Can I use ground up tree stump as mulch?

Classified as eusocial insects, termites feast on the organic matter of which wood is made (cellulose). The short answer to this question is yes, tree stumps can attract termites. There are two specific types of termites that may be attracted to tree stumps: dampwood and subterranean.

A. You can absolutely use the bark chips for weed control in pathways and other non-veggie, far-away-from-stainable-surface areas, and you can mix the sawdust right in with them. But don’t use fresh wood of any kind—especially sawdust, with its small particle size—as a mulch anywhere near WANTED plants.

They can be found in similar numbers beneath bark, wood, gravel, and rubber mulch, though fresh wood chips may have the added attraction of providing a food source. As with other insects, the mulch doesn’t cause termites to multiply, it just offers a conductive environment for the ones that are already in the area.

How to Choose Mulch for Your Landscape

Cocoa Mulch. Chopped cocoa bean hulls add a rich dark color to landscapes — along with an exquisite, chocolatey smell that lasts two to three weeks.

Straw. A favorite among vegetable gardeners, straw is the stalk of grain plants.

Grass Clippings.

Chopped Leaves.

Compost.

Mushroom Compost.

Fresh Wood Chips.

Pine Straw.

Red mulch typically decomposes more quickly than other natural bark mulch, because it’s often made from recycled wood chips. Brown mulch is a nice touch to any lawn and garden, and its natural color makes both light and darker-colored plants appear vibrant when paired together.

Cedar chips repel, kill or can inhibit insects such as termites, cockroaches, cloth-eating moths, carpet beetles and certain ants, such as ordorous and Argentine. Spread cedar or cypress mulch around your garden or landscape plants to keep insects away.

Cypress heartwood has been rated as termite-resistant, with one study showing that extracts from this wood actually repel termites. Similarly, if you lay cedar mulch, termites won’t be very happy. Organic, wood-based mulches aren’t going to provide termites with a source for heavy feeding.

The oil only needs to come into contact with the pests for it to be effective, the bugs do not have to ingest it. Effective not only on mosquitoes, cedar oil repels ticks and many other insects. It has also been proven an effective treatment against roaches, termites and those cloth-eating moths.

The Internet is rife with testimonials extolling the olfactory power of fabric softener sheets to keep mice out of the house. Reality: “Some smells repel mice for a short period of time, like cigarette smoke and certain colognes,” says Ron Harrison of Orkin Pest Control in Atlanta. “But mice are extremely curious.

Spiders are arachnids, meaning they have a different physiology than insects, and many repellents and insecticides will not work on spiders, unless you spray the spider liberally and directly. Some people use the wood or oil of cedar (Cedrus) in the home to repel spiders because cedar does repel certain insects.

Spiders aren’t attracted to the light, but many of the insects they feast on are. Dark coloured siding is less attractive to the bugs which spiders feast on than white siding. Spray your house down with peppermint, tea-tree, citrus or eucalyptus oil. Spiders supposedly hate the smell.

Use Essential Oils. Spiders find certain fragrances repulsive. So, spraying your sheets with few drops of mint, orange, lavender, or lemon essential oil (or all of them) diluted in water will surely help to keep them away from your bed. You can use a spray bottle for easier application.

Also, spiders will almost never end up in your mouth. If you sleep with your mouth open, chances are, you’re snoring. If a spider did happen to crawl over you at night, more than likely the passage will be uneventful. Most spiders do not bite if not provoked, and they’re certainly aren’t out for human blood.

Just like cinnamon, peppermint or the citrus peels, spiders hate the smell of vinegar as well – combine it with a bit of water and spray it around the corners of your home.

There are certain natural oils they hate, including citrus, lavender, peppermint, citronella, cinnamon, tea tree and cloves. This natural spider deterrent does wonders to combat an arachnid invasion, and with repeated use will help repel spiders year round: Reapply the spray once a week during peak “spider seasons.”

Here are some essential oils that work great to repel spiders:

Tea tree.

Rose.

Cinnamon.

Citrus.

Peppermint.

Citronella.

Lavender.

Eucalyptus.

Eucalyptus, tea-tree or even peppermint oils might keep the spiders out. While some might enjoy the smell, the spiders do not. Spray around windows and doors. With an infinite amount of uses around the house, one of them had to be deterring spiders.

List of pest-repelling plantsPlantPestsoreganorepellent to many pestsparsleyrepels asparagus beetlespeppermintrepels aphids, cabbage looper, flea beetles, squash bugs, whiteflies, and the Small Whitepetuniasrepel aphids, tomato hornworm, asparagus beetles, leafhoppers, and squash bugs