Mulch Archives - A&A Materials Inc

Regular Post

Written by webtechs

7 October 2024

Does Mulch Attract Termites

There’s a lot of uncertainty concerning mulch and termites. Many people assume mulch contains termites. Some believe it attracts them. What’s obvious is that there is an irrefutable link between termites and mulch – however, whatever that link is, is still confusing for many. Does mulch draw termites? And if that’s true, is there anything that can be done about it?

Why termites like mulch

Your legitimate concern should be what happens after you place mulch around your home. There is proof to uphold the link between termites and mulch as it involves attraction. This is the result of mulch being used for landscaping that keeps the environment moist. This is one of the advantages of mulch, as that moisture is perfect for growing foliage, flowers, trees, shrubs, etc. However, termites also have a fondness for this moisture, so do an assortment of other creepy crawlies and insects. This moist environment drives termites to investigate the area by making tiny tunnels and looking for food (cellulose, wood). The mulch offers cover for this investigation.

So, whereas the termites might not actually eat the mulch, the presence of it can certainly provide a better environment for a termite colony to begin or continue to progress. A better approach to consider the attraction matter would be to deduce that mulch increases a termite’s capability to thrive around your home when they are already there. Mulch doesn’t consequently attract termites but may serve as an invitation for them to feast on your home.

Termite-resistant mulch

Some kinds of wood are favored by termites, whereas others can act as an obstruction or even be deadly to these wood-eating insects. Loblolly pine and slash pine, and Cypress sapwood are preferred by termites. Eucalyptus, cypress heartwood, southern tidewater red cypress, melaleuca, and California redwood reduce a termite’s chance of survival in comparison to a normal food source, like white birch.

Cypress heartwood has been graded as termite-resistant, from research showing that extracts from this wood stave off termites. Likewise, when you place cedar mulch, termites are going to be very unhappy. Unprocessed, wood-bedded mulches are not going to give termites a source for heavy feeding. However, the existence of mulch in your yard can produce a setting which is advantageous to colonization encompassing your home.

Avoiding termites in mulch

There are some straightforward steps you can take to decrease the risk related with termites and mulch:

Proper mulch execution: Apply mulch in a thin layer, in a perfect world no more than two to three inches deep and keep mulch at a minimum of twelve to eighteen inches away from the foundation of buildings to produce a protected area.

Moisture management: Stay away from saturating mulch beds and guarantee correct drainage around your property to avoid undue moisture, which can appeal to termites.

Routine termite inspections: Have routine termite inspections by a professional pest control organization and examine mulch beds and nearby areas by yourself for signs of termite activity, like mud tubes and blemished wood.

Landscaping habits: Avoid planting trees or foliage too close to your foundation.

Structural safeguards: Seal cracks and gaps in the foundation to stop termite entry and avoid straight wood-to-ground contact by utilizing treated lumber and maintaining clearance between wooden structures and the ground.

Replacing Mulch: Replace mulch regularly, at least annually, to decrease the buildup of decomposed material that can entice termites and remove older mulch prior to adding new layers to avoid unreasonable accumulation.

A & A Materials, Inc., located in Scottsdale, Arizona, offers native compost for your landscaping needs. Call us at 480-990-0557 for more information.

Mulch, Termites

Regular Post

Written by webtechs

20 August 2024

Mulch Vs. Rocks

Following you planting new trees, foliage and flowers, you want to add the coup de grace–mulch. Mulch is going to make your landscape appear immaculate and refined.

However, does it make a difference what kind of mulch you use? Or should you maybe replace mulch with rocks?

Keep reading to discover the pros and cons of mulching with an organic mulch or an inorganic mulch such as rocks.

Mulch Vs. Rocks – Which Is Better in Gardens & Around Trees?

Pros & Cons of Organic Mulch

Below are the pros and cons of using mulch in your landscaping:

Pros

Improved Growth: Mulch can just about double how fast trees and plants grow, as reported by research studies.

Reduced Water: Mulch promotes rain-water infiltration and soil water storage and decreases water evaporation, so you can spend less time and resources watering!

Additional Nutrients: As mulch decomposes, it adds nourishment that plants require to flourish.

Less Weeds: Mulch decreases weed seed sprouting, so you are going to see less weeds in your beds.

The Perfect Temperature: Mulch keeps soil and roots safeguarded in the winter months and cooler in the summer ones.

Decrease Compaction and Erosion: Mulch hinders soil erosion, which is going to be uncontrollable in places where the soil is left exposed. Mulch additionally makes the soil more enduring against compaction. Additionally, people are unlikely to walk and/or drive on mulch, so there’s reduced soil compaction from the beginning.

Cons

Yearly Replacement: Subject to your mulch type, you are going to have to replace it or top dress it every 1 to 4 years. Therefore, it’s a continual time and cost expense.

Lavishness: Placing a layer of mulch more than 2 to 3 inches can diminish water movement and deteriorate bases of foliage.

Too Soon = Late Blooms: Putting mulch down too soon might slow how fast the ground gets warmer, meaning you could see blooms a little later than average.

Later than Normal = Weeds: Mulch hinders weeds from going into germination. If you mulch too late, it additionally might not stop them.

Look for Seeds: Many organic mulches, such as shredded green waste and hay, might have weed seeds in them.

Pros & Cons of Rocks

Below are the pros and cons of using rocks in your landscaping:

Pros

Minimum Maintenance: You probably never need to have them replaced.

Lower Expense: Since they’re longer lasting, it is usually less costly to mulch with rocks in the long term.

Fire-Resistant: Should you live in an area that has wildfires, rocks offer defensible space because they’re non-flammable.

Weeds Be Gone: Rocks could keep weeds away longer because seeds have trouble germinating through them.

Resistant to Wind: Heavier rocks are perfect at stopping soil erosion in windy places.

Excellent for Rock and Succulent Gardens: Rocks are ideal for these garden areas!

Cons

Really Hot: Rocks increase the soil temperature and emit heat long after sunset, resulting in stressed-out, thirsty foliage.

Cleaning-out: Clutter and debris must be cleaned out from your rocks to maintain their look. This is a laborious endeavor that also takes away nutrients from the soil which is required to be replaced with fertilizer.

Keep an Eye on the pH: A lot of trees favor acidic soil; however, carbonate rocks produce alkaline soil, which can harm most trees.

The Comeback of the Weeds: Wind is going to eventually blow soil between rocks, creating an area for weeds to germinate.

Removal by Hand: When you want to take out rocks, you must do it by hand, which can be monotonous!

The outcome? Organic mulch is generally better than rocks. However, rock is better than having no mulch at all!

Landscaping Materials Scottsdale, Arizona

A & A Materials, Inc., located in Scottsdale, Arizona, offers, all purpose sand, including washed concrete sand, aggregates, river rock, rip rap rock, mulch and wood chips for your landscaping or gardening needs. Contact us or call us at 480-990-0557 for more information.

Landscape Materials, Mulch, rocks

Regular Post

Written by Brian B

2 June 2024

How To Landscape Using Mulch

Nothing could be simpler than laying mulch, right? Wrong. While it may seem as though all you have to do is grab a shovel and mulch away, there are some specific details that must be followed. Here is our best advice on how to landscape using mulch.

Purchasing Mulch

We’ll start with the easiest step first. Before heading to a local supplier, you must find out exactly how much mulch you need for your landscaping project. You don’t want to underestimate the amount needed, and overestimating will just result in an excess of mulch wasting away in storage. Figuring out the square footage of your bed is key, then you can easily decide how many bags or scoops of mulch you’ll need to buy.

Mulch Timing

How to lay down mulch can be a tricky question, but when to lay down mulch is much simpler. There are two times of the year that are suited best for this particular landscaping project. Spring is the ideal season to lay down mulch. This season provides a great amount of rain to help break down the organic materials found in mulch. These will then penetrate the soil and give your garden an aesthetically pleasing look heading into the spring. The fall season can prove beneficial for mulch as well. Laying mulch before the colder weather hits gives your plants an extra layer of insulation. No matter which season you choose to perform the mulching, make sure it follows a rainy period, so the newly laid mulch can help keep in the moisture.

How To Lay Mulch

Laying mulch can be performed in a simple, five-step process.

Clean your beds: Make sure to rake up leaves, sticks or any other debris before laying mulch.
Water the beds: If you decide to lay mulch after a particularly dry run of weather, then you should manually apply water to these beds. Mulch will be added to help seal in the moisture you just provided.
Weed removal: One of the biggest benefits of mulch is it stops weed growth dead in its tracks. Removing weeds ahead of laying mulch will only give you more of a head start.
Spreading: Spreading the mulch by hand is the recommended process here. Shaking your mulch into little piles from a wheelbarrow can help you control portion size. You’ll know you’ve laid enough mulch when the spread is two to four inches thick. Spreading it too thin could cause weeds to grow right through your layer of mulch.
Water, again: Watering your bed should be the first and last step. One final watering will truly help your mulch flourish.

Tools

You now know how to lay the mulch and when to lay the mulch, but which tools should you use when performing this task?

Shovel: The shovel is essential for putting mulch into the wheelbarrow and removing it.
Wheelbarrow: Much needed for transportation of the mulch.
Pitchfork: The pitchfork could be used in addition or in spite of the shovel.
Rake: After laying the mulch, make sure to evenly rake it across your bed.
Gloves: Gardening gloves are certainly recommended for this process. Remember, you will likely be laying the mulch by hand.

A & A Materials, Inc., located in Scottsdale, Arizona, offers native compost for your landscaping needs. Call us at 480-990-0557 for more information.

Landscape, Mulch

gardening, landscape, mulch

Regular Post

Written by webtechs

25 September 2023

What Is Mulch?

Organic mulch is going to decompose and must be replaced. However, in the process of decomposing, organic mulches also assist in improving the soil’s drainage, structure, nutrient-holding ability, and increase organic content. The more dry and woodier the mulch, the more slowly it is going to decompose and the fewer nutrients it is going to provide to the soil.

Mulch is utilized to hold moisture in the soil, control, or block weeds, keep the plant roots and soil cool, hinder frost lifting in winter months, and make the gardens bed and landscape look more appealing. Keep reading to learn about the different kinds of mulches, along with beneficial information concerning the best kinds of mulches for your garden’s demands.

What Is Mulch?

Mulch is any material that gets spread or laid over the surface of the soil and used as a covering.

Types of Mulch

Many mulches are more artistically pleasing than others whereas other mulches are more effective and adds nutrients to the soil. There are two classifications of mulch: organic and inorganic, and both have their pros and cons.

Organic Mulch: This mulch is natural and not made from anything artificial. It’s ideal for adding useful nutrients to your garden, and it can block weeds, but it does not always totally block them.

Organic Mulch

Bark, shredded or chipped
Pine needles
Grass clippings
Newspaper
Shredded leaves
Straw

Inorganic Mulch: This is an artificial mulch and is not made of any natural materials. It’s best for completely blocking weeds, holding water, and preserving longer than organic, but it does not add value to the soil.

Inorganic Mulch

Landscape fabric and plastic
Stone and gravel

Landscaping Materials Scottsdale, Arizona

A & A Materials, Inc., located in Scottsdale, Arizona, offers mulch and wood chips for your landscaping or gardening needs. Contact us or call us at 480-990-0557 for more information.

Landscape Materials, Mulch

Regular Post

Written by webtechs

18 September 2020

Mulch vs Wood Chips

Mulch and wood chips offer overlay applications in the universe of gardening and landscaping. Gardeners utilize the organic and in-organic materials for the growing of plant species for the nutrition and safeguarding of garden specimens, among others. Although the definitions and applications of the two overlap each other, mulch and wood chips establish different things in the universe of gardening and landscaping. Far from gardening terminology, the definitions of wood chips and mulch greatly differ.

Mulch

Technically, mulch embodies any material situated on the surface of soil surrounding plants. Commonly organic, mulch decreases water evaporation, balances soil moisture, keeps weed populations down, manages soil temperature in intense conditions, manages and prevents erosion and prevents the compaction of soil. Materials used as mulch vary significantly and includes both organic and in-organic materials. Organic mulches boost microorganism activity in soil, which benefits soil quality and reduces compaction.

Types of Mulch

A plethora types of mulch are available. Organic types of mulch comprise of grass clippings, hay or straw, bark and needles from pine trees, various leaves, moldy leaves, shredded hardwood materials, compost, shells from pecans, coffee grounds and wood chips. Any organic waste from yards can serve this purpose. If you think about it, ground covering plants like ivy and periwinkle also makes up types of organic mulch. In-organic mulches comprise of gravel and/or crushed stone, pebbles, plastic sheets, rubber, man-made pine needles and landscape and/or woven ground cloth. As a variety of organic mulch, wood chips represent one of the many alternatives available for gardeners or landscapers seeking mulch types. The nature of the wood chip mulch makes it ideal for creating paths through the garden or yard in addition to offering a mulching material.

Woodchips as Mulch

Different types of mulch offer various benefits and drawbacks in the landscape or garden. Wood chip mulch, which comprises of small pieces of ground up bark or wood, proves especially beneficial with trees, smaller fruiting species, shrubs, and perennials. It heightens survival percentages in smaller trees and helps hinder damage to such plants in areas that have heavy rainfall seasons. The recommendation is applying two to four inches of wood chip mulch in a diameter of three to six feet around the base of a tree or plant. The larger the tree or plant, the wider and deeper the area of wood chip mulch will be needed. The right amount needed is also subject to the size of the chips in the mulch.

Further Details

While they include one of the many kinds of organic mulch, the simplest explanation of wood chips specifies them as the by-product of wood chipping, or the breaking down of bark and wood. Wood chips offer different uses, including organic mulch and bio-fuel materials for burning.

Wood chip mulch can be hazardous to garden or landscape plants if not used correctly. If left outdoors in large piles for long periods of time, wood chips decline from the lack of circulating oxygen, resulting in the creation of acids and other harsh composites. When placed in gardens or in landscaping, specifically in warmer weather, these chips could discharge harmful vapors that can damage and even decimate plants. When your mulch is “sour,” spread it out prior to adding it to your garden or landscape.

Source:

Difference Between Mulch & Wood Chips. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://www.hunker.com/13404724/difference-between-mulch-wood-chips

Landscaping Materials Scottsdale, Arizona

A & A Materials, Inc., located in Scottsdale, Arizona, offers mulch and wood chips for your landscaping or gardening needs. Contact us or call us at 480-990-0557 for more information.

Mulch, Wood Chips

Regular Post

Written by Brian B

18 August 2020

How Much Mulch Do I Need?

It’s a question every individual eyeing a landscaping project has asked at one time or another: how much mulch do I need? It is certainly a simple question, but the answer is not so easy. There are many factors one must take into account before heading to a local supplier for mulch.

Mulch Uses

Mulch is a material composed of leaves, bark and/or compost used to cover soil. The purpose of using mulch isn’t just to make your yard more aesthetically pleasing. Mulch serves many purposes, including overall improvement of the environment. In your yard alone, mulch will be responsible for conserving moisture, reducing weed growth and improving organic matter within the soil. Ideally, mulch should be laid in the spring or fall seasons.

The spring time is perfect for helping break down organic materials, especially since springtime generally brings an abundance of rain. These materials will penetrate your soil, giving your garden a fresh, brown look for the months to come. Laying mulch in the fall has an opposite but beneficial effect, as well. The mulch will help insulate your garden for the upcoming harsh winter months. Either time is recommended for laying mulch, especially for private homeowners.

Where To Mulch

Mulch can be utilized seemingly everywhere on private or public property. From veggie gardens to perennial plants, there is no limit to how much mulch you can choose to use. Mulch can also be utilized as protection for tree trucks from numerous manual machines used for landscaping. Simply put, any place that you would like to lay mulch on your property is a good spot.

Mulch Calculator

This is the tricky part for most individuals. Measuring and/or calculating your exact mulching needs can be a tad confusing. It is recommended that your mulch have a depth of two-four inches, which should prevent weed growth as well as absorb nutrients for the soil bed below. But, keeping the mulch height to no more than four inches is essential – you never want an excess of mulch in your beds. Too much mulch equals a lack of air supply for plant roots.

Finely textured mulch should stay under three inches in depth, while coarse textures can reach up to four inches in depth. The first thing you must do when figuring out how much mulch is needed is to figure out the square footage of your bed. From there, multiply the width by the length for rectangular or square beds. Multiply the radius by itself, then multiply your total by 3.14 for round beds. Remember that mulch is sold by cubic yard, which is an inch deep for a 324-square-foot area.

Luckily enough, exact calculations for your specific mulch needs is available right here. This tool can help you figure out how much mulch you need for your bed type.

A & A Materials, Inc., located in Scottsdale, Arizona, offers native compost for your landscaping needs. Call us at 480-990-0557 for more information.

Landscape, Mulch

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