Beware bark chippings!
Last month we planted a new hedge of variegated griselinia. We bough the plants online from Hedges Direct, and were very pleased with the quality and condition. The hedge seemed to settle in and be doing well, with plenty of rain.
About a week ago we put a mulch of bark chippings (Verve, from B&Q) around them to suppress weeds. The chippings seemed a bit damp and a little mouldy in parts, but when we had done, the hedge looked great. Then couple of days ago we gave it all a good watering with the hose, as it hasn't rained a lot.
Today we noticed that most of the young leaves on the new shoots had gone dark and soft. I rang Hedges Direct, who said that bark chippings can cause problems, as the wood may have been treated with various chemicals, which get absorbed by the plants.
So we have spent the whole afternoon doing as thye suggested: removing the bark, trimming back the damaged shoots, applying some bonemeal feed, and watering it well to flush through any bad stuff. We don't know if this will work. If we lose the hedge I'll be devastated.
Has anyone else had an experience like this? We have used bark chippings before, but probably not on young, newly planted shrubs. I will take the remaining bark back to the store and complain, but we have spent many hours applying and then removing it, with nothing to show for our efforts except a sickly hedge.
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are you sure the young growth hasn't just succumbed to chilly weather?
There has been no problem in similar temperatures for weeks now. And I think it is significant that some of the worst damage is on shoots that are low down on the plants and well shelltered by a fence; the most exposed top shoots have got off relatively lightly. The damage came straight after the watering, which also supports the "toxic mulch" theory, as this would be when the plants absorbed the toxins.
I have now found a couple of US websites discussing "toxic mulch" (google it). It seems to happen when mulch is badly stored, and these compacted packs of wood chippings are a particular risk when they are damp, as ours were.
Thanks, Verdun, we'll consider that. I have just checked four spare plants that the supplier sent, which we planted in a rather wild part of the garden, just in case any of the others didn't take. They are all fine, with no sign of similar damage, so the evidence is mounting.
I feel really sorry for you GM. Planting a hedge is quite a big undertaking. Have you got email correspondence from the plants supplier to quote to B&Q? Quite a warning for anyone buying bark chippings from B &Q.
That's a useful idea, Redwing. I don't think we'll get anything done until after the B Hol weekend, and perhaps we'll know by then how the hedge is doing. I'll.try tomorrow to get something in writing from the supplier.
We have watered the hedge again tonight, but I expect it may get worse before it gets better. I draped fleece over a couple of plants just to rule out frost damage, but we're in Devon, and these plants are suppose to tolerate between 5 and 10 degrees of frost. Even if it goes down to 2 tonight as predicted, the temperature shouldn't be a problem.
Keep in mind that bark isn't always very good for young new plants as it can deprive it of some nutrients from the ground soil ... Bark works well for established plants.
Maybe this thread should be called 'beware of over watering plants'.