Top 10 Reasons to Choose Wood Chips Over Other Types of Mulch - Leaf & Limb (2024)

FAQs

Top 10 Reasons to Choose Wood Chips Over Other Types of Mulch - Leaf & Limb? ›

Mulching with wood chips conserves soil moisture, reduces weeds, and cools the soil. All of these benefits help to make your plants healthier. Mulch can help your plants grow faster with fewer insect and disease problems. Another use for wood chips is to cover garden and yard pathways.

Mulching with wood chips conserves soil moisture, reduces weeds, and cools the soil. All of these benefits help to make your plants healthier. Mulch can help your plants grow faster with fewer insect and disease problems. Another use for wood chips is to cover garden and yard pathways.

Both mulch and wood chips will keep garden beds cool and moist and prevent weed growth. But, when you put the two head to head, mulch will help a garden grow more.

Hardwood mulch can be harmful in windy areas. The mulch can hurt or cover plants if strong winds are common. Leaf mulch, on the other hand, won't harm your vegetables in strong winds. It can be harmful if the layer of mulch is too thick.

Mulch benefits your plants by smothering weeds, inviting helpful earthworms to move in, regulating the temperature of the soil, retaining moisture, providing nutrients and preventing erosion. Use a two or three inch layer in a circle around your plants. Don't let the mulch touch their trunks or stems.

It's great at retaining water – helping your soils stay moist by “trapping” water and stopping it from evaporating, contributing to your plants' health. It inhibits weed growth – as a layer of woodchip prevents light from getting to weeds, suppressing their growth, and making your garden easier to maintain.

Concern: Woody mulches, such as cedar, leach allelopathic chemicals that kill other plants. Evidence: Many plant materials contain allelopathic chemicals, which can prevent seeds from germinating or kill young seedlings. Most compounds have no effect upon established plants.

The best option for mulching your landscape will depend on your preferences, budget, availability, plants, and more. But, generally, using organic mulch made from wood chips or bark will be the best choice.

Average Lifespan

Wood chips and bark are the most common types of mulch. They are more prone to decomposing than thicker materials. Wood chips can last about five to seven years. On the other hand, bark can last for seven to ten years.

Even if you have purchased mulch that is made out of wood, it won't necessarily attract termites directly. Termites are not known to thrive in piles of mulch since they usually tunnel through the Earth and are present in the ground before you lay down mulch if you have them.

What are the disadvantages of leaf mulch? ›

If the homeowner has many trees, the mulched leaves may create a layer that is too thick and covers the lawn, disallowing light and air to reach the grass and soil. Weather is a factor. Mulching too many wet leaves can create a layer that actually smothers the grass, and could lead to turf grass and lawn problems.

Cedar lasts longer than other organic mulch and acts as a deterrent to insects, especially when it's fresh. Cypress blends also have a pleasant fragrance. Cypress can deter insects and fungi, and it retains water effectively. Cypress will make the soil more acidic as it decomposes.

That makes choosing ornamental wood mulch a safe and decorative option. But here is a fun fact: the color of the mulch can actually affect the growth habits of the nearby plants! For instance, it makes good sense that black mulch does a better job of keeping the topsoil warm because it absorbs more heat and light.

Brown mulch can soften the look of red brick, while black mulch will add to the crisp look of sharp, squared edges. Use red mulch to give a grounded look to a home with light-tone siding like white, cream or pale blue. Red mulch is especially well-suited to a palette of gold and warm tones.

You should spread your mulch to be two to four inches thick. If your mulch is too thin, then weeds can push through. If your mulch is too thick, it prevents water from reaching the soil. Water after mulching — This is an optional step, but a final watering can help settle the mulch into place.

Wood chips and bark are the most common types of mulch. They are more prone to decomposing than thicker materials. Wood chips can last about five to seven years. On the other hand, bark can last for seven to ten years.

Adding fresh wood chips to your soil will tie up nitrogen on the very surface of the soil initially. Nitrogen deficiency in the soil causes plants growth to be stunted. Signs of nitrogen deficiency usually include yellowing leaves and wilting.

Pest Damage. Too many wood chips around the tree trunk may draw pests such as termites, bark beetles, and borers that eat tree bark and will cause trunk damage. Protect the health of the trunk of your tree by keeping the mulch a few inches away.

Mulching decreases competition from the grass. Grass robs water and nutrients from the tree's root development and delays its establishment. A properly placed mulch ring helps conserve moisture and cools the soil aiding in root growth.