. Good mulch conserves water by significantly reducing moisture evaporation from the soil. Mulch also reduces weed populations, prevents soil compaction and keeps soil temperatures more moderate.
If it is color you desire in your xeriscape, remember EnviroColor® Georgia Pine, Sierra Red, Cocoa Brown and Black Forest to enhance the color and extend the life of your mulch.
Posted by Sean Kennedy on Wed, Dec 23, 2009 @ 01:21 PM
For Christians all over the world this is a special time of the year as they are celebrating the birth of their Savior. We here at EnviroColor® wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and the obligatory Happy New Year too!
We are excited about what the new year has in store for our brand and for all the individuals who are searching for the perfect solutions to their ground cover needs. As was mentioned last week we are perfecting our 4EverGreen grass colorant. This new product is the perfect item for the lawn fanatic who desires the "perfect" looking yard. As always we are striving to provide the end user the best top spray solutions for mulch, pine straw and now grass.
Sales pitch is over, seriously, we want our subscribers, readers and patrons to have a splendid holiday season. May you cherish the moments made this Christmas.
Merry Christmas from EnviroColor®.
Peace to all!
Posted by Sean Kennedy on Wed, Dec 09, 2009 @ 12:09 PM
I am spending so much time in the yard on the weekends preparing all my plants for winter I fugured I needed to share my finds with the rest of you. I have collected a great article from author Terry Gray and just anded a quip or two concerning ways to enhance and enrich the natural color of the suggested type of mulch. Enjoy and get your yard ready for the winter season!
It is considered the fact Pine Straw Mulch is a sustainable, renewable resource, it's so simple and lightweight to work with pine needle and looks very attractive especially with a top spray of EnviroColor®. Young seedlings can grow through pine needle, water can filter down through it, the ground can breathe and yet pine straw still holds in moisture. It lasts longer than other similar materials and pine needle won't shift off with the first steady rain.
In fall mulching with pine straw has an significant function since temperatures in the late fall to winter months can change radically. The ground heaves as it freezes and thaws, forcing the root systems of many fragile plants up from the soil and exposing them to the elements. Nearly all plants are much healthier when they have a bed of pine needle mulch spread over their roots.
When mulching with pine straw you should wait until the ground is frozen or just about frozen before you add the pine needle. Any sooner cover will boost mold and mildew to form on the surface. Generally, a 2- to 3-inch bed of pine needle mulch situated over the root zone of a plant will provide a noticeable difference in the plant's health. Established plants will show less stress and better growth. Just be sure to pull pine straw mulch an inch or two aside from the stems of shrubs or from the trunks of trees. If pine needle mulch is placed up against trunks or stems, it can contain too much water and encourage decay on the bark.
Many people make the error of using less reliable fall mulch such as hay in their garden. Hay is not a good alternative to pine straw since hay often carries seeds that will sooner or later sprout and cause weed problems in your garden in the spring. Pine straw comes from several different species of pine trees that drop their pine needles by nature throughout the year. Since it is produced naturally, pine straw sometimes is referred to as the "guilt-free" mulch. Each species' of pine tree will have its own unique characteristics, such as pine needle length, wax content and pine needle flexibility. The Loblolly species of pine straw, for instance, has a pine needle length ranging from about six to nine inches, making it simple to use and shape. Also, the needle sizing is optimal for allowing the soil to breathe well while allowing first-class water infiltration.
Ideally, garden mulch for the winter is added in the fall to protect against sudden and extreme temperature dips before plants have had a chance to fully harden. A few inches of pine straw mulch can provide a cushion of as much as 10 degrees above ambient air temperatures which is just enough to keep roots growing. And certainly, a top layer of pine needle mulch offers decorative appeal and for more enriched natural pine needle color, use EnviroColor®, to make the garden looked cared for at a time when the yard can look a little underwhelming.
Posted by Sean Kennedy on Wed, Dec 02, 2009 @ 10:16 AM
A couple of weeks ago I forwarded some advice on fall mulching, now with the occurance of the first major frost in the Metro Atlanta area I figured I had better find out what to do for my roses come cold weather. This is the best advice I found.......
OLATHE, Kan. - Many gardeners find the concept hard to accept: You shouldn't protect most perennial plants from each year's late-season decline into freezing weather.
"With few exceptions, plants need to go through the transition on their own, so they enter winter dormancy on time. You only apply winter mulch after that, because its sole purpose is to hold in the soil's cold. That way, it can buffer any air temperature changes that come later on, during winter's freeze-thaw cycles," said Dennis Patton, horticulturist with Kansas State University Research and Extension.
In general, plants become fully dormant after two to three hard freezes in the mid to low twenties, he said.
Winter mulch protection is particularly important for any limited- or shallow-rooted plants, Patton said. In Kansas, they include such "semi-hardy" plants as mums and strawberries, as well as all trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs that have been in the landscape for less than a year.
Winter mulch is vital to the survival of grafted roses, too, he added, which typically mean all hybrid teas.
"Winter's repeated pattern of freezing and thawing kills more plants in the Midwest than sub-zero temperatures do," Patton warned. "In unmulched landscapes, the shifts can heave some plants from the ground, exposing roots to air. Plus, they can expose plant grafts and crowns - the places where stems and roots meet -- to hard, killing freezes."
In late winter or early spring, the mulch's role can gain even more importance, he said. The insulating cover can hold in soil's cold so that unseasonably warm weather doesn't cue plants to break dormancy.
"If these periods are long enough for unmulched perennials to lose some winter hardiness, the plants are open for major, even fatal damage when the weather turns cold again," Patton said.
Because winter mulch also can moderate soil moisture loss, however, it can benefit any landscape plant. Freeze-thaw cycles tend to dry out the soil, creating plant stress, the horticulturist said. Mulching also protects the soil from the compaction and erosion that winter rains and snowmelt can cause.
For perennial gardens, Patton recommends a 2- to 3-inch-deep layer of a light, airy mulch material, such as straw, shredded leaves or pine needles. (One bail of straw can cover about 100 square feet 3 inches deep.) Deeper layers can suffocate plants over winter.
Plants with woody stems or trunks will need an inch or two of "air space" between mulch and wood - "as if their trunk is inside the hole of a mulch doughnut," he said. "As they decompose, mulch ‘volcanoes' that touch the main stem can cause the same damage as placing a woody plant too deep in the ground."
Grafted roses are the exception to the doughnut rule, Patton warned. The best protection for their crown and graft is a mound of garden soil, gathered from elsewhere in the landscape. The soil cone should be about 6 inches deep. A top layer of straw or leaves will help prevent erosion.
"You should periodically inspect roses and other low-branching shrubs until spring growth begins and you remove winter's mulch," he said. "You may have to institute other protective measures if varmints are using the mulch as cover or climbing on top of snow-covered mulch to gnaw on branches."
Thanks to Kansas State and Dennis Patton. Happy Holidays everyone and I hope your roses appreciate the extra care. Looking forward to your comments.
Posted by Sean Kennedy on Wed, Nov 18, 2009 @ 10:26 AM
Fall is the time everyone recommends mulching your garden beds. Garden calendars, magazine articles, websites, and blogs (like this one) all tout the benefits of mulching and the advantages of doing it in the fall.
Mulching in fall -
- adds organic matter to the soil to lighten and enrich it
- prevents erosion by winter rains
- helps keep roots from freezing
- warms soil for earlier spring planting
- prevents weed seedlings from getting started
So, you're sold. Mulching is good. But, what do you use - exactly? There are quite a number of bags in the nursery or garden center to choose from.
A mulch can be any type of organic material - bark dust, bark nuggets, shredded bark, compost, compost/bark blends, pine needles, fallen leaves, straw, and so on. There isn't really one "right" choice.
Fallen leaves are best chopped up before being used either in the garden or in the compost pile. Straw may not break down fully over the winter season, but it is a great garden cover and can be tilled into the soil come spring.
If you desire color for your landscaped beds EnviroColor is an inexpensive and safe way to top spray the color you desire. We know color is a choice or opinion and is not for every gardener. We are proud that our product meets the Mulch and Soil Council (MSC) Colorants Sub-Committee meet the requirements.
EnviroColor recently went the so called "six-pack" test for toxicology. The test is commonly used to check the toxicity of things like pesticides and insecticides and is used to ensure that products are labeled properly to guide consumers use of potentially toxic products. Six test are performed, checking the material on:
- Acute oral toxicity
- Acute dermal toxicity
- Acute inhalation toxicity
- Eye irritation
- Dermal irritation
- Skin irritation
Depending on the toxicity discovered in each test, different labeling must be on the packages containing the product.
Posted by Sean Kennedy on Thu, Nov 12, 2009 @ 09:17 AM
With the recent flooding here the Metro Atlanta area some may consider this post unnecessary. Remember that our water is a finite resource and as individuals we need to take the steps to ensure future generations have the privilege we have enjoyed. I am stealing ideas from Southern California landscapers who are faced with difficult design decisions due to the lack of water available, plus several have joined the 20 Gallon Challenge and have provided great tips plus 50 of the best plants for drought conditions.
Since I like to talk about mulch these are my concepts on why mulch is good for your landscaping beds and a few myths I would like to dispel.
Mulching is one of the simplest ways to enhance your garden. It insulates the soil, protects it from erosion, conserves moisture, prevents weed growth, reduces soil compaction from heavy rain, provides a beautiful finishing touch to your garden, and may even improve soil quality. Mulching, or top dress, refers to covering the bare ground in your garden by spreading an organic material, or some sort of rock. Many materials have been tried and proven effective as mulches: compost, animal manures, ground bark, leaves, sawdust, straw, processed by-products (grape and apple pumice), lawn clippings, and old newspapers. Most medium and high water-use plants will benefit from a two-inch protective layer of organic mulch on the soil surface above the root area. Mulch will moderate soil temperature (keep soil cool), reduce water evaporation between watering, and reduce undesirable weeds. For plants that live in dry climates, substitute crushed rock as a cover for bare ground. It also reduces evaporation and weeds.
Mulch Myths
Myth No. 1: Mulch provides a permanent barrier to weeds. While mulch reduces the number of weeds, some pesky nuisances may still manage to grow through the mulch, or on top of it. Weeds will appear in new landscapes for the first year or two, even with mulch, because of the abundance of weed seeds in the soil. However, once the weeds are brought under control, fewer will follow. Organic mulch needs to be replenished when decomposed to less than 1 inch thick.
Myth No. 2: Mulch placed against your house will attract termites. In reality, it's moisture, not mulch, which attracts termites. So any landscaping, including shrubs, can lure the unwanted critters. Irrigation systems up against the house also create a termite-conducive environment. Even gravel or rocks around the base of a house can hold in the moisture attractive to termites.
Myth No. 3: There's no wrong way to mulch. When mulching, keep the bark or rock one to two inches away from stems. Mulch creates a warm and humid environment that is perfect for the establishment of various fungi that can injure or kill the plants. Also, avoid covering the crown of dormant perennials