Concepts:
mulch, mulches, wood, gardeners, soil, bark, perennials, plants, growing, decays, laid, Scotts, pallets, Titko, red mulch.
Summary:
Colored mulches are the fastest growing segment in the huge but unquantified mulch trade.Natural mulch, dark and rich-looking when laid, is soon bleached by the sunlight.The Scotts version of red mulch is actually subdued compared with others.Bright red mulch is nothing more than an acknowledgment that mulch is as much for the gardener as it is the garden, perhaps more so.Spread it too early, and you retain winter's chill in the soil and risk smothering emerging perennials and spring bulbs.Colored mulches are used by some producers to mask that they are made of recycled scrap, including wood pallets.Wood from pallets is not inherently bad for the garden, but it is more likely to be part of a waste stream that includes building construction and demolition products that may contain pressure-treated woods impregnated with copper, chromium and arsenic.Protecting the integrity of an unregulated product has been "the hottest button in our industry," said Titko, who is officially director of technical services for growing media at Scotts.The company has joined other members of a trade association, the Manassas, Va.-based Mulch and Soil Council, to establish voluntary regulations for mulch sources.The council's certification requires manufacturers to meet standards for selling bark mulch, which is considered by purists superior to mulches made from shredded wood.Bark mulch doesn't break down as quickly as wood, is not as attractive to termites and doesn't deprive plants of nitrogen in the same way that wood mulch does as it decays.Smart gardeners lay some form of nitrogen fertilizer with the mulch to compensate; otherwise, you risk leaf yellowing and stunting in nitrogen-starved plants.Mulch that is too thick will prevent moisture, air and nutrients from reaching the soil and become a growing medium for plant roots.Viette likes crushed pea gravel; others favor chicken grit, which will retain soil moisture but keep crowns and foliage dry.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/living/home/11528932.htm
http://www.do-it-now-landscaping.com
