Mulch Need
Brownstoners don’t fail me now…you’ve helped with everything else!! I am desperatley searching for cocoa shell mulch. I used it all of the time prior to my move here- but now i can’t find it. No I don’t have a dog and will only use it in a gated contained area- any ideas? I am…
Brownstoners don’t fail me now…you’ve helped with everything else!!
I am desperatley searching for cocoa shell mulch. I used it all of the time prior to my move here- but now i can’t find it. No I don’t have a dog and will only use it in a gated contained area- any ideas? I am willing to travel within reason….Kings does Not have it, nor lowes, nor Home Depot…any suggestions for annuals etc. would also be greatly appreciated
Theobromine (the “bad” ingredient of this mulch) is toxic to both cats and dogs. And cats wander when they are outdoors.
Our neighbour’s cat was found dead a couple of years ago. I didn’t have the heart to suggest it might have been the mulch they had just spread all over their property.
Dogs can taste sweet flavors, that is why they get poisoned with anti-freeze, too.
Think of something else… and light a chocolate candle if you want the nice aroma. That mulch is incredibly expensive and doesn’t last as long as the other stuff. And, the nice smell disappears pretty fast.
I get the black-dyed kind… it looks pretty nice.
I always wanted to use cocoa shell mulch because it has a nice, neat appearance and the small size makes it easy to dig it into the soil. So I bought 8 bags at Tarzian on 7th Ave in PS one year. HUGE MISTAKE! Had it stacked on the deck for 2 days. The smell sent all the squirrels in our backyard completely out of their minds. They ripped every bag to shreds. I cleaned up the mess and spread the mulch through my garden, worrying all the time about what might happen next. And indeed there was more carnage as the little buggers dug and scattered the mulch in a drug-induced frenzy, doing much damage to my plantings along the way. True story. Never again.
Btw, supply seems unpredictable but if you insist on using it, maybe ask a store to special order it for you.
Stew Leonards in Westchester is the closest I’ve found it so far. It was reasonably cheap, four bucks for 1 1/2 cubic feet.
I had a dog, who was a rescue and would eat just about anything. Walking him was always an adventure, he liked to lick the sidewalk in front of the local Chinese restaurant. He never ate the mulch.
I did find that while I like the look of cocoa mulch, it breaks down very quickly. In order to keep a decent mulch layer, I had to apply it three times in a season and ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the effort.
Chocolate is highly toxic to dogs. Pure cocoa, even worse. Many dogs have a taste for it. Don’t kow how much remains in shells, but for a small dog even small amounts of cocoa can be fatal.
I think the Bklyn Terminal Market carries it – phone Lapide.
I got some years ago at Hicks in Nassau County–it’s not too far away.
Rats!!! Yikes!!!! I never thought of that….I’ve not seen any but hmmmmmm…apparently just like chocolate if a dog decides to eat it there are health problems. I had a Chesapeake bay retriever when I first used it upstate and he ate it once- it must have been uncomfortable enough when he threw up that he never ate it again.
I’ll check out the chocolate factories- R Kelly? -the HD and Lowes people look at me with a blank stare when I ask….it will be worth a day trip if I can locate it.
Rats!!! Yikes!!!! I never thought of that….I’ve not seen any but hmmmmmm…apparently just like chocolate if a dog decides to eat it there are health problems. I had a Chesapeake bay retriever when I first used it upstate and he ate it once- it must have been uncomfortable enough when he threw up that he never ate it again.
I’ll check out the chocolate factories- R Kelly? -the HD and Lowes people look at me with a blank stare when I ask….it will be worth a day trip if I can locate it.
Hey, you mentioned not having a dog–is there some reason pooches and cocoa shell mulch is not a good mix?
(We saw some in Home Depot in northern CT last weekend, so maybe if you asked the Brooklyn Home Depot they could order it for you?)