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Ask Gwen

July 2007

Garden Mulch

Question: Garden Mulch

My question is about the use of a mix of pine/spruce bark as a garden mulch. Are there any plants that would react adversely to this? I have moved into an old farm site where all the old gardens had been seeded to grass. I’ve since broken many patches, and where I didn't painstakingly remove the sod, the quack grass is coming in with a vengeance. Last year in desperation I bought a couple of bags of bark mulch from a local nursery, only to realize later that it came from the States. Geez, do we really need to import value added forest products in Canada?

But here is an upside that I have to pass on. I found a mill in Roblin, Manitoba that sells loose bark peelings, (from spruce & pine used for fence posts) for $20.00 per tonne. Anyway, they will weigh your pick up, load, re-weigh and charge accordingly. I didn't bother with the weighing, I said I'd happily pay the estimated ten dollars and be on my merry way. Roblin is a 20-minute drive from me, so any pests that may be in the bark are likely already in my yard. The business is called Roblin Forest Products Ltd., phone (204) 937-2103. Bark mulch is in gardens everywhere, yet this company is having trouble selling their product because they don't have anyone to bag it. I think it's really important to support local value added industries; far too much of this business is going south. The loader operator helped me to tarp my load, (bring a tarp), and it travelled just fine all the way home.

So I would suggest to everyone, check out local mills for the same deals and let’s keep the revenue and jobs at home.

Answer:

Thank you for your question and suggestion about buying locally. In reference to the mulch, I do not know of any plants that would react adversely. The one issue I have heard about is in reference to the bark leaching moisture from the soil and thus plants requiring more water. That has not been my experience although it is hard to tell in my yard as I have many large trees and they tend to keep the garden areas very dry. Something to watch for is mulch that is called redwood and is actually dyed red. My niece bought some and all the plants where the mulch was spread around died. Read Michael J. McGroarty ‘s article Beware_Toxic_Mulch.htm in which he describes his experiences and the potential problems of using bark as mulch.

One of the things you can do to keep the grass from re-growing is to cover the areas with newspaper (layer about 6 sheets) or landscape cloth and then mulch. The other thing you can do is to cover with black plastic and leave on for a period of time until the grass dies. This process is called solarization and will kill any grass or weeds. I have done this in the garden area and left it on over the winter or when it is hot in the summer (at least two weeks for weeds) until the area is clean. I then turn over the soil and find it is very friable (easily crumbled). You would have to leave the plastic on for a year or at least over the winter to kill the grass. Weeds will die in two weeks although dandelions will not (See Article.Dandelion for information about one of the world’s most nutritious and health promoting vegetables.) You can also cover the grass with old pieces of carpet, cardboard boxes, etc. I read somewhere that you can turn over the grass and wait until the next spring and then rototill the grass into the soil. I have never done that so I don't know how it works.

I am glad you found a local source of bark mulch. The need to buy locally is very important, as that is how we keep our communities viable.

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