Cocoa shell mulch: critters love it!

In my endless quest for a fine-textured additive to my containers, I bought a single bag of cocoa shell mulch when I couldn't find pine fines.

The clerk at Ace Hardware remarked that my garden would smell of chocolate now. As if that was a good thing.

On arriving home, I set the bag of cocoa mulch aside to ponder how to use it, as I was reluctant to put it in my flower or vegetable containers.

The next morning, I thought the bag had tipped over in our thunderstorms during the night. But upon close inspection, I found dozens of holes in the bag and its contents spilled out.

Squirrels? Birds? Raccoons? Something loves that chocolate smell!

very cool goldernberry.. ive never used coco shells.. ive seen them for sale various places..read some on their use..
and seems like a good product used right..
i never thought of looking at ace.. thanks... i'll have to check out if they have them in my area..

Beware the critters though! Last night we saw a big raccoon digging through the cocoa shells. We had never seen a raccoon on our property before. And this morning, a squirrel was furiously digging in them. Who knew that critters love cocoa? :D

Cocoa is poisonous to dogs.

I did not know that, Honeybee. Between that fact and the critter-magnet properties, I wonder why anyone even bothers selling cocoa mulch? This was the first, and last, bag of it I'll ever buy.

We sell it at the nursery I work at, not only is it a wonderful mulch for your plants but cats do not like it. Many people buy it for that reason alone. I am sorry you had a bad experience with it because it looks good, breaks down nicely and, for some of us, the chocolate smell is heavenly :)

It is also the only mulch, besides bark, readily available here. I wish we had more choices.