How Is Landscaping Mulch Colored?
Dyed mulch is becoming a popular choice in home and commercial landscapes because it retains its color and appearance longer than untreated mulches. Natural wood mulches lose their color over time, resulting in a dingy gray color. In addition, dyed mulch can be used to match specific landscape color needs. It opens the possibility of using a wider assortment of woods for making mulch, since each one can be dyed to match a certain color. Does this Spark an idea?
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Materials
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Dyed mulch is often made from an assortment of recycled lumber. Wood pallets and wood from demolished buildings or construction projects are most commonly used. These dry, lightweight woods are often mixed with heavier, freshly cut green wood such as pine.
Dye for mulches is made from a mixture of water and iron oxide pigments. These pigments are safe for human handling as well as pets or wild animals. Dyed mulch is generally colored black, brown or red to mimic the natural pigments of untreated wood. Each color is manufactured following the same general process.
Cost
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Dyed mulch is more expensive than regular mulch---by as much as 40%. However, the color will last a year and sometimes longer, depending on sun exposure. Untreated mulch will lose its color in a few weeks or months. For this reason, some consumers consider the dyed mulch a better value than regular mulch.
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Environment
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Colored mulch is considered an environmentally friendly alternative to regular mulch. Because it uses recycled lumber that would not be good for other projects, it saves waste wood from ending up in landfills. This also reduces the amount of fresh-cut lumber used, which means fewer trees cut to produce mulch.
Process
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Special machines have been developed for coloring mulches. The mulch passes through the machine on a conveyor belt. As it does so, it is sprayed with the specially formulated dye. Mulch requires only one pass through the machine to be properly colored.
Handling
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Dyed mulch should be handled differently than regular mulch. The dye can bleed off of the mulch, staining skin and clothing. For this reason, extra precautions should be taken when applying to the mulch to landscaping. Gloves and old clothes should be worn to prevent the chemicals from coming into contact with skin. After the mulch has been applied and exposed to the sun for a few days, it should remain colorfast.
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References
- Photo Credit pine bark mulch image by robert mobley from Fotolia.com
