Hi everyone, I hope you can help me. I noticed this year I lost of lot of my bushes. Last year we put mulch in our garden and was wondering if this could be the cause. It seems to have a lot of mildew and humidity and I noticed last night that the roots are rotted. I never had any problems with those plants, even my grape vine is dead. Thank you.
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I've used cocoa mulch for years and in very wet years it does sometimes get moldy (esspecially when it's newly laid) but it's never done any harm to my plants and once it dries up again the mold disappears on its own. This was a bad winter for freeze/thaws and a lot of normally hardy plants rotted out (I lost almost all of my lamb's ears - and normally you can't get rid of the things - as well as several other plants) so unless the mulch was so thick and totally smothering the crowns of the plants I'd be surprised if it's a mulch problem.
Get some Immunox consentrate and sprey all your plants...I would use cypress mulch as well. It is fungi resistant and repels insects...good luck -david
I have a bag that wasn't opened. I'll get the name for you tomorrow. I'm almost positive that's what happened. When I turn the mulch, there's a white residue around the plants and shrubs. That is so madning... That's what we are going to do tomorrow, is take all the mulch out. Thank you again for your advice.
Suzie G, do you know what your "brown mulch" was? I have always used shredded pine or cedar bark and never had any problem, and then this year, I ran out, and put some cocoa bean mulch from Loblaws onto part of my bed. It has been very wet here this year, and the cocoa bean mulch went very moldy, very fast!!! I took it all off, and so far, I don't think I have lost anything. The parts where the pine bark muclh still is, are fine.
I have used shredded bark mulch in Edmonton and here in the Ottawa area for many years and never had trouble. As long as you are carfeul not to put it directly touching the stems of plants, and, Norm is right, you need to use enough (most people don't use enough) but not too much. 2-3" is recommended.
I never have to dig it in, I find it just mixes in itself, over the year, and then I add more when needed, often every second year or so. I add compost every spring, so I move the ulch around a bit to do that. Usually, you have to break the mulch up in the spring, because, over the winter, it can compact to make a quite impervious layer. One thing about it is, it does use nitrogen to decompose, so you do need to fertilize your plants with a balanced fertilizer (20-20-20 usually does me most of the time) so they can be sure to get enough nitrogen.
If it was very very wet where you live, and if you had too thick a layer, that might have done it. Some plants are very susceptible to mold and rot, though, and it may have just been that, coupled with a bad winter, that killed your things. if I recall an earlier post, I think you said your roses seemed to not come back in the spring at all -- it could be that they were winter killed. If the mulch is moldy, you will see the fuzz and smell the moldy smell. If that is indeed what happened, you need to take it off, back to the soil and let everything dry out before you go forward.
Hi Suzie, Just read an article regarding this topic....They said that quite often people use excessive amounts of mulch as they think it is more attractive, rather than considering the purpose, which is to retain moisture and inhibit growth of weeds. It suggested that last year's mulch either be dug in well or removed (depending on what type was used) and secondly, 2 inches was recommended. If using more, leave a space around the base of the plant ( like a well) to provide circulation. I usually just apply dampened peat moss (as a mulch) after adding triple mix or whatever in the spring. Hope this helps. Norm