Hello again,
I've searched and searched I guess theres no solid answer. I'm in
florida is mulch in the beds surrounding the house advisable or not?
(the house is entirely surrounded by a 3 foot bed) I'm redoing the
beds they have the riverrock, more expensive but no termites or
treatment ever that I know of by the previous owners so maybe I should
leave well enough alone and just replenish the rocks?

I like the looks of mulch better though and it is cheaper...so I'm
open to opinions.

Thanks,
shawn

Try mixing stones of differing sizes right through from 1/2 inch shingle to
6 inch pebbles/rocks. This will add interest and do the mulching job.
Treated wood mulch, ask the vendor if it has been, may affect valuable
insects.
In the old British cottage garden dense planting has been used to hold back
weeds and retain some moisture. Look around at the local wild flora, use
cultivated varieties and plant very thickly. This will survive local
conditions (if dry, wet, sea air etc.) and look good in the local
environment.
Neil


"shawn" wrote in message
om...
Hello again,
I've searched and searched I guess theres no solid answer. I'm in
florida is mulch in the beds surrounding the house advisable or not?
(the house is entirely surrounded by a 3 foot bed) I'm redoing the
beds they have the riverrock, more expensive but no termites or
treatment ever that I know of by the previous owners so maybe I should
leave well enough alone and just replenish the rocks?

I like the looks of mulch better though and it is cheaper...so I'm
open to opinions.

Thanks,
shawn

In article
,
says...
I'm redoing the
beds they have the riverrock, more expensive but no termites or
treatment ever that I know of by the previous owners so maybe I should
leave well enough alone and just replenish the rocks?



Just don't build the mulch up high on the foundation.
Try to keep at least 6 inches of the foundation clean
for easy view of tubes.
--

http://home.comcast.net/~larflu/oha1.jpg

Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!

shawn wrote:
Hello again,
I've searched and searched I guess theres no solid answer. I'm in
florida is mulch in the beds surrounding the house advisable or not?

Termites are prevalent in my area, and the local building code requires
18" of concrete between ground and wood siding. I have mulch pretty
much all around my house. So wood mulch around concrete is okay, as
long as you don't have siding within easy reach of the mulch.

Chelsea Christenson wrote in
:

shawn wrote:
Hello again,
I've searched and searched I guess theres no solid answer. I'm in
florida is mulch in the beds surrounding the house advisable or not?

Termites are prevalent in my area, and the local building code requires
18" of concrete between ground and wood siding. I have mulch pretty
much all around my house. So wood mulch around concrete is okay, as
long as you don't have siding within easy reach of the mulch.


yeah everything I run into assumes some type of siding material, my home
is concrete block with real stucco, you dont really have exposed
foundations like a traditional stick home.

The threat seems to be in florida subterrian which are attracted to
moisture...then danger of getting up through cracks etc, HOW any termite
treatment besides the original soil treatment when the house was built
would work with this is beyond my comprehension, I would dare to say I
dont believe it as chems sprayed on the stucco, gound cannot possibly
soak inches and inches down then under the slab.

When I read up on it it says termites are attacted to moisture which rock
& mulch both seemingly provide, its florida, everything is wet!
everything molds during the rainy season.

Anyways noone in the neighborhood has had a problem & considering the
previous owners didn't do anything around here for 10 years I think I'll
just go with a natural mulch instead of rock this time.

thanks,
shawn