For those who love their gardens, now is the time to be looking for fairies, gnomes and dancing spirits.
Last weekend’s balmy, sunny weather signaled the beginning of garden shopping frenzy. It is our equivalent of opening day at the ballpark.
But before gardeners can hop on the planting party train, they need to prepare their flower beds. For most of us, that means edging and the laying of new mulch.
But at what cost for homeowners and the earth? It’s worth considering given that today is the 46th anniversary of Earth Day. Already organizers are looking ahead to the 50th anniversary with very ambitious plans, including the planting of 7.8 billion trees around the world — one for each person on Earth.
The question is how many trees that are destroyed make mulch for other trees and flower beds?
Todd Jacobson, Morton Arboretum’s head of horticulture, couldn’t answer.
“It’s really impossible to know the source of the mulch, let alone the reason why the trees used to make it were cut down in the first place,” he said.
No one at the Arbor Day Foundation knew the answer either.
But there are some options that may be better choices if you are considering the environment.
Warrenville author, gardener and wellness lifestyle advocate Shawna Coronado shared on her website that while there are dozens of different choices for mulches, she prefers renewable wood and green choices and avoids cypress mulch.
“Every year thousands of acres of cypress swamp trees are being harvested for mulch, but because cypress is difficult to grow from seed, replacement of harvested trees with cultivated ones does not consistently occur,” she said. “Nonnative plants often invade where the cypresses grew, forcing native wildlife to move on to other locations.”
Read the label, Coronado said, before you buy.
The mulch we bought, for example, was created from “shredded logs, branches, leaves and clean, untreated wood products,” our supplier said.
Four of the six townships that overlap Naperville provide residents with free mulch. All the mulch from the townships is generated through tree trimming by road crews and brush-recycling programs.
Many of us choose to add mulch every year, mostly because of how nice it looks and smells. It also does a great job of eliminating hours spent weeding each summer.
However, Jacobson said, residents may not need to add a new layer every year.
Mulch should be about 3 inches deep, and some years, he said, cultivating the mulch is all that may be needed.
There are different ways to grind the mulch, but finer mulch breaks down more quickly and enriches the soil, Jacobson said. And consider staying away from dyed mulch, as one never knows what chemicals were used to produce the color in the first place, he added.
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He also recommended staying away from inorganic mulches, such as ground tires. “They provide no organic matter for the plants as rubber doesn’t decompose,” he said.
Through Waste Management, the city of Naperville has started a new yard-waste program for residents who have lots of yard waste or are interested in recycling food scraps. Residents can rent a 64-gallon or 96-gallon yard-waste can for an annual fee and avoid the large paper bags and stickers.
According to city spokeswoman Linda L. LaCloche, the cart’s accumulation is taken to Waste Management’s compost facility in Romeoville. Garick LLC turns it into organic mulch and ships it to stores, including some here in Naperville.
That’s the kind of thing any garden fairy would dance to.
Cathy Janek is a freelance writer who lives in Naperville.
Twitter @CathyJanek