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In agriculture, gardening, and landscaping, barkdust (also bark dust, bark chips, bark mulch, beauty bark, tanbark, or simply bark) is a form of mulch produced out of chipped or shredded tree bark. Coarser forms of barkdust may be known as bark nuggets. Trees typically used in the production of barkdust include the Douglas fir and the Western hemlock.
Barkdust is commonly produced from several tree species. The Douglas fir and the Western hemlock are the most common sources of barkdust, with cedar bark also being used. Barkdust may be a byproduct of lumber production, of yard debris recycling processes, or it may be produced in its own right. Barkdust is typically categorized by the source plant, as well as by the coarseness of the resulting material. Fine barkdusts are used as mulch, with coarser forms being used for weed control, as a playground surface, or for decorative purposes.[ citation needed ]
According to voluntary guidelines published by the Mulch and Soil Council, a trade group of mulch and soil producers, a material with "bark" in the name should consist of "the corky exterior covering of trees, with a maximum wood content (interior xylem of 15%)". Products with greater than 15% wood content may be labelled as "wood mulch", but should not be called "bark", according to the group's guidelines. [1]
Fresh fir bark is reddish-brown in color. The bark from cedar or hemlock is more tan in color, as the processes which produce these types of barkdust may leave a greater percentage of wood (as opposed to bark) in the resulting material. Shredded Douglas fir bark is known for its many slivers, those who handle it with bare hands or walk on it with bare feet are likely to get splinters. Bark produced from hemlock or cedar is far less likely to produce splinters, and is commonly used as a covering for children's play areas.[ citation needed ]
Like many other types of mulch, barkdust is used in gardening and landscaping for its properties in affecting soil pH, in regulating the temperature of the underlying soil, and preventing water loss and erosion.[ citation needed ]
Barkdust increases soil acidity, [2] and the decomposition of barkdust consumes nitrogen, especially when fine bark mulch is mixed in with soil; coarser barkdust laid on top of soil will extract nitrogen at a much slower rate. Barkdust is also effective at absorbing water and preventing water loss due to evaporation.[ citation needed ]
Barkdust is commonly used in landscaping around trees or shrubs. It is especially common in the Pacific Northwest where the tree species used to produce it are native. Barkdust is valued for its effectiveness at suppressing weeds; tree bark contains natural herbicides.[ citation needed ] In addition, many consider barkdust to be visually appealing.[ citation needed ]
As barkdust is less dense than other types of soil or mulch, and doesn't compress a great deal, it is often considerably softer than bare earth. As a result, it also finds applications as a playground surface. For playground applications, hemlock or cedar bark is most commonly used, as fir bark frequently produces splinters when handled by or trod upon with bare skin.[ citation needed ]
Barkdust is typically sold by the unit, with one unit of barkdust being equal to 200 cubic feet (7.41 cubic yards, or 5.66 m3); such large quantities of barkdust are typically delivered by truck to a jobsite. Barkdust is often spread with a bark blower, a machine consisting of a supply of barkdust, a blower, and a long flexible tube which "sprays" the barkdust over the intended area. Use of a bark blower often results in a more consistent application of barkdust than spreading it by hand, as well as being much faster.[ citation needed ]
Smaller quantities of barkdust, typically 2 to 3 cubic feet (0.057 to 0.085 m3) are sold prepackaged in home improvement and gardening retailers.[ citation needed ]
For landscaping applications, a layer of 2 to 3 inches (5.1 to 7.6 cm) is generally recommended. For use in playgrounds, a 12-inch (30 cm) layer is often recommended.[ citation needed ]
The Douglas fir is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three varieties: coast Douglas-fir, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir and Mexican Douglas-fir.
Bark is the outermost layer of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines, and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner bark, which in older stems is living tissue, includes the innermost layer of the periderm. The outer bark on older stems includes the dead tissue on the surface of the stems, along with parts of the outermost periderm and all the tissues on the outer side of the periderm. The outer bark on trees which lies external to the living periderm is also called the rhytidome.
Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows over an area of ground. Groundcover provides protection of the topsoil from erosion and drought.
Arboriculture is the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants. The science of arboriculture studies how these plants grow and respond to cultural practices and to their environment. The practice of arboriculture includes cultural techniques such as selection, planting, training, fertilization, pest and pathogen control, pruning, shaping, and removal.
A mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of soil. Reasons for applying mulch include conservation of soil moisture, improving fertility and health of the soil, reducing weed growth, and enhancing the visual appeal of the area.
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, known as Port Orford cedar or Lawson cypress, is a species of conifer in the genus Chamaecyparis, family Cupressaceae. It is native to Oregon and northwestern California, and grows from sea level up to 4,900 feet (1,500 m) in the valleys of the Klamath Mountains, often along streams.
Thuja plicata is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the family Cupressaceae, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. Its common name is western redcedar in the U.S. or western red cedar in the UK, and it is also called pacific red cedar, giant arborvitae, western arborvitae, just cedar, giant cedar, or shinglewood. It is not a true cedar of the genus Cedrus. T. plicata is the largest species in the genus Thuja, growing up to 70 metres (230 ft) tall and 7 m (23 ft) in diameter. It mostly grows in areas that experience a mild climate with plentiful rainfall, although it is sometimes present in drier areas on sites where water is available year-round, such as wet valley bottoms and mountain streamsides. The species is shade-tolerant and able to establish in forest understories and is thus considered a climax species. It is a very long-lived tree, with some specimens reaching ages of well over 1,000 years.
Tsuga heterophylla, the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma County, California. The Latin species name means 'variable leaves'.
Tsuga mertensiana, known as mountain hemlock, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, found between Southcentral Alaska and south-central California.
This is an alphabetical index of articles related to gardening.
Rubber mulch is a type of mulch used in gardening and landscaping that is made from recycled rubber, most often crumb rubber sourced from waste tires.
Management of Pacific Northwest riparian forests is necessary because many of these forests have been dramatically changed from their original makeup. The primary interest in riparian forest and aquatic ecosystems under the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) is the need to restore stream habitat for fish populations, particularly anadromous salmonids. Some of these forests have been grazed by cattle or other livestock. The heavy hooves of these animals compact the soil. This compaction does not allow the water to be absorbed into the ground, so the water runs off into the stream carrying topsoil along the way.
Tanbark is the bark of certain species of trees, traditionally used for tanning hides into leather.
Woodchips are small- to medium-sized pieces of wood formed by cutting or chipping larger pieces of wood such as trees, branches, logging residues, stumps, roots, and wood waste.
Laminated root rot also known as yellow ring rot is caused by the fungal pathogen Phellinus weirii. Laminated root rot is one of the most damaging root disease amongst conifers in northwestern America and true firs, Douglas fir, Mountain hemlock, and Western hemlock are highly susceptible to infection with P. weirii. A few species of plants such as Western white pine and Lodgepole pine are tolerant to the pathogen while Ponderosa pine is resistant to it. Only hardwoods are known to be immune to the pathogen.
The biogeoclimatic zones of British Columbia are units of a classification system used by the British Columbia Ministry of Forests for the Canadian province's fourteen different broad, climatic ecosystems. The classification system, termed Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification, exists independently of other ecoregion systems, one created by the World Wildlife Fund and the other in use by Environment Canada, which is based on one created by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) and also in use by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The system of biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification was partly created for the purpose of managing forestry resources, but is also in use by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy and other provincial agencies. A biogeoclimatic zone is defined as "a geographic area having similar patterns of energy flow, vegetation and soils as a result of a broadly homogenous macroclimate."
The Ecology of the North Cascades is heavily influenced by the high elevation and rain shadow effects of the mountain range. The North Cascades is a section of the Cascade Range from the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River in Washington, United States, to the confluence of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers in British Columbia, Canada, where the range is officially called the Cascade Mountains but is usually referred to as the Canadian Cascades. The North Cascades Ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion in the Commission for Environmental Cooperation's classification system.
Sustainable landscaping is a modern type of gardening or landscaping that takes the environmental issue of sustainability into account. According to Loehrlein in 2009 this includes design, construction and management of residential and commercial gardens and incorporates organic lawn management and organic gardening techniques.
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii, commonly known as Coast Douglas-fir, Pacific Douglas-fir, Oregon pine, or Douglas spruce, is an evergreen conifer native to western North America from west-central British Columbia, Canada southward to central California, United States. In Oregon and Washington its range is continuous from the Cascades crest west to the Pacific Coast Ranges and Pacific Ocean. In California, it is found in the Klamath and California Coast Ranges as far south as the Santa Lucia Mountains with a small stand as far south as the Purisima Hills, Santa Barbara County. In the Sierra Nevada it ranges as far south as the Yosemite region. It occurs from near sea level along the coast to 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) in the California Mountains. Further inland, coast Douglas-fir is replaced by Rocky Mountain or interior Douglas-fir. Interior Douglas-fir intergrades with coast Douglas-fir in the Cascades of northern Washington and southern British Columbia.
Forestry mulching is a land clearing method that uses a single machine to cut, grind, and clear vegetation.
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