I broke open a bag of “chocolate” right after breakfast this morning.
Not bon bons. Mulch. View image
Cocoa shell mulch polarizes gardeners the way Hillary divides voters.
Weed haters love it; animal lovers hate it.
It’s made from the shells of roasted cocoa beans used in the chocolate-making process.
I’m in the pro-cocoa shell mulch camp. My olfactory senses (a.k.a. the schnoz) are greeted by pleasing aromas of chocolate blended with a hint of lilac as I step out my front door these days.
There’s no fudging the facts (I couldn’t resist) about the benefits of cocoa shell mulch:
100% natural, all organic
No dyes
Prevents weed germination
Conserves soil moisture
Improves soil texture
Deters insects (slugs hate it!)
Keeps its looks for a few seasons
Lightweight and easy to spread
Cocoa shell mulch adds organic matter and nutrients to the soil as it breaks down, unlike manufactured mulches that actually rob the soil of nutrients. It contains nitrogen, phosphate and potash.
The stuff is even environmentally PC: it’s recycled! For example, Hershey Foods in central PA generates more than 10,000 tons of the stuff annually making chocolate goodies, that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
Bottomline: cocoa shell mulch looks good and smells great. Kinda like the perfect date!
Dog owners will growl (I couldn’t resist that either) if I don’t mention the potential health hazard for pets.
You see, like all chocolate products, cocoa shell mulch contains theobromine, a naturally occurring stimulant. No problem for humans; but toxic for animals, especially dogs.
According to veterinary research a 20 pound dog would need to ingest 2/3 of a gallon of cocoa shell mulch to be adversely affected.
Dogs are more affected than cats. Mainly because dogs are indiscriminate snackers, while cats are finicky gourmets.
Best not to spread cocoa shell mulch around your roses if Rover has a habit of gulping down everything in sight.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I don’t have pets.
So keep your mutt out of my mulch!
;-)
Comments (1)
I bought the cocoa shell mulch for my vegetable garden thinking it would be really great. However, I found that after a few weeks I had hoards of tiny ants around my plants. On further inspection, poking around under the mulch, I found that I had hoards of tiny maggots(at least, that is what they looked like) and other tiny insects along with the ants. So, I removed all the mulch from my garden and replace it with something else. I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem also.
Posted by Sue Hudson | June 20, 2008 2:02 PM
Posted on June 20, 2008 14:02