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can i dye my mulch
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Posted by
msjay2u 7 (
My Page) on
Sat, Jun 11, 11 at 0:41
| I have three different colors of mulch in my yard. I really love the black mulch. I had to buy the cheaper mulch and it is brown, then I had some tress shredded and it is tan. I looked up dying mulch and after reading everything I wondered could I use just plain rit dye to color my mulch black using a sprayer? I would love for that to work. anyone tried that? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: can i dye my mulch
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| You could waste your time, energy, and money dyeing your mulch but since a mulch is supposed to recede into the background, and light brown or tan does that quite well, why bother? Black, red, gold, any dyed mulch is obtrussive and often takes away form the plant display over it. |
RE: can i dye my mulch
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| If you absolutely must do it, do NOT use the RIT dye; there are special dyes for mulch that may take a bit of tracking down, but you should be able to find them at a garden center, maybe even Lowe's or Home Depot. |
RE: can i dye my mulch
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| It is easy to dye. Found this product on line for about $35 per half-gallon: Mulch magic restores color to faded mulch Finally an economical, long-lasting, easy-to-apply colorant for faded mulch. Mulch magic keeps your landscaping looking freshly groomed for months. Simply mix mulch magic with water and apply to faded mulch using a handheld or backpack sprayer. Color will last on most mulches for more than a year with gradual fading. Mixing 3 to 4 oz. of mulch magic in a gallon of water will treat 200 to 400 square feet of mulch. Black colorant for the look of walnut or oak bark. 1/2-gallon container. USA made. |
RE: can i dye my mulch
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| Thank you for that information. I did see the colorant in Home Depot but I was also wondering about regular RIT dye. I went to the website to see what the information on RIT was but they do not give any technical info. lisanti you say absolutely not but do not give a reason. Can you explain your reasoning? I appreciate us staying on topic by the way as I am not interested in comments about if dyed mulch looks good or not. Its my preference and we all have different tastes, I just want to know about the dye. I notice not much information is given about the chemical makeup. I read a personal opinion from someone on a blog that mulch dyes have some level of petroleum in them. I thought I would come on here and ask.
Thanks |
RE: can i dye my mulch
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| RIT dyes contain salt, which is rarely good for plants. You should not, in general, use anything on or near plants that is not specifially said to be safe for plants. Anything put onto or into mulch will eventually work its way to the roots of your plants; if you are not sure what effect something will have on your plants and don't have the time for testing it carefully, don't use it. If it can't be absorbed and used by the plants, it will end up in the soil web and the water supply, which is why most municipalities have regulations governing dumping paint, pesticides, weed killers, petroleum products, and so on. This is not an "Only Use Organic Products!!!" diatribe, but a reminder to be careful as to what goes into the ground, directly or indirectly. My theory is:when in doubt, don't do it. |
RE: can i dye my mulch
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| Thank you lisanti. That makes a lot of sense and I will not be experimenting with it. I guess no choice but to buy the mulch dye. Just seems kind of expensive but I don't want to save a penny and kill my plants. LOL |
RE: can i dye my mulch
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| Just want to say I think the black mulch is pretty too. I'm not sure whose opinion it is that mulch should fade into to the background. Flowers against the black mulch stand out more & it looks like rich, black dirt from the street altho we all know if you left bare dirt it would be full of weeds by morning. Good luck with it. |
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