Cedar Mulch Around Flowers

Cedar mulch is typically available in the kind of wood or bark chips, and it is a frequent sort of wood mulch used in home landscapes. A program of cedar mulch in a flowerbed is appealing. In addition, it is advantageous for plants, improving plant and soil health while creating a favorable atmosphere for beneficial soil organisms like earthworms and anaerobic microbes.

Benefits

In perennial flowerbeds, cedar and other wood and bark chip mulches conserve soil moisture and insulate plant roots contrary to humidity fluctuations. Along with making flowerbeds seem appealing and tidy, cedar mulch also improves soil texture and also suppresses weeds. A layer of cedar mulch also shields flowerbed soil from erosion since it provides a barrier against rain and wind. Mulch made from Western red cedar (Thuja plicata) contains a vital oil called thujone, which repels insect pests from flowerbeds.

Perennial and Annual Beds

Cedar mulch is great for perennial flowerbeds, where it should be placed on the soil surface, not combined into the ground. When wood mulches like cedar are combined into the ground, they can result in nitrogen deficiencies due to their decomposition ties up the sulfur, making it unavailable to plants. Cedar mulch and other wood mulches aren’t ideal for many annual flowerbeds or vegetable gardens, where the soil has to be cultivated regularly.

Safety

Home gardeners might be advised to prevent cedar mulch in their flowerbeds because of a problem known as allelopathy, which pertains to toxic leachate from wood mulches that kill crops, inhibit seed germination and cause tip burn the leaf of plants that are established. That’s untrue of cedar mulches, however, according to a post about the Washington State University Puyallup Research and Extension Center website. Some wood mulch products are allelopathic, like black walnut (Juglans nigra), but no documented evidence implies that cedar mulch leaches toxins to soil. Any allelopathic activities observed in flowering plants mulched with cedar are more likely due to factors like light and mineral deficiency. Seeds and seedlings are more sensitive to limitations in light and nutrients than mature plants since they don’t have established root systems, but also a layer of cedar mulch leaching toxins into the soil isn’t the cause of the issues.

Application

When applying a layer of cedar mulch, the ideal depth to make the layer depends on the size of the wood chips. Small chips should not be implemented in a layer that is deeper than 2 inches, while bigger chips are usually implemented in a layer that’s 3 to 4 inches deep. Applying cedar mulch in thicker layers than recommended can reduce soil oxygen. Cedar mulch should be placed around the root zone of each plant or throughout the flowerbed, but do not apply the mulch straight to the foundation of the plants near their stems. Replenish cedar mulch on your flowerbed when it’s decomposed to some layer of 1 inch or less. Don’t disturb the soil when replenishing the mulch. Rather, add new cedar mulch on top of the old cedar mulch, assembling the layer to the appropriate depth.

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