Does shredded CEDAR mulch really repel insects?
californian
12 years ago
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crankyoldman
12 years agopepper71
12 years agoRelated Discussions
Shredded leaves for mulch?
Comments (18)Personally I find shredding leaves to be a waste of energy. They do not work for me as a mulch that stays put unless you fence them in or pile something heavier on top of them. They're best in veggie gardens or perennial gardens that won't be cut back until spring so there's something to catch the leaves. I have too many leaves and not enough patience to shred them anymore. If you want to do that, you could use a mower with a bag attachment, a string trimmer in a garbage barrel, a leaf blower/mulcher or a dedicated leaf shredder. Leaves are a great (and free) organic additive to your soil though, so you should find a way to use them. I prefer to compost as many as I can (whole) and use them after they've broken down. That's so much easier. What falls on my beds stays there and I'll either work them into the soil come early spring or add them to my compost piles. I'll compost the perennials that have died back, too. While leaves are a good insulator, I agree with the matting comment and too many aren't a good thing. Any heavy accumulations of leaves should be raked out or spread around before it snows....See MoreMulch that will repel/ not harbor insects?
Comments (6)"Cedar" is a rather generic term that is used to refer to a number of different tree species - knowing what sort of cedar mulch you are working with can make a big difference. Western red cedar - Thuja plicata - makes an excellent long lasting garden mulch that does have an ability to repel or deter insects. It contains thujone, a chemical that is repellent to moths, ants, beetles and cockroaches. This is why many closets are lined with cedar paneling or one can purchase cedar sachets to hang in closets and storage areas - to deter pests. Thuja plicata is native to the Pacific Northwest so mulches made of this product are more common in the western US than elsewhere. Eastern red cedar, Juniperus virginiana, also makes a long lasting mulch but lacks much in the way of insect repellent properties. Both types of 'cedar' mulch (neither tree is a cedar) are very longlasting as they contain high levels of turpines, lignins and essential oils which make the wood extremely moisture resistant and slow to rot....See MoreCedar Shavings for Mulch?
Comments (15)I'm not worried about contaminates per se, but rather was concerned about the resin in cedar, What I am planning to use are shavings marketed for pet bedding-- a 1:1 mixture of cedar shavings and (finer) pine shavings, My thought is that I will rake what is left this fall and remove them from my beds before I put the garden to bed for the winter. I'll bag them in some heavy duty trash bags and hopefully reuse next spring. I'm not planning to turn them into the soil--although I know that some will be left behind. I'll just need to follow-up with a little more N than usual....See MoreMost nutritious: Leaf mulch or wood chip mulch?
Comments (4)It's not really a question of which is most nutritious as which has nutrients that are more readily available and those are in leaves. If one looks at what Ma Nature does we would find that she uses a combination of leaves and wood to maintain nutrient leaves where she is in charge. The slugs appeared because you created an environment, cool and moist, that they like with that leaf mulch so yes the leaf mulch could be why the slugs appeared. However, they would have appeared if you used straw or anything else that would have created a cool, moist environment. kimmq is kimmsr...See Moredicot
12 years agoboulderbelt
12 years agojoeorganictomatoes
9 years agoshaxhome (Frog Rock, Australia 9b)
9 years agoKimmsr
9 years ago
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