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Too-Soon-to-Mulch-THUMB.jpg

Too Soon to Mulch?

With all this great spring weather my beds are cleaned, my topsoil spread, and I have 100 bags of this year's cocoa bean hulls to put down. I know we should wait to give the sun a chance to work on the soil. Is NOW - late April - too early to put down my mulch?

The early spring has had all of us itching to get busy in our landscape. Placing your cocoa bean mulch around existing plants is no problem. If you mulch the soil prior to planting warm season annuals (geraniums, impatiens, tuberous begonias…) you can slow their root development, growth and blooming.

I really like coca bean shell mulch but always like to warn gardeners that it has been found toxic to dogs. So if you are a dog owner you may want to consider an alternative.

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