Question: Commercial Mulches

[Way Back Jack]

I want the mulch that takes longest to break down. Available are: hardwood, shrubbery, pine, cypress, and cedar.

Which breaks down the slowest?

Or is the shape more important: shredded vs. nuggets? Thanks

[Dwayne]

I don't know the answer. I do know that termites wont get into cedar unless they have absolutely nothing else to eat. It also helps keep other bug pests away (flees for one).

Dwayne

[Warren]

Hardwood nuggets the size of children's building blocks will take decades to break down.

[George.com]

shrubbery mulch (leaves and stems etc) and pine mulch will be gone fairly quickly. Generally the harder/denser the wood the slower it should decay.

rob

[Frank]

Reminds me of note someone passed to me last month that mulch from trees downed by Katrina might contain Formosan termites. Don't know how far north these pests can winter. Frank

[Alan Sung]

That orange colored, chemically treated, ground up pallet material seems to last forever, except the orange dye usually fades in the sunlight.

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

snopes.com has a good article on the Katrina/Formosan termite deal. They pretty much say that there's so many wood products traveling around the country it wouldn't matter. Think of all the shipping pallets that travel around, used over and over from all parts of the country.

Carl

[Frank]

That's good to know. Couple of years ago my neighbor had subteranean termites and they were in mulch on my property 20 feet from my house. Fortunately his treatment killed the colony but I'm always on the look out. Frank

[NoOption5L]

Cedar

Shape doesn't matter as much as size.

I use cedar in most of my garden areas. After a few weeks the color fades to an appealing natural brown wood tone. It's biggest benefit though is how it keeps bugs away. It works great for that!

Patrick