In article , Dark Energy
wrote:

On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:52:07 -0700, Dark Energy wrote:
Hi - I changed the Subject line on this because original message might
be getting overlooked by those not following the "Decorative Bark"
thread.

So could I please get feedback from anyone who knows what
kind of tree the Home Depot bark comes from?

Tx

Dark Energy

On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:56:40 GMT, "zzznot" wrote:

I thought I'd spread some decorative bark on
the ground of the flower beds and between
some bushes, where the adobe soil otherwise
gets cracked and bare. It's supposed to
hold down weeds and retain moisture. So,
is there any downside to using it? Or, is
it just good organic matter anyway?

Thanks.

I've been buying bark -- some bags of small pieces, some larger,
depending on the area, from Home Depot (tfui, tfui).

****Anybody know what kind of tree their bark comes from? ****

My soil is So. Calif adobe, though much modified over the decades;
actually it's pretty good now. But still, acidic bark like from pine
trees would be beneficial (wouldn't it?).

I do put the pine needles that fall from the trees in front of my
house * in my compost for the acidic content.

* along with those horrible little seeds and the resin that
gunks up parked cars...

Dark Energy

Your highness, it is about time that you rose out of the darkness and
returned to the light.

You didn't happen to see the February "07 publication of Scientific
American, did you?

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=...invisible-hand

Mozel tov
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi, Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

On Mar 13, 1:56*pm, "zzznot" wrote:
I thought I'd spread some decorative bark on
the ground of the flower beds and between
some bushes, where the adobe soil otherwise
gets cracked and bare. *It's supposed to
hold down weeds and retain moisture. *So,
is there any downside to using it? *Or, is
it just good organic matter anyway?

Thanks.

J.

bark chips beat shredded wood, which can harbor artillery fungus,
which is reputed to be kind of a disaster if it gets hold of your
property.

In article , Dark Energy
wrote:

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:23:50 -0500, Jangchub
wrote:

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:58:35 -0700, Dark Energy wrote:

On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:41:54 -0500, Jangchub
wrote:

Most deco chips are from pine.

Thanks , J.C. g for (sensible, straightforward) reply.

In that case, it would work out great for me, no?

Any downside?

Dark Energy

I don't like deco bark for mulch. It doesn't add anything to the
structure of the soil. I prefer shredded mulch as it does break down
and can be taken down into the soil by macro biota and used by the
plants down the line. I replace my mulch every year...rather, not
replace, but refresh with new stuff. For my C. TX location I find
shredded Christmas trees (which are given freely by the city of
Austin) to be most beneficial. I pile it up for a few months and let
it decompose a little, turn it and keep it spongy and then apply it
after we get our spring rians.


You read the blast by another poster against using city mulch, aka
shredded wood?

Quoted below:
================

bark chips beat shredded wood, which can harbor artillery fungus,
which is reputed to be kind of a disaster if it gets hold of your
property.

Really, like what kind of fungus?

Duh, artillery fungus.
Artillery fungus, also called shotgun fungus or Sphaerobolus stellatus,
usually originates in wood-chip mulch that is used around shrubs,
flowers and other plants. Wet, rotting mulch breeds small mushrooms that
shoot off spores for distances of up to 20 feet. The spores, which are
sometimes mistaken for insect waste or bits of tar, cling tenaciously to
surfaces such as house siding.

Bark mulch appears to be more resistant to the fungus than wood-chip
mulch. Davis said pine-bark chunks seem to be the most resistant, and
cedar, redwood and cypress mulch also appear to be resistant. "Even
these mulches should be replaced every few years," said Don Davis,
professor of plant pathology at Pennsylvania State University's College
of Agricultural Sciences.

? Insurance. If your house is damaged by artillery fungus, check with
the agent handling your homeowners insurance. Most policies do not cover
damage from fungus or mildew, but some do.

? Power-washing. Once the fungus becomes attached to a surface, even
power-washing is not effective unless it is done within a few weeks of a
fungal outbreak.

? One power-washing expert said he was able to remove the fungus using
200-degree water, with water pressure of 3,000 pounds per square inch,
but this combination of hot water and high pressure can damage some
types of siding.

? Scraping. Artillery fungus can be removed from windows by scraping
with a razor blade. Scraping also can remove some of the black specks
from smooth siding, but several homeowners who tried this reported that
a brown residue remains and can't be removed. Scraping can gouge vinyl
and painted siding.

http://www.henryshousework.com/Artillery_Fungus.html

"I don't have a lot of hope for fungicides because it's hard to
determine when the mulch becomes infected, making the timing of the
application critical and difficult,"says Larry Kuhns, professor of
horticulture in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
"Preliminary results indicate that the fungus doesn't grow in
rot-resistant woods like redwood, cedar and cypress," he adds, stressing
that all results are very preliminary and experiments have not yet been
repeated to validate the findings.

Beth Brantley, graduate student in plant pathology, says the fungus
seems to grow on either wood chips or "double shredded" bark mulch--the
dark, organic-looking, thin-stranded mulch.

The fungus is found nearly everywhere in the United States, except for
dry areas like Arizona. It is a major problem in New Jersey, Ohio and
Pennsylvania because of the type of wood available, Brantley says, and
it is often confused with another fungus common to this region--the
bird's nest fungus. There is little genetic information available on the
artillery fungus, scientifically known as Sphaerobolus stellatus, but
the bird's nest fungus probably is a close relative. The study, which is
supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, will include
DNA analysis of the fungi, she says.

http://aginfo.psu.edu/news/july97/fungus.html

Lastly,
http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/d/d/ddd2/

============

Your reaction?

Dark Energy
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi, Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

In article ,
Jangchub wrote:

bark chips beat shredded wood, which can harbor artillery fungus,
which is reputed to be kind of a disaster if it gets hold of your
property.

Really, like what kind of fungus?

Artillery Fungus or Shotgun Fungus. They are in the genus Sphaerobolus.
These fungi colonize dung and other organic matter such as wood mulch.

It grows in shredded wood and ejects black tar-like spore cases called
peridioles like projectiles up to 18 feet and they stick to anything
they strike with what biologists call "natures super glue". The
peridioles are projected toward the light or light colored objects.
They are typically projected toward white objects like homes, cars, and
fences. If wood chips are used near a home, garage or fence, the
projectiles will stick to these nearby objects and are virtually
impossible to remove without damaging what they adhere to. It forms an
unsightly mess. The local landscapers put a top dressing of new wood
chips down every year. If they stop, the artillery fungus will take
over. Typically insurance companies don't cover the "mold" damage.

The best way to avoid these fungi is to either top off with new wood
chips every year or use bark mulch. Fungicides are not recommended.
--
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On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:04:26 -0400, Stephen Henning
wrote:

Artillery Fungus or Shotgun Fungus. They are in the genus Sphaerobolus.
These fungi colonize dung and other organic matter such as wood mulch.

Double-icky!

But bark is OK, and manure mixed in the earth is OK?

J.

In article , Jangchub
wrote:

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:27:51 -0700 (PDT), z
wrote:

On Mar 13, 1:56*pm, "zzznot" wrote:
I thought I'd spread some decorative bark on
the ground of the flower beds and between
some bushes, where the adobe soil otherwise
gets cracked and bare. *It's supposed to
hold down weeds and retain moisture. *So,
is there any downside to using it? *Or, is
it just good organic matter anyway?

Thanks.

J.

bark chips beat shredded wood, which can harbor artillery fungus,
which is reputed to be kind of a disaster if it gets hold of your
property.

Really, like what kind of fungus?

In my area this fungus likes the sorts of "garden" spots as occur on
parking lot islands and close to walls alongside city sidewalks.
Ultra-hardy broadleaf evergreen viburnums or strawberry bush get black
tarry spots all over them, "spit up" from the ground where wood mulch is
used and becomes rife with exploding spoors. It sometimes grows in tandem
with powdery mildew in these harsh locations, especially if there's
eunonymous, so the leaves look like they're coated with grey dust and
stippled with coal tar, especially the lower leaves but it'll spread up
and up.

It makes the shrubs look like hell and if you rub up against any of the
plants while waiting at a bus stop or hiding from the law, you'll get
yucky grimy gunk all over you.

Fortunately I've never seen it in any cared for location even with lots of
shredded bark, but if I ever do have to deal with it at any job, I will
put a layer of steer manure on top of the bark to encourage more rapid
decay creating superb topsoil. I regard "beauty bark" as a misnomer even
at its best and should be called "ugly bark." But well composted steer
manure also retards weeds while giving the APPEARANCE of being a rich
humousy soil. I just like that look better.

-paghat the ratgirl
--
visit my temperate gardening website:
http://www.paghat.com.html
visit my film reviews webiste:
http://www.weirdwildrealm.com

(paghat) wrote:

I regard "beauty bark" as a misnomer even
at its best and should be called "ugly bark." But well composted steer
manure also retards weeds while giving the APPEARANCE of being a rich
humousy soil. I just like that look better.

Then it should be called Decorative Manure or Beauty Manure.
--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Visit my Rhododendron and Azalea web pages at:
http://rhodyman.net/rahome.html
Also visit the Rhododendron and Azalea Bookstore at:
http://rhodyman.net/rabooks.html
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA Zone 6

In article , Stephen
Henning wrote:

(paghat) wrote:

I regard "beauty bark" as a misnomer even
at its best and should be called "ugly bark." But well composted steer
manure also retards weeds while giving the APPEARANCE of being a rich
humousy soil. I just like that look better.

Then it should be called Decorative Manure or Beauty Manure.

Beauty Poop.

-paggers
--
visit my temperate gardening website:
http://www.paghat.com.html
visit my film reviews webiste:
http://www.weirdwildrealm.com