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A Publication of EverGreen, the Tree Treasurers of Charlotte County PO Box 495091 Port Charlotte, FL 33949
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CYPRESS MULCH – NOT really the best!
Thousands of acres of cypress trees are logged every year just to produce mulch. You’ve seen the stacks for sale in grocery stores, department stores and home improvement stores.
This mulch is not obtained out of scraps and bits from trees used for other purposes. The mulch is made from trees destroyed just for mulch.
Some believe cypress makes the best mulch. That isn’t true.
The old growth cypress harvested decades ago had a reputation for being termite and rot resistant. But all these trees have been taken. The young cypresses harvested today do not carry those qualities and make a less than satisfactory mulch.
Nearly all Florida’s old growth cypress forests are gone. The trees do not rapidly re-grow.
Mulching with pine needles and oak leaves can be sufficient. However, if you prefer a comparable purchased mulch, you may want to consider mulch made from a noxious invasive tree. Perhaps the best alternative to cypress mulch is melaleuca mulch.
Melaleuca mulch is not only the sensible choice; it could be the superior choice.
The melaleuca – also known as paperbark - tree is an invasive non-native tree from Australia. * The state is trying to remove the harmful melaleuca trees. Making mulch out of the tree helps the state get rid of the melaleucas and, when you ask for the mulch, that stimulates the market for these alternative mulches, and helps the state save money.
Melaleuca mulch is extremely long lasting and termite resistant. MELALEUCA MULCH IS MARKETED AS “FLORIMULCH” or “ENVIROMULCH”. We do want to discourage the taking of the remaining last acres of south Florida’s bald cypress trees. Cypress forests protect wildlife and water resources. “Why Kill a Tree to Grow a Flower?” www.fnps.org/chapters/suncoast/mulch.pdf Australian pine bark mulch is available in some markets as well. *Melaleuca trees thrive on land or in water and they spread rapidly. Melaleuca was introduced to Florida in the early part of the last century as an ornamental and a possible source of lumber. Then, it was planted by the US government to drain the Everglades. It is pervasive now in all our southern Florida communities where there are several million acres of it. With no natural enemies in this part of the world, melaleuca thrives. Its impenetrable thickets force out all other vegetation and remove that habitat from Florida plants and animals. Its seedling distribution is enhanced by Florida’s natural fires. Further information: Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida: www.aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/melainv.html National Park Service, Department of the Interior: http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/mequ1.htm
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