Mulch – ArborTech Tree Services https://goarbortech.com Tue, 13 Apr 2021 20:13:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 What Every Homeowner Ought to Know about Mulch https://goarbortech.com/what-every-homeowner-ought-to-know-about-mulch/ Thu, 18 Apr 2019 18:25:14 +0000 https://goarbortech.com/?p=500110 Mid-to-late spring is a great time to put down mulch. That means late April or early May. Typically, because the weather has gotten a little warmer, the soil has warmed up, which means the plants can start growing. Here are the top 4 reasons why you should start thinking about mulchMulch helps to moderate soil […]

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]]> What Every Homeowner Should Know about Mulch

Mid-to-late spring is a great time to put down mulch. That means late April or early May. Typically, because the weather has gotten a little warmer, the soil has warmed up, which means the plants can start growing.

Here are the top 4 reasons why you should start thinking about mulch

  • Mulch helps to moderate soil temperature and retain soil moisture which is good for the health of your plants.
  • Adding a layer of mulch to your flower beds also improves the appearance of your beds.
  • A layer of mulch suppresses weed growth.
  • And, importantly, the organic mulches provide nutrients to your plants as they breakdown.

Now that spring is here and you're ready to start thinking about mulch, I’d like to help you understand how to choose the right mulch out of the many choices available.

Understanding Mulch Choices

When it comes to mulch, it’s important to understand what you’re looking at and understand why the prices vary so much from one type of mulch to another.

Colored Mulch

Colored Mulch is basically ground up trees which color is then added to.

Popular colors include brown, red and black. 

Once the color has been added, the material is aged for a bit and then ground to a smaller size to create the final product that ends up in your garden beds.

Everyone has their own preference when it comes to the color of their mulch. We recommend that you choose a mulch that compliments the outside of your home. Often times, a darker mulch will look best against a lighter colored home and will contrast the bright flowers in your flower bed well.

Natural Mulch

By comparison, natural mulch does not have any color introduced into the process. The natural mulch colors result from a combination of the aging process and the unique characteristics of the wood fibers and bark from different varieties of trees.

Natural mulch also goes through a final grinding process to create an even size texture and color.

ArborTech Carries a Variety of Natural Mulch

Forest blend natural bark

Pine Hemlock Blend

100% Premium Hemlock

have fun this season mulching your garden beds

Mulching your garden beds can be a great family project. It’s a wonderful way to get everybody outside and off of the couch. Good old-fashioned working together and enjoying the yard as a family is a great way to start off the spring season.

Imagine the satisfaction of seeing the results of your efforts unfold as the mulch pile gets smaller, the yard smells great and looks even better!

At the end of the day you can order up a couple of pizzas, sit on the deck and enjoy the fruits of your hard work and labor.

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]]> Beware the Mulch Volcano! https://goarbortech.com/mulch-volcanos/ Thu, 09 Apr 2015 16:19:56 +0000 Everywhere I look, I see volcanoes of mulch around poor defenseless trees. I’ve been known to attack mulch volcanoes in random parking lots, pawing away, much to the dismay of whomever I’m grocery shopping with at the time! Although a popular choice, applying large piles of mulch around the base of a tree will eventually interrupt […]

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]]> Everywhere I look, I see volcanoes of mulch around poor defenseless trees. I’ve been known to attack mulch volcanoes in random parking lots, pawing away, much to the dismay of whomever I’m grocery shopping with at the time! Although a popular choice, applying large piles of mulch around the base of a tree will eventually interrupt the flow of water and nutrients to the roots and decay the bark of the tree.

Mulching trees, like volcanoes, buries the area known as the root flare and the very trunk itself. Roots need oxygen to grow. Look at trees in the forest and you will see root flare. If we bury them, with soil or mountains of mulch, they will begin to grow upward in search of air. So, roots that are meant to grow laterally in the soil are now forced to grow vertically and often begin to circle the stem. This is called a “stem-girdling root” and it will eventually interrupt the flow of water and nutrients, making the loss of the tree inevitable. If you’re going to apply mulch around your trees, the best practice is to spread a thin layer of mulch (no more than 2″).

Whatever your motivation for purchasing trees – whether it be to enhance your landscape, for privacy and shade or you are simply a tree-hugger like me, let the trees breathe and roots flare!

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