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| I just moved to a new house. The previous owners have put rubber "safety turf" mulch (made of ground-up tires) all around the shrubs & trees. I was told it was "to control /prevent the termites". It goes down about 5 inches and beneath that is some of that gray 'weed control" fibrous sheet material.
My friend, who is a native-plant fanatic, tells me "that stuff is bad--get rid of it." I can see her point, because for sure it doesn't bio-degrade or offer any nutrients to the soil. I also think I will never hear the beautiful music of crickets singing in my yard, like I did at my old house (which had a very "natural", weedy yard that had never seen a chemical in the 34 years I lived there.) Is there really any benefit to it, as far as keeping my house from being eaten up by bugs?? Should I get rid of it, and if so, how? I imagine it would have to be a professional job... |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by lisanti07028 z6NJ (My Page) on Tue, Jun 14, 11 at 21:59
| Oh man, 5 inches of rubber mulch? That's thorough! Well, I sure wouldn't put it down, but if it's not terribly unsightly, you could work on it a little at a time, or wait until you win the lottery and pay an army to deal with it :). Are you in an area with an unusually bad termite problem? Knock on wood, I have never found termites in my wood chip mulch, and I've been using it right up to the foundation for over 20 years. By the way, I wouldn't give up on the crickets - has anyone ever found anything to keep them away? |
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| There is NOTHING good about using recycled crumb rubber as landscape mulch. It might take rubber tires out of the landfill....but right back on the soil as a pollutant source! Tires leach all kinds of heavy metals in the soil as they decompose. Yep, you heard me. This stuff bio-degrades via soil borne bacteria and fungi. However, rather than offer nutrients back to the soil and plants, these particles offer such things as cadmium, zinc, chromium and a host of other toxic elements and chemicals. These toxins end up in the water table, in streams, lakes, ponds, etc. Many of them are absorbed (and stored) by the plants themselves, so never, ever use this stuff in the veggie garden. Crumb rubber can be deadly to toads and frogs and other critters. Don't know the effects on earthworms. Not that earthworms are going to exist under 5 inches of rubber mulch and weed barrier, anyway, lol. Some people find the smell objectionable, and the fact that it is flammable (and VERY difficult to put out once on fire) can be a deterrent in some locations. By the way 5 inches of ANYthing is too much around the roots of trees, shrubs, or other growing plants. Root/soil systems require oxygen, gas exchange, water infiltration and other natural events in order to function and thrive. |
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