Mulch with the right mulch for a happy native plant


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Mulch and California native plants

I can only get shredded fir mulch around here for some reason. Is there a difference chemically that will matter to the plants?

Neither of these is native here of course, so I can't understand why one would be better than the other if the texture of the mulch was the same.

WHY?????

fir kills them

different set of resins is a simple answer
fir break down faster and its resins trigger a cascade of pathogens that kill the natives, and trigger a ton of weeds
shredded cedar is ok, now you know why Greg is storing those piles at the nursery...
we have to bring it in in truck and trailer quantities to reliably get it.
I've heard of a place in Long Beach that sells it in 20 yard truck loads, don't remember who

What is the best mulch to use to keep weeds away in a wet area?

gravel or rock

Hi, I've been reading quite a bit in your site and am hoping you can give me advice. I live at 4000 ft in an oak forest on a small piece of land surrounded by national forest. Recently ( the last two years) the fire department has figured out where I live and insists that 30 ft. (There is a rumor they are moving it to a 100 ft.) must be cleared around the house. That means they want all the oak litter gone. Which as I suspected is not good for the oaks, and has created an almost intolerable dust situation. I am concerned as the oaks in this area are already pretty full of mistletoe, so I suspect their health is already not perfect. Now it is my understanding that oaks don't tolerate things being watered at their base, and they are not particularly other plant friendly. Got any suggesstions for planting to keep the dust down, supporting the health of the oaks since the powers that be want to site me for having oak leaves on the ground, and being somewhat national forest ecosystem friendly. Oh and I forgot to mention that deer, gophers, woodpeckers and squirrels love my house. I'd really appreciate even a more educated than I guess.

mulch burns very slowly with no flame height (but it does burn)
but when you remove the mulch you commonly get weeds, which burn very well and hurt the oaks
plantings burn better than the mulch.
All I can suggest is to gravel it, and close and lock the gate.
the insurance companies are worse, but one of the houses burned down in Poway with 300 foot of ice plant around it, and they thought it fire safe.

Great News! I found shredded redwood bark at Village Nursery in Orange. Would you believe the guy told me they had received a shipment of it in error. He tried to tell me I didn't want it because it bleached out white very quickly, and that Gromulch is better for my purposes. I told him no thanks, my California Natives prefer the shredded redwood bark, and he was stumped. (what's a "native"?)

$5.99 per 2 cubic ft bag.....I'll go broke.

thats about $84/yard
if you can find a bulk supplier it runs about $35 or so a yard
maybe he'd sell it at $3/ bag to get rid of the 'stuff', that's still pricy, but easier to work with

Hi again. I found a landscaping place that sells naturalized redwood shavings. BUT it has nitrogen added to aid decomposing. I don't want that, do I?

nope, the only places they're still doing that is in the San Joaquin and LA area, been discredited everywhere else

I'm giving it up.

I live in the *coastal sage scrub* region in Santa Ana. Redwoods never grew here; so shredded redwood bark isn't even a native mulch for my area. What DID grow here was scrub oak, right? Wouldn't oak leaf mulch be more natural and work better? And that is readily available.

it works ok, redwood is better,lasts a lot longer

I can only get shredded fir mulch around here for some reason. Is there a difference chemically that will matter to the plants? Neither of these is native here of course, so I can't understand why one would be better than the other if the texture of the mulch was the same. WHY?????	fir kills them different set of resins is a simple answer fir break down faster and its resins trigger a cascade of pathogens that kill the natives, and trigger a ton of weeds shredded cedar is ok, now you know why Greg is storing those piles at the nursery... we have to bring it in in truck and trailer quantities to reliably get it. I've heard of a place in Long Beach that sells it in 20 yard truck loads, don't remember who
What is the best mulch to use to keep weeds away in a wet area?	gravel or rock
Hi, I've been reading quite a bit in your site and am hoping you can give me advice. I live at 4000 ft in an oak forest on a small piece of land surrounded by national forest. Recently ( the last two years) the fire department has figured out where I live and insists that 30 ft. (There is a rumor they are moving it to a 100 ft.) must be cleared around the house. That means they want all the oak litter gone. Which as I suspected is not good for the oaks, and has created an almost intolerable dust situation. I am concerned as the oaks in this area are already pretty full of mistletoe, so I suspect their health is already not perfect. Now it is my understanding that oaks don't tolerate things being watered at their base, and they are not particularly other plant friendly. Got any suggesstions for planting to keep the dust down, supporting the health of the oaks since the powers that be want to site me for having oak leaves on the ground, and being somewhat national forest ecosystem friendly. Oh and I forgot to mention that deer, gophers, woodpeckers and squirrels love my house. I'd really appreciate even a more educated than I guess.	mulch burns very slowly with no flame height (but it does burn) but when you remove the mulch you commonly get weeds, which burn very well and hurt the oaks plantings burn better than the mulch. All I can suggest is to gravel it, and close and lock the gate. the insurance companies are worse, but one of the houses burned down in Poway with 300 foot of ice plant around it, and they thought it fire safe.
Great News! I found shredded redwood bark at Village Nursery in Orange. Would you believe the guy told me they had received a shipment of it in error. He tried to tell me I didn't want it because it bleached out white very quickly, and that Gromulch is better for my purposes. I told him no thanks, my California Natives prefer the shredded redwood bark, and he was stumped. (what's a "native"?) $5.99 per 2 cubic ft bag.....I'll go broke.	thats about $84/yard if you can find a bulk supplier it runs about $35 or so a yard maybe he'd sell it at $3/ bag to get rid of the 'stuff', that's still pricy, but easier to work with
Hi again. I found a landscaping place that sells naturalized redwood shavings. BUT it has nitrogen added to aid decomposing. I don't want that, do I?	nope, the only places they're still doing that is in the San Joaquin and LA area, been discredited everywhere else
I'm giving it up. I live in the *coastal sage scrub* region in Santa Ana. Redwoods never grew here; so shredded redwood bark isn't even a native mulch for my area. What DID grow here was scrub oak, right? Wouldn't oak leaf mulch be more natural and work better? And that is readily available.	it works ok, redwood is better,lasts a lot longer