Termites Hardwood Mulch

Signs of their activity.

Termites hardwood mulch.

Termites don t use mulch as a food source but they do take advantage of the moist warm environment that mulch creates. This is standard in most building codes to keep moisture from seeping into the wood. In conclusion chances of having an infestation of termites brought to your home from a wood chip load is very slim and unlikely. Learn more about subterranean termites.

There is some kind of myth that termites and other subterranean insects are attracted by hardwood mulch or bark but in fact insects like moisture coolness and darkness under the mulch. Well as we mentioned the termites nesting or foraging under the mulch are subterranean. Also make sure to leave 6 inches of foundation showing between the ground and your home s woodwork or siding. Provide a buffer zone.

The proper use of mulch however can play an important. Best methods of treatment and diy methods. Eastern subterranean termites and their tunnels and tubes with photo. No matter what kind of mulch you re applying leave a strip of bare dirt a foot or more wide between the mulch and your house foundation to help deter tunneling termites.

Cedar mulch can also deter cockroaches odorous house ants and other insects. And the thicker the mulch the more insects you re likely to find. Mulch typically dries out enough that it is not a conducive environment for termites to build a nest. Cypress mulch heartwood makes cypress a termite resistant mulch.

Be sure your cypress mulch doesn t contain sapwood. The issue is not termites being drawn to a property by the promise of a wood mulch that they can eat but rather termites that are already present in the soil exploiting the mulch as a hiding place using it as a launching pad to invade your house termites like moisture and all mulches provide that to some degree. Additionally termites that feed on mulch have a lower rate of survival when compared to a termite that feeds on solid wood. Cedar mulch resin from cedar heartwood is toxic to termites.

It also has anti fungal properties and a slow rate of decay. If you wonder for instance if hardwood mulch helps get rid of termites the truth is that no mulch directly rids the property of termites. The termite species that are likely to infest a mulched. Termites in mulch piles are possible only if the pile is constantly kept very moist.

How termites in hardwood bark mulch can be dangerous.