Mulching, nowadays, is starting to become popular, as a result of benefits it brings to the plants and soil in your garden beds. In certain regions of the country it comes with a warning, though. Some areas, a common type of mulch originates from shredded hardwood bark, which is a waste product from sawmills. Logs are usually debarked prior to being cut, and the mills used to be up against the problem of getting rid of the bark.

Making use of the bark to produce mulch was a handy solution for the lumber yards, but it’s not perfect. The lumber mills pile the bark up high to save space, and with little demand for the mulch in winter the piles get really high. The task is done with front end loaders that, when driven up on top of the piles of bark, excessively compress the waste, resulting in a problem for the gardener. The bark matter is not going to decompose unless it’s given oxygen, and time, which is achieved by air passing through it. When it’s excessively compacted there is no air flow, causing the mulch to become extremely hot as it decomposes, even to the point of bursting into flames.

Because the resulting gas can’t be released by way of airflow, the mulch can actually be contaminated and become toxic. Digging into the mulch and spreading it releases a terrible stink and also poses a danger to your plants. The pent-up gas in the mulch is actually emitted, which can burn your plants. Spreading these materials around your plants could cause them to end up brown in as little as few minutes. Your once flourishing lawn could go an ugly brown should you dump mulch like this onto it. You may be totally unsuspecting, and only be informed that the mulch was bad when you discover the damage.

You can’t easily tell bad mulch by the smell, because although it has a strong smell when you dig into it, so does good mulch, and it’s not that dissimilar. Another pointer is that bad mulch is a touch darker, and if this alerts you to a potential problem you can test it by placing some around a plant that you don’t value too much. Get mulch from more deeply inside the pile for this objective, not from the outside. Assuming nothing has happened to the plants for more than 24 hours, the mulch really should be fine.

It may not be such a big issue, but it’s better to know about it before the time, rather than bumping your head. Imagine adding mulch around your plants with the best of motives, only to discover they had been burned. Stay away from toxic mulch by buying from a place you have faith in and who can give you some type of guarantee or assurance – you do, after all, want to get the benefits of mulching.