Mulch should be composted no less than 2 years, to be safe.

This is not true with the many tree companies who do pruning and cleaning work, then grind-up the limbs and branches and offer it back to the homeowner who feels very lucky to get this chipped matter as mulch: DON'T USE IT ON YOUR GARDEN BEDS! It will suck the nitrogen right out of your green plants and turn them yellow, unless you add copious amounts of nitrogen to compensate for the bacterial breakdown action. Use fresh woodchips for pathways through woods only or leave it in a pile to compost for 2-plus years. Then you have a good deal.

'Treated Mulch' means that herbicides, fungicides or pesticides (or all three) have been sprayed onto the wood to reduce weed growth, fungus or termites and earwigs that live in uncomposted (less-than-2 year) mulch. Or maybe these people have used "fillers" such as mushroom compost etc to bulk up the weight and you're actually not getting what you think or what you're paying for.These added chemicals can kill your plants and grass, plus cause serious reactions to pets and children if no precautions are taken against continued direct skin contact.

We don't carry treated mulch of any kind. Nor should you buy any treated mulch; it contains harmful and perhaps deadly chemicals that no one should have to deal with in any garden. If someone says they treat mulch, it's because it's cheap, substandard garbage in the first place, and you should simply hang up the phone and call us for the best, premium natural mulch available anywhere.

Now into our 8th Gardening Season, we've narrowed our offerings to a single line of Premium Dark Bark Mulch, which has no real chunks of hardwood, just the outer shredded tree bark as its only ingredient. This bark will not float away during a hard rainstorm, as is regular hardwood mulch pieces prone to do, nor is it apt to cause plant yellowing and demise, since pure bark

contains no more cellulose fiber after 2-plus years of composting. It is the very best choice for use on slopes and banks, where "mulch travel" is a problem. Nor is it treated with chemicals which are potentially-toxic to living things.

In the end, there are no good deals on mulch. Buy only quality, well- composted mulch and avoid the problems first time around. When chemicals get into your ground and garden from cheap mulch, it's almost impossible to get them out. Fresh-chips and hot mulch are no bargains. Remember, if the deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Shop around before buying mulch and ask questions. Mulches are not created quickly. Nor is plain shredded hardwood mulch just mulch.

Pay the price for good quality, double-shredded dark bark mulch; you'll never be sorry you did. And neither will your garden.

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Mulch: Myth vs Reality. Part 1: "Mulch Ain't Just Mulch".

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Don't Buy Cut, Dead Christmas Trees

Water Gardens - New Products Update

Keeping Your Pond Clear

Late Season Bloomers

Color For Your Winter Garden

Deadheading and Fertilizing Perennials

Wildflowers - Do It Now

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Year 'Round Container Herb Gardens

Best Time To Plant Large Trees

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