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Cedar Mulch Information

When you have a garden or flowerbeds, you need to take care of it and prepare it for every season of the year, specially if you live in an area where the difference in temperature and weather between winter and summer is very extreme.
One of the most common methods of regulating soil temperature is by using mulch. A good type of mulch will minimize the difference in temperature between day and night, and between winter and summer. In this way, the stress that plants and flowers are subject to is reduced.

Manufacturers produce several types of mulch with different qualities. Some of them have very specific applications. When it comes to gardening, most people prefer to use organic mulch over non organic mulch. This is because organic mulch looks more natural and beautiful than non organic mulch. In addition, organic mulch breaks down and provides nutrients for the soil.

Among all the types of organic mulch, cedar mulch is one of the most common types of mulch used for gardening. Cedar mulch is also known as cedar bark mulch, and it is specially preferred for perennial flowerbeds.Cedar mulch is popular in part because of the decrease in popularity of cypress mulch. Cypress mulch is made out of trees that are cut for making mulch, while cedar mulch is made from leftovers in carpentries and from recycled cedar wood. This makes cedar wood a much more ecological choice.

Compared to other types of organic mulch, cedar mulch tends to last a long time beforebreaking down. This keeps the look of the mulch for longer and it reduces the frequency of replacement. This is one reason why people who don’t have much time to tend to their gardens and flower beds prefer cedar mulch.Also, cedar mulch has natural oils that repel a lot of bugs and insects, reducing the need of pesticides or manual bug control. Again, this reduces the time needed to take care of the garden or flowerbed.

In addition, cedar mulch makes a very good protection for roots during freezing temperatures. If it’s to be used for this purpose, it has to be applied after two or three days of constant freezing temperatures. Normally 4 or 5 inches are needed for winter. It is important not to apply it too early, as it can become a nest for rodents or other pests. After winter has passed, it’s important to pull it back from the plants so as not to suffocate them.Finally, you can use it in summer too for weed control. In this case, however, only 2.5 inches of cedar mulch should be applied, which is too small for rodents to make a home, but thick enough to block weed growth.

If you are staying in and around Minnesota, you would surely want to hear more on Carpenter Ants. Seems like these ants are everywhere in Minnesota! Quite needless to say, these are unnecessary additions in your homes, and need to be dealt away with rather quickly. That said, it will be great if you know a thing or two about them.

Normally, you will find carpenter ants in the size range of 3/8 inches to ½ inch. These ants are normally found black or reddish black in color, with the winged queen ants being the biggest of them all. The winged queen carpenter ants are as big as an inch! Yet, with these size characteristics, a lot of people confuse carpenter ants for winged termites.

Here is the difference explained

Termites have rather straight antennae, and slightly obese waists, whereas carpenter ants are symbolized by their narrow waists, darker bodies, and shorter back swings. These ants can also be found rather commonly in the open.

Carpenter Ants are known to be hard-workers. The fact that they travel up to 100 yards in search for food at times is enough proof of this. Indoors, you will find them feeding on protein and sugar. Outdoors, carpenter ants feed on pretty much any insect, living or dead. One thing you must know about carpenter ants is that they never eat wood. They remove wood pieces to make tunnels and galleries. Unfortunately, those tunnels may not be big enough for a SUV to pass through, but they are huge enough for an army of these carpenter ants to motor by.

Make sure all food items in your home are covered well. Keep them open and for sure, you would have an open invitation ready for carpenter ants. By now, you would already know that carpenter ants really love syrups, sugar, meats and other foodstuffs. Not only will they make a complete mess of your kitchen, but you will well be surprised in finding your foodstock coming down appreciably.

It is a point taken that these ants live pretty much in the open, but one of the best places you can find them is – a stock of decayed wood. This is where you will find carpenter ants jostling to make their own colony (Not that you would want to go there to see this).

Carpenter ants are a beautiful creation of this nature, at least by the way they inhabit, propagate, and multiply. At times though, they become nasty for our liking!!