Many people don’t spend much time selecting the right type of mulch for your landscape and garden in Central Florida. It’s easy enough to pick up a few bags of mulch from a big box store and not give much thought to it. But what exactly is in those bags?
More and more consumers are making that extra step to be more environmentally friendly. From the food we eat to the cars we drive, understanding how what we consume affects our environment is important.
But what about the mulch you buy? What’s really in those bags at the store? It looks like bark mulch, it says so on the bag.
But what about the stuff you can’t see? Are there hazardous or toxic materials? Are there any health risks associated with bagged mulch?
When Joe Lamp’l from Growing a Greener World inquired about the sources used for mulch, he was told, “In addition to these ideal suppliers of raw material, there were others that were not as attractive – to me anyway. Some of this mulch was the remnants of former decks, play sets, fence posts and pallets. What I heard was lots of treated wood, chemicals, paint, varnish, etc.”
“Did you ever think about that organic garden of yours just might be topped off with a nice thick layer of arsenic or chromated copper arsenate (CCA for short) or any one of many not-so-organic chemicals. The potential health risks are sobering and beyond the scope of this mention.” Growing a Greener World.
Researcher Judd Michael, Nationwide Insurance Professor of Ag Safety and Health in the College of Agricultural Sciences. “But some of the largest mulch manufacturers have been accused of intentionally misleading consumers about the species mix, and it is difficult if not impossible for consumers to know whether the product is, indeed, the species listed on the packaging.
With over 45 years of experience in the industry, Reliable Peat Company, is proud to produce the industry’s most top quality, highly fibrous peat blended prescription soils, while still maintaining the lowest prices and providing the best customer service in the industry.
