This MAGIC MULCH Repels Pests And Smells AMAZING
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- čas přidán 6. 07. 2024
- This mulching guide shares my favorite wood mulch for my garden, landscaping and fruit trees. This magic mulch repels pests, helps prevent fungal diseases and smells amazing in your yard and garden! If you use wood chip mulch, this may be the best mulch for your garden and yard!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 Natural Mulch Benefits And Mulch Tips
1:09 Why Cedar Mulch Is Better Than Most Wood Chips
1:51 Cedar Mulch Benefit #1
3:05 Cedar Mulch Benefit #2
4:34 Cedar Mulch Benefit #3
5:27 Potential Downsides Of Using Cedar Mulch
8:08 Adventures With Dale
If you have any questions about how to use mulch in your garden and yard, want to know more about other natural and organic mulch varieties, have questions about growing fruit trees or want to know about the things I grow in my raised bed vegetable garden and edible landscaping food forest, are looking for more gardening tips and tricks and garden hacks, have questions about vegetable gardening and organic gardening in general, or want to share some DIY and "how to" garden tips and gardening hacks of your own, please ask in the Comments below!
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#gardening #garden #gardeningtips #mulch #mulching
If you found this video helpful, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 Natural Mulch Benefits And Mulch Tips
1:09 Why Cedar Mulch Is Better Than Most Wood Chips
1:51 Cedar Mulch Benefit #1
3:05 Cedar Mulch Benefit #2
4:34 Cedar Mulch Benefit #3
5:27 Potential Downsides Of Using Cedar Mulch
8:08 Adventures With Dale
What type of cedar trees is the mulch made from? Where I live something in the soil makes cedar like people make trellis out of which I think is red cedar rot very fast I mean extremely fast.
Old timers prune tomato plants so that bottom layer has no leaves near the ground to spare the many issues soil can spread to them. Works really well. 👍🏻
I use cedar mulch in my front yard flower beds. It does not affect the pollinators at all. I have butterflies, bees and wasps all over my flowers all spring, summer and fall. I also have other beneficial insects in my back and side yard garden. When I first put it down, I was worried that it would affect pollinators but that worry has been completely unfounded.
Thank you for this! I'm a new Gardener and I have my vegetables in bag containers with cedar mulch on top. I've been reading that pollinators do not like the smell of cedar, so glad you proved them wrong 💚
Thank you for your comment , I just received a huge chip drop of cedar and was worried about my pollinators . I won't worry about it now ! Thank you💙
Nice good to know. A month ago I planted a raised bed of baby reds and golden taters. Covered soil with cedar pet bedding shavings that I had laying around. I will try on tomatoes too but never really have an issue with fungus on them for I keep them pruned and vine them up cattle panel. Only “fun guy” I welcome in my garden is the Millennial Gardener, thanks for all the informative fun videos, MG!
For years, we have been using Cedar Shavings in the kitty litter box and also in the garden. I layer it with compost at the bottom in the beginning of every growing season. That helps self-seeding and perennial plants. Like pine shavings, it turns the soil pH more acidic. So, it will definitely help the acid-loving plants.
Saving this video!! We’re investing in a wood chipper so we can make our own cedar mulch. Out off grid property in the Ozarks is INFESTED with ticks and it scares the poop out of me. We just burned a pretty decent size ring around our cabin and will be using all our cedar trimmings to cover the ground with chips. Hopefully that’ll help keep the bastards at bay. My 3 year old loves playing out here!
I like your style. You seem honest and friendly. 😊
Yay!! My favorite garden show!! Thank you. I hope I can find some of that.
Thank you so much! It may be worth calling around to local landscaping yards, because they often have many options.
I live up in the great lakes area and use cedar mulch under my fruit trees. after 3 or 4 years now it it still has not broken down. it looks a nice brown color and smells nice for only a couple months and then turns kinda grey/gray with no smell. but it still works well as a very hardy mulch. i usually add just an inch of new mulch on top each spring and i'm good to go for the year.
Just bought some today, and I was hoping I'd find a video on your channel promoting it! Glad I made a good choice!! Thanks for all your helpful videos, as a 2nd year gardener, I'm always looking for new tips and tricks to make sure my plants and veggies thrive.
Great video! Thanks for taking the time to make this video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Getting a bag or two for my front garden landscaping today. Great video!
I love the smell of cedar! 😊 ❤️ Thank you!
You’re welcome! I love the scent as well.
So well explained and always helpful! Thank you! 😊👍Hi Dale! 🦋
You’re welcome! Dale’s passed out on the couch. He had a long day sun puddling 😂
This makes total sense! It will be an interesting experiment. I’ll have to remember this next spring when I’m mulching around my more pest prone veggie plants! Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome! Thank you for watching!
As always, Thanks for the fantastic video. Adventures with Dale and the lost turtle at the end there had me in stitches. Tons of cedars around here in Southern Ontario. I'm definitely going to have to get on this and start using a fork to loosen the soil occasionally as the soil in my area is predominantly clay loam. Best of luck with the rest of your season. Sadly, winter is coming for us up here, preservation time has begun.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video! It's still 32C, here. We could use a break from the heat. I'm ready for the mid-October cooldown. Here, we still have another 5-6 weeks of heat and humidity.
Great information, was able to follow and learned a lot from your video appreciate you. Ty
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
Wow I’m amazed, here (near upstate NY) people try to avoid cedar mulch even if it’s so abundant here (it’s the cheapest mulch here at $3 for a 2 cubic foot bag) some said that pine or hemlock mulch releases more nutrients in the soil but I’m glad to have watched your video as you seem to know more about it than we do.
That is true: because cedar takes so long to break down, it doesn't release nutrients in the soil quickly. If you want mulch that breaks down quickly to add organic matter, cedar is a poor choice. That being said, you can mix cedar mulch with bark mulches that break down quickly. That way, you can get the pest repellent effects of cedar with the rapid organic matter breakdown of bark mulches. It's the best of both worlds.
Greetings from arizona! We love our cedar mulch, you're right! It lasts us about 4 years before we need to reapply it. Underneath it is where we have our organic mulch we make here on our property. Thanks again for all of the tips and tricks. Cheers 🥂
With your dry climate, I'm sure mulch lasts pretty long. 4 years is impressive. I like your strategy of mixing mulches so you get the benefits of cedar while still getting organic matter breakdown at a reasonable pace!
Well you convinced me, I will buy it because I have a lot of problems this year in my garden due to bugs
all vegetables, and flowers were really bad
Very helpful. I never even considered using cedar. Wow, thanks for the tip i will definitely be trying it out
Outstanding! Best of luck!
I use mulch also. Usually pine straw. If you add annual flowers to your garden you will draw in beneficial insects no matter what kind of mulch you use. The ones I use are Zinnias, Cosmos, and Sunflowers. They are the easiest ones to grow, and I believe they increase the harvest. You'll have more good bugs in your garden than you know what to do with. I plant them in a boarder all the way around the veggies.
I use zinnias, cosmos, and sunflowers too! 🙂 I love seeing all the pollinators they bring in. Happy gardening 🌻🌻🌻
I use marigolds to help repel things like aphids etc. Has warmed well last three years. I also plant some zinnias. Well a lot. I love zinnias
True. I planted 2 types of Zina bugs don't bother to munch on it. But my Basil yes. And I use Ceder Mulch.
I had no idea I needed cedar mulch till now and I thank you!
You're welcome!
I have been considering the use of this kind of mulch for some time. I believe it will be useful in my yard. I have far more unwelcome insects than beneficial ones. I also love the smell of cedar. On another note, I recently had an unwelcome visitor to my yard that I physically expelled and banned a couple of weeks ago. It was a Groundhog.
O man! I sure wish i had this knowledge 4 months ago! Next year for sure. Thanks
You're welcome!
Very, very interesting. Thank you!
You’re welcome!
The cedar mulch helps so very much here in Arizona! So very happy that I put it down. Plants are thriving and I will be pulling it back and adding compost when the season changes.
That’s great to hear! Do you find it takes too long to break down due to your dry weather? It may not be the best for adding organic matter, but if you put compost under it, problem solved.
This is my first summer season with it. I just love how my plants looked once I put it on my soil
Thanks Anthony. I've been noticing mealybugs on my figs and I've been getting them as I see them with alcohol. I will be mulching with cedar now to help. Also, think I will change the pine mulch around some fruit trees to cedar.
I got chip drop and they gave me an entire load of cedar. I thought I couldn't use it for mulching tender annuals due to the tannins. I'm gonna go for it though. I bet it will be fine. I bet it will be good actually. So I also use seaweed and got a layer of seaweed on the garden right now. I startef covering the seaweed with cedar. It's dried out anyways. I figure it will get moist again and break down into the soil underneath the cedar and perhaps provide a buffer for the tannins if they are a little strong.
This makes me very happy. I still have a stash of cedar chips. I had used them to redo the driveway and walkways. Love it. So nice to walk on and absorbs all the rain here on the Pacific Northwest coast.
Thanks again for sharing great idea ✨💡👍🏾
You're welcome!
I use cherry plum bark mulch becasue i make it myself from trees in my garden. Doesn't last that long though. Starts turning to soil in a few weeks.
I like cedar mulch on the paths around the vegetable garden for all those reasons given but I have had good success with straw mulch around plants as it also feeds the soil as it breaks down. Zone 5
I enjoy straw, and I use it liberally around my yard. However, the benefits of cedar would be the pest repellent properties. Straw will not do that, unfortunately. What you can do is mix the two: use cedar on plants vulnerable to pests, and use straw elsewhere.
Thank you. I am glad Cedar mulch is good because I only have cedar mulch for my trees and garden so far and have like 15 more bags laying around.
Excellent! It is nice stuff. So far, my tomatoes are enjoying it, and it is a really beautiful mulch.
Great video thank you 🥰
You're welcome!
This is great bc I’ve heard that it would harm your veggie plants. Glad to hear that it’s ok. As far as lady bugs go - I’m with you- the pest far outweigh what the lady bugs can take care of. I have a million caterpillars to pick off/spray every year so I’m definitely gonna check it out.
Here in southern Ontario we have white cedar on are property . I make tons of cedar mulch from the dry dead cedars in my woods with the tractor pto chipper . We used it in the garden this year . We have the best garden ever this year . Everything you said about the cedar is exactly right . No bugs also . Worked perfect . We use it in are dog run too . Last long time keeps it nice . Makes great path ways in the garden never muddy after watering and also on trails . We have Learned alot from your channel . We are eating good this year 😂👍. Keep up the good work 👍👍👍👍
Thanks for mentioning the dog run use. That's exactly what the purpose I have in mind.
@@simplesimon755 Was the best thing we ever did . It absorbs peel neutralizes it some how and no smell and resist rot . The dogs are always on clean ground when we put them out too do there business and no muddy feet . Cleanup is so easy also . We put down a good thick layer of 3” . It will compress down nice and stay .
Here in NC Eastern White Cedar is called Juniper. I have not noticed juniper products in garden stores. Very helpful! Bill in the Topsail area
Dale and the turtle are precious!!
Dale is such a goof. He barks at the turtle like it's going to get up and run away. He is certainly the protector of the yard. Problem is, it's snake season and he found two this week, so I can't leave him unattended when he's on the hunt. He will find anything and everything with that nose of his.
@@TheMillennialGardener my moms dog does the same. And she got bitten by a copperhead. She is a shepherd mix, but her head got swollen so much, it looked like a cow head . At first a vet thought it was as a bee sting, then mom took her to emergency and got anti venom thank goodness!! You are good to keep an eye on Dale!!
Worth trying around my roses to get rid of Sri Lanka weevils. Under planting my roses w salvia helped tremendously with black spot… maybe it would work similarly for tomatoes??
I've been using floating algae from my farm pond for mulch. Holds water like a sponge and is loaded with nutrients. My ponds old and high in organics from years of fish waste. I put it around my new fig and all my paw paws and they really started growing.
I've heard of a lot of folks with a lot of land that build a pond and stock it with fish, then irrigate with the pond water. The downside is that the pump filters need to be cleaned each use, but it's free fertilizer.
I used cedar mulch as an experiment in my rose garden and it has taken off well.
Outstanding! I'm happy to hear that!
In Texas we are blessed/cursed with native cedar which makes for readily available mulch closely followed by Texas live oak leaves in the spring. I use Cedar mulch on my walkways and ornamental gardens not on my raised beds. Oak leaves and lawn clipping for raised beds...
Why not try cedar in your raised beds? If you're dealing with pests, you may do well strategically placing cedar. Now, the white moth is going to come to start attacking brassicas. Placing cedar around them may help.
I swear.... You did it again. Just this morning I put a bunch of cedar mulch around all of my fall plants. Never tried it before, didn't know about the pest repelling benefits. That will be very useful for me.
HAHA, that's awesome! I try my best to be seasonal with these videos so they're on-time. Now's the time we should be considering mulch to prepare our gardens for the winter.
I’ve been using shredded cedar mulch this year. I still have ladybugs, bees, birds, etc. My carrots germinated and grew well before the heat stunted them and I had to pull them all up. My tomatoes did well and my cucumbers were phenomenal! I’ve just put in broccoli, will see if it does well this fall. We are in NC zone7.
That's great to know. My guess is the cedar won't do much to flying insects and will be more effective on pests that stay low to the ground. What I've learned in all my years of gardening is that the "good pests" tend to fly high, and the "bad pests" tend to stay lower to the ground.
Great video. One question though (and potential downside). Do the antifungal properties harm the beneficial fungi (mycorrhizal network) or does it only affect the surface layer?
I was excited with this until I realized it would deter worms. I have started putting worm bins in my raised beds so I guess I’ll need to pass on the one. I am not discouraged in the least. I love your videos and I learn something each and every time. Thanks for sharing all you have learned over the years.
Worms live beneath the soil, not on top of the soil. It's not going to have any significant effect on worms. If cedar deterred soil biology, it wouldn't be possible to have cedar forests, because the soil would be dead. Of course, that doesn't happen. You'll have worms using cedar mulch just like any other mulch. The only potential downside is if you want your mulch to break down quickly to add more organic matter, cedar won't decay as fast. If that's what you want, you can mix half-cedar and half-bark mulch so you'll still get rapid breakdown while the scent of cedar can keep pests away.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you so much for your reply. I am so excited to learn all I can and you are an excellent resource for sure. Take care
Thanks so much.
I absolutely love the smell of Cedar and it brings back memories for me too.
We had a cedar-lined guest closet at the entryway of our home when I was growing up.
It reminds me of my great grandparents. Cedar furniture was so common. It's a shame that "real" furniture barely exists anymore. Nothing made today is made to last.
Thanks 👍
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
Thank you…again, you are so helpful…especially since I’m in coastal SC low (wet!) country. Battled insects and fungus all winter, spring and summer. I’ve been using cedar mulch around my veggie plants, but might switch to it for all my gardens.
My climate is virtually identical to yours, just half a hardiness zone cooler. It's brutal here, so every little bit helps.
Coastal SC here too. I've been fighting pests and diseases like crazy this year. It either rains too much or we have a drought. Let's not even talk about the humidity... UGH!
@@UGAgirl Fungus is going to be horrible with all this rain…I can’t even spay because it will be washed off by the next rain.
@@tomyanno972 Agreed. I'm so discouraged this year. Plus, I've been a HUGE mosquito magnet, so I'm having a hard time enjoying my garden. 🎯🦟🦟🦟🦟🦟
Cedar is not my friend. As a child, I had a cedar hope chest at the end of my bed which ended up causing such severe allergies that I had to be hospitalized for weeks. My kids are allergic to cedar as well...it blew in every where when we resided in TX. I'm all for as organic a garden as I can grow & rely completely on companion as well as sacrificial planting. I'm happy to read it doesn't interfere w/pollinators, so I don't know if I should try it next season...perhaps a 50/50 with another mulch or maybe you have better suggestions. Thanks, ~ Covah
I have terrible soil, so I use raised beds for all my plants and vegetables. Another advantage to this is I can use wood chips (preferably cedar) in the walkways around the beds to help control both pests and weeds. A win, win every which way. I get free arborist chips. I use straw mulch in the beds and plant winter cover crops in the fall when the flowers and vegetables are done for the season.
How do you get free arborist chips? Thank you.
Thanks
You’re welcome!
I no longer have access to the shredded pine I use to use. I have to choose between shredded cedar and shredded hemlock. Don't really hear much about the hemlock. Any opinions?
Try neem meal powder/cake for multi-purpose advantage. Great fertilizer and keeps the garden pests at bay. You can spread or dilute with water on foliage and soil. Plants respond well overnite and pests stay away. Might keep you away from the smell also ......... hehehe !
Down to Earth or Neem Bliss are the brands I use.
Does the Cedar mulch repel slugs? Love your adventures with Dale!
I don’t have much of a slug problem here, so I can’t test directly. You’d have to try and find out. It’s certainly worth a shot.
Quick question
Can you use fresh cedar wood chips around veggies and flowers?
I have read some articles that state this could be harmful? 7:54
Ive been thinking of this since i heard cedar repels mosquitoes, but does it repel worms? Not good for my garden. Also does it change soil PH? Im thinking of trying it in 1 of my smaller beds.
You have convinced me. I will get Cedar mulch from now on even if it is a little more expensive.
Maybe you'll want to trial it. Use it on the most pest-susceptible plants and see how it performs. If the plants are not susceptible to pests, it may not be the best mulch for you, because it decays more slowly. If you are growing plants that don't have pest problems, you may want a mulch that decays more quickly to add more organic matter to the soil faster.
I'm glad here in Phx it's dirt cheap. I get a huge bag for $7 bucks equivalent to 5 gallons bucket
Does the cedar mulch also repel beneficial insects?
I have been using cedar mulch for several years. Since I started using it we find fewer scorpions in the yard and getting in the house.
Yikes! Scorpions! That's good to know!
I would like something organic and untreated for vegetable gardening. Is this good for this use?
Those figs are killin it!
It's been a rough year, unfortunately. Very bad winter, then a very wet July, August and into September. Lots of rain means no good figs. I've only had 2 or 3 truly good figs all year. All the rest have been waterlogged and bland 😢 The trees have recovered well, though.
@@TheMillennialGardener I know bro. The sun has brutalized my garden. I started using the shade cloth since May like you did.
I use cedar mulch and it works. Didn’t mulch my summer squash and got vine borers.
I am going to try an experiment next summer with some squash using cedar and other squash using regular shredded hardwood. The squash bugs this year were TERRIBLE!
The squash vine borer is my worst pest in Charleston SC! I’m trying to figure out how to repel them!!
@@rubens667 I literally inject my squash with BT in a syringe twice a week all season! Between VB's and pickle worms, I'm at WAR all summer ha
@@Another_Lady thank you 🙏
I use Pine Pellets.. Is that almost just as good?
PLUS: Cats stay away from my flower beds and vegetable rows that i use shredded cedar as mulch...fresh sprinkle every month has been key to maintaining a friendly relationship with my neighborhood cat gang that keeps the mice under control.
That's interesting. I had a pesky neighborhood cat that would dig up my beds before I got my perimeter fence around my yard. That's good to know.
Yes cedar is not liked by cats. I love cats so I only would use this in some areas of my property.
I put kiln dried cedar pet bedding it doesn't have any additives . I put it around half of my plants to see if there's any difference and the plants I put it around did a lot better . It's also odor free . I'm thinking the regular cedar mulch is going to go around my house line , and I do like cedar odor .
Next year, I'm going to try planting squash plants with and without cedar mulch. I had major squash bugs this year. I'm looking for a silver bullet to keep them away.
@@TheMillennialGardener That will be interesting , please let us know the results . I'm planning on planting brassicas and covering them with tulle since they don't need bees to pollinate them.
I had a problem with pet bedding from tractor supply - it was not 100% cedar. The light color in it attracted termites. I have since replaced it with rice hulls but also looking at cedar mulch.
Hopefully there are no allelopathic properties in thujone. I notice around here, the junipers (which we call cedar and are ground up for cedar mulch and do a great job of suppressing weeds) never have any other plants growing around them except other cedar trees.
So far, it isn’t impacting my tomatoes. It could be a root issue. They may simply crowd other plants out, or they grow in very specific regions. I grew up in the NJ pine barrens and cedar swamps were everywhere. They liked specific, boggy conditions that most trees dislike. Where I live now, it is mostly cypress in those conditions.
What about using Cedar Pet Bedding?
I was getting chigger bites and couldn't go out in our garden anymore. Apparently chiggers love pine straw so we removed all of the pine straw and replaced the pathways with cedar chips just a few weeks ago. So far so good!
That's great to hear! Pine straw is quite popular here, but I haven't used it much. I like the look of the wood mulches and wheat straw, myself.
Is pine straw same thing as pine needles? We live in the middle of all the pine trees all around us. I have one clear space for my garden. Yuk those ticks crawling on me whenever I go work in garden. They I think comes from those pine trees. I hate those ticks. I had to spread some granules to kill ticks, any bugs on ground. So far it is under control. I raise my veggies in pots. I used clothes baskets from dollar tree store and put construction bags in it and filled my dirt in and my plants does well growing in them. I just hate ticks.
Yes pine straw is a whole bunch of pine needles. I'm sorry you're going through that with ticks. Having pathways cleared out helps a whole lot.
Interesting! I'll have to try this next year 👀
Do you think it would still be effective if you mixed it with "regular" mulch? Like, mixing it 50/50 or maybe doing a thin layer/scatter on top of regular mulch, if that make sense
Thinking more for my mulched pathways or landscaped area,s so hopefully wouldn't effect the good bugs too much...
I wouldn't mix it as it may stop the beneficial microbial action. I would however put a thin layer on top of the regular compost so that the plant gets what it needs.
I just removed the cedar mulch from my flower beds since after 3 yrs, very little breakdown (dry Utah) and the perennial plants were not benefitting. Plants seemed to be just surviving and not thriving. Replacing with compost to see if these plants will do better and help feed the soil.
Adding 2 inches of compost is recommended at the growing season (1 to 2x’s year). It may work best to pull back the cedar mulch, put down compost to feed the soil, and then put the mulch back down.
I mix my cedar mulch with pine mulch. 2 to 1
I’d do what Positive Mind commented. Whenever my beds look low, I remove my mulch, add homemade compost, and then add the mulch back.
Mix the cedar mulch in with compost
I reused the cedar mulch removed from the flowers beds and placed it on a garden pathway that is shaded by a 65 yr old London Plane tree. Still benefitting from the mulch, keeping the soil cooler and reducing evaporation. We’ve gotten over 31 days of 100+F temps this summer with 11% humidity. We’re in a multiple year drought so we’ve only been able to water 2x per week for a limited amount of minutes each time and I use drip irrigation. After today, Labor Day, we’re restricted to 1x a week until probably the middle of September. I think in wetter climates with more soil/insect problems, cedar mulch is a real benefit.
Thanks so much for letting me know. I live in central Texas in my county they give away free truckloads of cedar mulch. Thank you, Comal County, Texas.
You're welcome!
Luke at MiGardener put out a few years ago suggesting to go to the pet section (I found Tractor Supply cheapest) and mix pine and cedar shavings as a cheap mulch. The pine helps to cut the cost further. It can be messy but I like it. I didn’t even know I could buy cedar mulch, specifically, until seeing your video. The mulch would probably last longer for it’s design.
You can, but they’re very expensive. They’re excellent for mulching potted plants, but you’d go broke using those to mulch landscaping or raised beds. I am buying those large 2 cubic foot bags for $3.60. In the pet section, they’re several times that. Maybe cedar isn’t widely available where Luke is. Cedar is common on the East Coast, but I’m not sure how prevalent it is in the Midwest.
Yep. I ordered cedar bedding and employed as mulch this year. Little to no aphid pressure but did not really ward off vine moth borers which was my real goal. Oh well. Still got that one aphid benefit and had a healthy mulch to get through a horrendously hot and dry summer here in SE Texas.
Does cedar mulch keep mosquitoes away?
I have used cedar for quite a long time I bought a bag once put it out and noticed the rabbits and the ground squirrels prairie dogs apparently don't like the smell and they stay out of my orchard and my garden but I still have problems with ants
I’ve been using leaf mulch (pine needles with oak tree leAves). I might add cedar mulch under the squash.
Good advice
I have a huge issue with squash bugs and vine borers. Since the borer comes from a moth, I'm wondering if it would keep that moth away from my zucchini plants. Going to give it a try next year! Thanks for this great tip!
@@dovey6259 I tried putting cedar bedding around my squash last year and the borers still got them. Planted spaghetti squash in July and that has worked so far.
It's worth a shot. Squash bugs were terrible for me this year, and they're surface crawlers, so the cedar should help.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks!
Thanks for the information. I was considering the use of cedar shavings to repel pests; however, I don't want to run off the ladybirds.
Dale wouldn't have hurt that pretty turtle. He just wanted a closer look.🙂🐕
What you can do is isolate the cedar mulches to the pest-prone plants. Then, leave the other plants that aren't as prone to pests with a different mulch. Dale has been in "extreme" hunting mode lately. He's found 4 snakes, a turtle and toads galore. He barks at them, as if he can somehow chase them away. I have had to keep an eye on him nonstop since it's clearly snake season, and he doesn't understand they're no threat unless you run at them...😦
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you...that's a good idea.😃
Snakes around Dale! 😯 I know y'all keep him safe.
Y'all have a number of visitors to your yard.🐢
I bet cedar mulch would be great as a path mulch. Since it takes longer to break down and would still repel insects at the ground level.
It is, and since it is shredded, it tends to stay in place. I use it to fill in a pathway where tree roots are exposed.
I wonder if this will keep the dreaded squash fine bore moth away And/or squash bugs and cucumber beetles
I dude I had one of those green houses it was nice a roomy and had all kids of stuff in there growing because of the heat wave and I left the door open and some hot strong winds knocked it all down I was sad as hell
Okay, I'm buying cedar mulch next trip out. The ants have been farming aphids on my tomatillos and it drives me nuts having to soak the entire plants in insecticide every two weeks. Sevin Dust was only working until each time it rains. Thanks for this.
Have you tried using BORAX/SUGAR traps for the ants🐜?
@@myurbangarden7695 I have been using commercial ant bait and it reduced their numbers but I haven't been able to locate or kill the colony.
Thinking of using it for asparagus bed. Any thoughts?
Asparagus doesn't require pollinators or any beneficials, so I'd say there is no risk.
there is a cedar saw mill in charlotte, nc area and they have free wood slabs. I was thinking of grabbing some and chipping it up into mulch for free.
If you have a chipper, definitely!
What about grasshoppers?
In Australia we sadly don't have access to Cedar Mulch to my knowledge. Its mainly Tea Tree or Cypress and man they can be expensive! $100 AUD per cubic metre.
Cypress is also rot-resistant and termite-resistant. We have cypress forest all over here, and cypress mulch is common. I don't believe it has the pest repelling properties of cedar, though. Cedar has a potent aroma. Cypress doesn't have much of a scent.
I sincerely wish you success in your pest and disease reduction using cedar mulch - It might be of great benefit in your micro-climate and seasonal rainfall patterns. Were I you, I'd keep an eye on soil PH the first year or two and adjust accordingly if required.
In my hot/dry and usually sunny garden - worms are critical, along with fungal and bacteriological ecosystems kept in balance and working in the root zone of my fruits and vegetables and herbs to create the available nutrients that along with irrigation and even a little shade (It's predicted that we have 5 more days of over 110 degree Fahrenheit temperatures after yesterday and today and today's high was 116 - I'm getting creative with a tiny budget and trying to assist the plants hunkered-down and locked into survival mode with some ready to give up the ghost as leaves and shoots crisp and die,
More mulch is in order in some spots but after the last wood-chips created a fungal dominant soil biome with pests new to me - I'm sticking with top dressing with finished or nearly finished compost for now. (and wondering about what cool season plants will fit and where and how long I'll have to wait to get seeds in the soil.
And hope I don't see another of these straight-line strong winds that have suddenly showed up around the beginning of November and just played havoc the past couple of years on the nearly ripe dank Sativa/Indica buds on the girls.
Cedar is useful for sure, though long term and on the cheap I’d rather just do the lasagna method, composting in place. That’s if you’re okay with edible groundcovers such as strawberries, creeping raspberry or purslane. Living mulch. Also in terms of endurance, aged/blanched pine needles last damn near forever if you have any around.
Living mulch won’t really work in your garden due to competition. That is probably fine for established fruit trees, but for most young trees and annuals, it’s good stuff. I am happy so far.
What are your thoughts about Cedar Mulch negatively affecting apple trees (apple cedar rust)? I have had to cut down three Cedar trees as they affected the Apple trees and the Quince bushes. I am not sure how the mulch would affect these plants.
I believe that's Red Cedar, which is a misnomer and actually a Juniper. Apparently, the Eastern Red Cedar colonizes and spreads cedar rust to apple trees. Is this the case for ground-up, decaying wood chips? I don't know. A living tree is able to colonize and spread disease. How harmful are the old, dead wood chips? I couldn't tell you. The safest thing would be to avoid cedar products for your apple trees. However, in the rest of your garden, it can be quite useful.
@@TheMillennialGardener that’s what I was thinking too. 😊 Thank you.
Btw.... Ty.
What about salt cedar?
I am in a dilemma. I just got a fig tree and I want to plant it in ground In a raised bed. I did watch your earlier video about preparing soil. You added blood meal to speed up the composing. It’s fall now so should I use blood meal and it plant now. Or Wait till a month before spring?
Fig trees are *highly* prone to dieback in areas that get frosts and freezes. Unless you live in Zone 9 and warmer where freezes are infrequent and not severe, I would wait. I live in Zone 8, and I only plant in the spring, because I want them to root strongly in the ground before we see any freezes. That way, if the trees die back, they'll grow back from the roots. If you plant in the fall and the tree gets killed back by a freeze, they may not come back.
Had to pull out mine due to my dog being allergic. Highly recommend people use it in containers before using it in large areas like I did. I had to wheelbarrow it all out
😥🐶
Does the cedar mulch leach the nitrogen from the soil like other mulch does?
Mulch doesn't really leach nitrogen from the soil if you lay the mulch on top. Nitrogen leaching occurs when you till the mulch into the soil. Don't mix the mulch into the soil, and you shouldn't' have a problem. It should be placed in a 2-4 inch thick layer on top of your soil.
Can't find that mulch anywhere anymore. Do you know where I can find it? The cedar mulch
Most big box stores have regional contracts, so it is going to vary all over the country. The best solution will be to check local big box stores and call around to local landscaping companies.
I have cedar mulch on the floor of my greenhouse. I mix it with pine mulch because it is a bit more costly. Cedar mixed with a cheaper wood will really help. Its also good for bedding for your animals.
Cedar is more expensive up front, but if it lasts much longer, it can save money in the long run. It hangs around for a long time compared to most wood mulches.
As an experiment I used only on my cucumber plants, they are stunted and hardly fruiting any cucumbers compared to my other veggies, which are thriving. They are not diseased or any bugs however.
I would estimate the problem is something else. Either it's too hot and the temperatures/conditions aren't agreeing with them, there is a nutrient/water imbalance, or they're being attacked by pests. Check the stems *very* closely. It's pickleworm season, and they eat the guts out of the stems. I'm using it on all my tomatoes, and they're going bonkers right now. My indeterminates have grown over a foot since I applied the mulch, and they've thickened up beautifully. So far, I'm very impressed.
I checked our local stores as well as amazon and could only find cedar BLEND mulch. Lowes has red cedar mulch. Are either of these what you meant? I didn't see any links below your video as to where to purchase it.
Red Cedar is technically Juniper, not true cedar. Red Cedar, so the legend goes, can spread cedar rust to apple trees and other plants susceptible to cedar rust, so keep that in mind. I don't know if wood chips from a dead tree can spread it like a living tree can, but it's worth mentioning. Some commentors have mentioned the fear. The mulches that Lowe's carries are regional, so what my Lowe's carries may be different than yours. I suggest calling around to local landscape supply yards since they usually have many options.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you so much. I will stay away from the red cedar. I don't want to take any chances.
What type of cedar trees is the mulch made from? Where I live something in the soil makes cedar like people make trellis out of which I think is red cedar rot very fast I mean extremely fast.
Red Cedar is not cedar, it is juniper.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you I didn't know that!
Have you ever thought about growing the loquat tree?
Yes, but I've put it off because you need two trees, they can get quite large, and the fruit is highly susceptible to frost damage. I'm growing out a few quince trees, because loquat and quince are compatible. My plan is to graft two loquat varieties onto a quince so I can have a multi-grafted dwarf tree. Quince rootstock heavily dwarfs loquat trees.
I used large cedar nuggets to mulch two years ago. I can’t see that any have broken down. Nothing is looking healthy in my yard so I want to add compost. I cannot clear mulch off and add compost and put the cedar mulch back. Too much work. I will add compost on top and mix in as I plant and see what happens.I’m in Charlotte NC zone 7b
Cedar resists decay. If you need to add more organic matter, I recommend blending cedar with a bark mulch, such as shredded hardwood bark mulch or mini-pine bark nuggets. If you mix them, you'll get the fast decay of the bark mulch with the pest repellent properties of cedar. Using only cedar if you have an issue with low organic matter isn't the best choice.
Does Cedar Mulch do anything to deter slugs?
I'm not sure, but it has a long list of pests it repels. It's certainly worth a shot.