'interesting' story not true

[heromant]

Hi All....
Just learned that the mulch story is not true.... the termites chewed holes right thru this one.... :-)

Termite-infested mulch rumors are false Don't be surprised if anxious customers begin asking if the mulch you sell is infested with termites. An e-mail rumor peaked last week that mulch made from trees blown over by Hurricane Katrina is infested with Formosan termites and is being sold to the public, primarily through Home Depot. Louisiana State Univ. rebutted the rumor, releasing a statement that the affected area, although infested with Formosan termites, is under quarantine, and no untreated wood
products harvested from Katrina would be on the market legally. Web site Snopes.com originally had the rumor listed as "undetermined," which increased consumer fears. Bob LaGasse, exec. dir. of Mulch & Soil Council, contacted Snopes.com last Friday with up-to-the-minute information on the mulch, and the Web site updated
the rumor from "undetermined" to "false."

 

[mastermesh]

That having been said - know this, MULCH IS TERMITE HEAVEN! We recently moved in to a place that has a really big, nice flower garden in the front and side yards. Both have wood mulch and termites. The termite inspecter gave us a 2 year guarantee that the inside of the house will be ok, but out there there's a lot of termites. Apparntly having mulch flower gardens, especially ones that have treated wood or rr ties around them are termite heaven. They love it. The termite guy said that we should NOT remove the mulch because as long as they have feeding grounds out there they won't go looking for other food like our house. Luckily, most of the house is brick on the exterior, so we don't have too many worries, but if we had wooden exterier we would be in major trouble. So, next time you decide to start a flower garden, think twice about what you are putting in there...


Also, don't believe them when they say treated wood will stop the termites. Treated wood is usually just treated on the outside by being dipped. Termites will find a way through the exterior and have a nice place to live deep down inside the middle of the wood.