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Garden Gate:  Info just sent to me about mulch -- please read  |
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happymama58
True Blue Farmgirl
1210 Posts
Patti
Missouri
USA
1210 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 03 2006 : 4:21:24 PM
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A friend who is a Master Gardener just sent me this information that she received from some Better Homes & Garden gardening site she is a member of:
If you use mulch around your house be very careful about buying mulch this year. After the hurricane in New Orleans many trees were blown over. These trees were then turned into mulch and the state is trying to get rid of tons and tons of this mulch to any state or company who will come and haul it away. So it will be showing up in Home Depot and Lowes at dirt cheap prices with one huge problem; Formosan Termites will be the bonus in many of those bags. New Orleans is one of the few areas in the country were the Formosan Termites has gotten a strong hold and most of the trees blown down were already badly infested with those termites. Now we may have the worst case of transporting a problem to all parts of the country that we have ever had. These termites can eat a house in no time at all and we have no good control against them, so tell your friends that own homes to avoid cheap mulch and know were it came from."
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Some people search for happiness; others create it.
http://happymama58.blogspot.com/ |
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Rosenwalt
True Blue Farmgirl
77 Posts
Rose Marie
NY
77 Posts |
Posted - Mar 03 2006 : 4:25:12 PM
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Rut roh....does he say how to tell where it came from? How will we know? Gee...it's like those Katrina cars that were flooded that they're reselling!
Rose Marie,
Central New York
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Mar 03 2006 : 6:06:28 PM
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I got this in an email too. I can't believe that this stuff is being spread around the country!
Mine is just a little old fashioned garden where the flowers come together to praise the Lord, and teach all who look upon them to do likewise.
-- Celia Thaxter
http://therusticcottage.etsy.com
http://rusticcottage.blogspot.com/ |
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Clare
True Blue Farmgirl
2173 Posts
NC WA State
USA
2173 Posts |
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Jana
True Blue Farmgirl
482 Posts
Jana
Eau Claire
Wisconsin
USA
482 Posts |
Posted - Mar 03 2006 : 7:02:33 PM
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Even if it were true, these bugs wouldn't survive the winter in most of the United States.
Jana |
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happymama58
True Blue Farmgirl
1210 Posts
Patti
Missouri
USA
1210 Posts |
Posted - Mar 03 2006 : 7:28:16 PM
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I contacted the local University Conservation Department when I first got this email, and the agent told me that there are, as described in the Snopes article (and I was glad to read that -- thanks for going to the trouble to find it and share) are in place, it's important to look at it carefully. He said the key words are things like "should" (as opposed to "will"). He also said that one thing to beware of is individuals selling this mulch who have not gone through proper channels and therefore their mulch has not been handled as proposed/required.
As for termites living through the winter, I hadn't thought about that. They do live through the winter where I am, even though we have snow, ice, frozen ground, etc.
I didn't know about the cars being sold, either. I guess it's all just a reminder to be very careful in who you deal with and in looking at all paperwork, etc, very carefully.
Some people search for happiness; others create it.
http://happymama58.blogspot.com/ |
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Nancy L Smith
Farmgirl at Heart
5 Posts
Nancy
Columbia
Mo
5 Posts |
Posted - Mar 04 2006 : 07:49:20 AM
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| I just heard this same information on my "GArden Spot' radio program.....she suggests you only buy from home owned garden spots and beware of Lowes and Home Depot who buy across the country in large quantities |
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Nancy L Smith
Farmgirl at Heart
5 Posts
Nancy
Columbia
Mo
5 Posts |
Posted - Mar 04 2006 : 07:51:24 AM
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| well there you are........I just read the previous posts......you would think that the the USDA would not allow this wouldn't you.......I hope it is really not true.....and whoever posted that they wouldn't survive the winter is correct but by then your house would be riddled!.........lol |
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Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - Mar 04 2006 : 08:30:40 AM
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Something more insidious that we rarely think about when we buy mulch or manuer for our yards/gardens is what chemical and pesticide residue is in it. This is a far more dangerous problem as it gets into our food that we think we are growing organically. If the manuer comes from a place that uses growth hormone and antibiotics in their animals then the manuer has it and it gets into the food we grow.Also what is in the water we use on the food we grow also gets into the food. Read Living Downstream by Sandra Steingraber for more insite into this problem.
Eileen
Songbird; singing joy to the earth |
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happymama58
True Blue Farmgirl
1210 Posts
Patti
Missouri
USA
1210 Posts |
Posted - Mar 04 2006 : 08:44:50 AM
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My dh said something about that 2 summers ago, when I first began reading up on these things and trying to make changes in our buying and living habits. I was really fortunate to find a small farm owner who doesn't sell his produce to anyone but family and close friends but who is totally organic. I get manure from him when I need it.
Your point is such a good one. I know I'm guilty of looking at the big issues but forgetting to look back through the chain of events or look at what seems like the smaller issues. That's one of the great things about a forum like this. People sharing things like the point you made give me food for thought, remind me of things I hadn't thought of, and in general give me a place where like-minded folks are working through similar issues and sharing their experiences and thoughts.
Some people search for happiness; others create it.
http://happymama58.blogspot.com/ |
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Bridge
True Blue Farmgirl
814 Posts
Bridgette
Southern
Indiana
USA
814 Posts |
Posted - Mar 04 2006 : 5:01:52 PM
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Does anyone know of a better alternative to the mulch we buy?? I had been thinking about this, then seen this post!! I love mulch but, I also worry where it came from. Last year I had this awful fungus grow out of my mulch. It was a Stink fungus, It stunk so awful for a week I could hardly be out on the porch.I thought we had a dead animal and we searched and searched but coildn't find any. Then the fungus "sprouted" and I thought I had space creatures coming out of the ground, It looked like orange and green fingers......I have some pictures I'll try to find them. So I researched the pictures then found out that it was this stink fungus and that the smell is horid before the fungus appears. I am certain it came in either the potting soil or the mulch. I also had tons of other small mushroom type fungus in other spots of my mulch. It was a constant chore to shovel and dispose of them (I put them in our burn barrel) I didn't want them to grow anywhere else.
~~Bridge's Boutique~~
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Mar 04 2006 : 7:59:01 PM
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EEww. That fungus sounds nasty, Bridgette! For my mulch, I find tree trimmers around town or surrounding towns - you can call the power company and see when certain areas are slated to have the trees around their power lines trimmed - then I just ask the people trimming the trees if they would mind dumping their truck on my land. It seems that for around $20 I can get a truckload of wood chips, which, if left long enough, turn into mulch and are great for garden paths, too. I'm never sure of what was sprayed on the trees prior to trimming, but my guess is very little, as they aren't fruit trees or anything. -- just an idea.
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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manda
Farmgirl in Training
49 Posts
amanda
corralitos
cA
USA
49 Posts |
Posted - Mar 05 2006 : 9:39:23 PM
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Just another FYI be careful of unknown components of mulch around livestock. Some landscape plants are fatally poisonous to animals (and humans). One small Oleander leaf can kill a large animal. I have heard lots of stories from my large animal vet of owners throwing their yard clipping in the feedbin and the animals are later found dead -very sad and could have been prevented.
Manda |
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Bridge
True Blue Farmgirl
814 Posts
Bridgette
Southern
Indiana
USA
814 Posts |
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thehouseminder
True Blue Farmgirl
361 Posts
USA
361 Posts |
Posted - Mar 06 2006 : 08:35:26 AM
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I think you always need to be careful of mulch. My pest control guy told me when I bought my house to only use cedar mulch. That other mulch, even if it is not infected when you buy it, will attract termites.
When we were young, there were moments of such perfectly crystallized happiness that we stood stock still and silently promised ourselves that we would remember them always. And we did. --Holly J. Burkhalter , "Four Midwestern Sisters' Christmas Book"
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happymama58
True Blue Farmgirl
1210 Posts
Patti
Missouri
USA
1210 Posts |
Posted - Mar 06 2006 : 09:37:43 AM
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Lucinda, I'd heard this as well, but then after reading a post elswhere here saying that cedar is poisonous to dogs (I vaguely remember being told that before, too), that makes me wonder about having cedar mulch if you have outside dogs. I wonder if the mulch is an issue like cedar-filled dog beds are.
Some people search for happiness; others create it.
http://happymama58.blogspot.com/ |
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thehouseminder
True Blue Farmgirl
361 Posts
USA
361 Posts |
Posted - Mar 06 2006 : 1:36:34 PM
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It probably does. We have a shop dog here at work. Actually, she is a shop puppy - five months old.
Anyway, we had to take all of the mulch out of the plants because she just loves harvest it and chew it to bits.
When we were young, there were moments of such perfectly crystallized happiness that we stood stock still and silently promised ourselves that we would remember them always. And we did. --Holly J. Burkhalter , "Four Midwestern Sisters' Christmas Book"
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2006 : 06:34:45 AM
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I do not use bought mulch for my plants.
I use leaves from the Fall. Some get put around my plants, others get put into the compost bin. The leaves work well as mulch. Oak leaves are not good for compost as they are alleopathic - but for that same reason, they are great as mulch to cover around established bushes and such - they don't let many weeds come up!
Other than that, you can use cocoa shells, rocks, pine needles, etc as mulch.
Frankly speaking, I do not buy any of that wood chip stuff they sell in stores. It is actually very bad for your garden and plants. The decomposing wood chips consume a great deal of nitrogen, one of the main nutrients growing plants need to develop - usually paler leaves are the result of this deficiency. They can even be deadly to young plants.
The other problem I have with this stuff is the cypress mulch - the act of cutting down large cypress forests and selling the chips. It's quite a shame and a waste of natural resources. Worse yet is the stuff they dye red... that dye is not exactly nice to your plants chemically, either.
Just thought I would throw all that in ;) |
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Garden Gate: Info just sent to me about mulch -- please read |
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Info just sent to me about mulch -- please read
