Fresh Mulch, need advice

Hi, I am able to get "fresh" tree mulch and I know that you have to be careful of termites. Is it okay to use away from the house? Also, shouldn't I beable to put it into a black garbage bad and smother anything bad and then use it by the house? Thanks for info. Mikey

The warning has been given on DG that there is a lot of tree mulch from the hurricaine area full of termites. I would never bring them home or near home.

The reports of mulch infested with Formosan termites being shipped from Louisiana to home centers elsewhere have been proven to be false. There has been an embargo on shipping material out of the infected area since early last fall.

Whether you use mulch around your house or not, you should assume that termites are already in your soil, looking for a way into your house. I would make the house as termite-proof as possible, because mulch or no, they will get in if they find a path. As long as you don't let the mulch provide a direct route into the house, as when the chips are piled against wood trim or siding, it is safe to use.

Wayne

at our house we use river rock next to house not bark. For both termites and forest fires.
Fire departments will not fight a fire on a house not laid out as they have recommended for homes on the border of national forests.

Mulch layers are not exactly a desirable home for termites. Termites dry up and die when exposed to open air- no joke. Plus, when abunch of tree limbs are chipper-shredded, they heat up for a while in the back of the truck, toasting most anything in it. K. James

I think the issues with fresh tree mulch are usually disease related. Most peoples concerns come from not knowing the source of the mulch and if there are diseases or insects that cause/spread diseases in the mulch. If you know that it is coming from a non-diseased tree or doesn't contain problem pest than go ahead and use it. It is not usually as attractive as the stuff you pay for as it is not as finely shredded.

The other issue is that I think that since it is fresh it supposedly pulls nitrogen from the soil as it decomposes. You might want to add some organic nitrogen with your mulch to replace what is taken up. I could be wrong about this part, so maybe do a couple of google searches on this aspect of it.

I have used fresh stuff where I know the source (my tree trimmings) in areas not as visable or as a base layer under a finer mulch to save on money.

Thanks, Willis. I will fill in that gap:

Research has shown the nitrogen sapping to take place only at the narrow soil/mulch interface. Mixing in hugely liberal amounts of woodships down into soil will do the harm. (this is when fungus, who do not require as much nitrogen, are emploed for decomposition. I have seen this with potting mixes that use too much wood, not decomposed enough. The chlorosis of seedlings disappeared immediately with Nitrogen fertilizer.

The freshness does not affect this, in fact, fresher mulches have more nitrogen, which is quickly used to start (but not finish) composting.
K. James

I have used the wood chips quite successfully under a plantings of Artic Willow. It was an area that had a serious problem with grasses and weeds and I put about 8" of chips on the ground for 1 year the willows unhurt. Well the next year I removed the chips and planted the area with Moneywort. And added several bushes in between and no more grasses have emerged. I did mulch the area as origionally but no more grasses came back. I sucked the life out of the grasses.