Whats the best mulch for around my foundation? I had springtails bad in my wood chips but they’re mostly gone now thanks to your Maxxthor granules and spray. Now I’m thinking maybe I should change to rocks or rubber wood chips? whats the best option?
We get asked about mulch all the time. Let me list the options, their risk and then the suggested treatment schedule for each. Remember too that no matter which you choose to use, ALWAYS KEEP AT LEAST 6″ OF SPACE BETWEEN THE MULCH AND THE BOTTOM ROW OF YOUR HOMES SIDING!
Failure to have a good 6″ space will allow all kinds of pests to migrate up from the ground and then under the homes siding without ever being seen. This is like feeding your home via an “IV” tube nothing but bugs! They’ll be able to move to and from both areas seamlessly, undetected, and in turn likely infest both areas with equal success. Having at least 6″ of nothing but foundation will allow you to dramatically reduce the likelihood of pests migrating under the home’s siding unobstructed and why many states now include this requirement in their building codes.
But first, if you ever bring mulch into your yard – even for islands far away from your home’s foundation – plan on treating it within a day or two of being installed. Any mulch you have delivered to your home should be assumed to have pests! More on this can be learned about in our short video here:
So first, lets assume you have nothing but dirt around your foundation and that it comes out 3-4 feet before your grass. This would be easy to treat and maintain. Granules would release chemical down into the soil and the spray would penetrate enough to keep all pests easily controlled. But its not visually appealing and why its not common. Not to mention it will “splash” up dirt when it rains or release dust when dry making the home dirty. This is why leaving it as just dirt is not commonly seen. That said, treatments would last up to 2 months and so this is the easiest option to maintain for insect control.
The next option is grass. Keeping grass up to the foundation is a bit more risky. It will have a thick matte base and because its a plant, insects will want to eat it or nest on it. Grass looks better than dirt but will be more likely to harbor pests. Expect to treat grass at least once a month to keep it pest free.
The next option is a material that won’t degrade. Something like rocks, pebbles or rubber pieces that look like wood. These aren’t bad; they can look decent BUT they will harbor pests on their bottom side. Mold, algae and fungus will grow in the bottom layers so plan on treating them at least monthly.
The next option would be anything natural that bio degrades like Pine Straw or Wood Chips. These are the most common in use BUT because they will break down naturally, they create heat and food insects love. This will both attract and support many pests so using either means extra treatments. Once a month may be enough but if its thick – more than 2″ – you’ll need to treat twice a month to keep it properly protected through and through.
The last option is something like a weed barrier or cement. Both of these will put in place a type of “obstruction” that makes it hard for the treatments to penetrate where they need to be. The cement won’t let anything pass through and if you have a patio slab or walkway adjacent to the homes foundation, you may need to drill and treat it as our HOW TO TREAT UNDER CEMENT post details.
Weed barriers aren’t much better. They create an environment insects love to exploit and if you have one buried around your foundation, plan on liquid treating twice a month from spring through fall.
So in summary, nothing but plain old dirt is the least risky and will require the least amount of work. Grass and solid material like rocks or rubber may be more visually appealing but will still require monthly treatments. And the worse option is anything natural like pine straw or wood chips. They are constantly degrading and this will create insect food leading to insects wanting to live in it.
What’s most important about all of these is that PESTS CAN LIVE UNDER ANY OF THEM! In other words, there is NO “MAGICAL” MULCH OPTION THAT WILL ALWAYS BE INSECT FREE! So regardless of what you choose to keep around your home’s foundation, you should treat it from spring to fall if not all year long to insure pests don’t move in and call it home.
And the best options for to keep it pest free are still the MAXXTHOR GRANULES and MAXXTHOR SPRAY.
Mike B says
It’s almost like you read our minds. We recently just pulled away all of our mulch and treated the grounds with your products because we were getting inundated with Springtails and losing our patience. We noticed an immediate improvement with the removal, of course, and are hoping Maxxthor will keep the grounds free from them going forward. We are still considering rocks or something else though, as just plain dirt, is, as you said, not very visually appealing.
Thank you for the information, especially your detailed article on Springtails!
Tech Support says
Mike B.,
Of course you are most welcome! And for sure, the choice of what to use for mulch can be confusing but hopefully the info above will provide some guidance. In the end, reducing what they naturally like to exploit will help but rarely will any area be pest free unless you’re doing some outside treatments. And if you follow our treatment schedule with the products we advise to use, you’ll be able to keep whatever you want as mulch and not have to worry about pests!
Tech Support
TJ says
Hi there,
We’ve been having great success with the granules and spray but I’m wondering if we are fighting a losing battle because we have a classic Austin look around our house: stone pebbles with a “weed barrier” underneath. Do you think the granules and spray are penetrating beneath that barrier enough?
Thank you!
Tech Support says
TJ,
If you’re using our Maxxthor granules, you will get the deepest penetration possible from any granule we’ve tested. Typically granules penetrate a few inches per month given normal rain fall. But Maxxthor will go 5-6 inches if not more in the same period which is plenty deep. Over rocks or pebbles, it will quickly disperse around them when it reaches the weed barrier and then percolate through it. Furthermore, Maxxthor EC used with Boost will get you and extra 2-3 times the normal penetration so you should be good. The Thor brand is unique in that it builds formulations with active ingredients that are super small compared to other brands. This is why their concentrates perform better; the smaller particles of active can penetrate soil, cracks, crevices better compared to competitive brands giving it the edge in performance.
Moving forward, you should be good as long as you stay the course and keep renewing treatments. Weed barriers were designed to slow or stop weeds but they are porous and the Maxxthor actives will pass through it no problem. This means anything trying to live under it will be subject to the full impact of the treatment. In other words, the rocks and the weed barrier present no challenge Maxxthor can’t handle so if you’d like to keep your current setup, there is no reason to make a change.
Tech Support