Most commonly, it is used for water retention, weed inhibition, soil insulation.

When spreading mulch, care must be taken to keep the mulch from touching the base of the cedar hedge.

At least a 3-inch mulch-free zone around the base of each shrub. Overmulching wastes mulch (and money) and actually damages trees, reducing their life expectancy. Thick mulch smoothers tree roots by cutting off their oxygen supply. Spread up against the tree’s trunk, organic material generates heat as it decomposes which kills bark tissue. The moist conditions it fosters causes the bark on the trunk to rot. Saving on watering costs is always a main benefit of mulching with cedar chips, but these wood chips also encourage earthworm activity.

As earthworms move through the soil beneath the tree, the. Make sure the mulch is at least 5 inches away from the trunk of the tree and no more than 2 to 4 inches deep. Spread the mulch around the tree into the surrounding landscape as wide as you like, tapering out to the ground level at the edge petes tree removal minnesota the ring. Use fresh natural mulch such as wood chips or bark shrubmulching.barted Reading Time: 2 mins.

May 22, There seems to be a lot of disagreement about whether cedar needles are a good mulch. Lots of people, including some on these forums, recommend it, but others, including this BC composting fact sheet say"Cedar leaves are known to prevent the germination and growth of plants around them.

And although much of this inability of plants to grow under cedar comes from the lack of light available under these massive trees, cedar leaves should not be used as mulch.".