{"id":7077,"date":"2014-12-10T12:00:54","date_gmt":"2014-12-10T17:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=7077"},"modified":"2014-12-10T18:14:45","modified_gmt":"2014-12-10T23:14:45","slug":"all-about-mulches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2014\/12\/10\/all-about-mulches\/","title":{"rendered":"All About Mulches"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Delivery<\/a>

Delivery of Hardwood Bark Mulch<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Pine<\/a>

Pine needle mulch around azaleas at Callaway Gardens<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mulches aid\u00a0in retaining soil moisture and reducing weeding chores. Over the years organically-based mulches\u00a0gradually improve garden\u00a0soils. Organic mulches are basically recycled bark, branches, twigs and leaves (including needles).\u00a0Frequently they are organic by-products from the logging industry. Grass clippings and straw are\u00a0also mulch sources. Hay is usually\u00a0 full of weed seeds which defeats\u00a0the purpose for using it.<\/p>\n

Over the years pine bark, nuggets, and needles tend to\u00a0slightly acidify as they decompose in the soil. Oak leaves also tend to be acidic. These mulches are highly\u00a0beneficial around acidic-loving shrubs such as blueberries, azaleas, rhododendrons, mountain laurels (Kalmia spp<\/em>.), and others. Hardwood based mulches, ground from wood waste from most\u00a0trees and evergreens, turn the soil slightly alkaline (raise soil pH)\u00a0as it decomposes.<\/p>\n

Fall applied mulches tend to act as a warming blanket, trapping in\u00a0ground heat. The mulch blanket prolongs\u00a0root growth in autumn by\u00a0many weeks. Spring applied mulches may retard plant growth around newly planted perennials and annuals. Year-round mulching keeps\u00a0ground surface temperatures cooler\u00a0that benefits\u00a0certain tree and shrub species. Never pile mulch up against the trunks of trees and shrubs as it\u00a0often results in wood\u00a0decays and\/or\u00a0formation of above ground roots.<\/p>\n

Mulch should not be spread around\u00a0recently planted\u00a0fruit (and maple) trees unless the trunks\u00a0have been\u00a0protected by\u00a0rodent guards around their base. In the winter pine voles will nest under the mulch and gnaw on the sugary sap of the fruit trees. Fruit trees after two years no longer need to be protected.<\/p>\n

Finally, a warning about mulch quality. If\u00a0a mulch pile is excessively steamy (over 100 \u00baF)\u00a0or exudes a distinct alcohol smell, do not purchase\u00a0or accept delivery. The product will likely burn young landscape plants, particularly herbaceous\u00a0perennials and annuals. Yes, mulches may attract termites, carpenter ants and other wood boring insects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                Mulches aid\u00a0in retaining soil moisture and reducing weeding chores. Over the years organically-based mulches\u00a0gradually improve garden\u00a0soils. Organic mulches are basically recycled bark, branches, twigs and leaves (including needles).\u00a0Frequently they are organic by-products from the logging industry. Grass clippings and straw are\u00a0also mulch sources. Hay is usually\u00a0 full […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,357,398,605,9,641,716,551,74,843,550,933,777,630,861,113,905,455],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7077"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7077"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7123,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7077\/revisions\/7123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}