UPDATED 8/17/2020
With all of the options for beautiful landscaping in the Portland Vancouver area, it can be hard to choose the best one for your home. Properly manicuring the landscaping has been proven to help increase a home’s resale value. You benefit from both the enhanced curb appeal and by having a more comfortable feeling while inside the home looking out on your precious domain. To help streamline their landscaping, many homeowners have turned to bark dust. We will take a look at what bark dust is and how to bark dust blowing can benefit the landscaping of your home.
What Is Bark Dust?
Bark dust is finely chopped chips of bark. Contrary to the name, it isn’t “dusty” in the traditional sense. It is comprised of cedar chips, fir and hemlock chips, as well as other wood chips. Cedar chips have worked well for a variety of applications around the exterior of the home, and the same can be said of the other varieties. Homeowners often choose cedar chips over fir or hemlock chips because they like how they look and smell. The look and smell of bark dust, regardless of the variety, is a major draw. The natural aroma of the woods and the easy-to-complement hues of groundwood make bark dust a great option in the upper northwest.
Bark dust is applied using bark blowers. A bark blower ejects the bits of bark in the target area, eliminating much of the spreading and sweeping that would be necessary for less-specific applications. Landscape improvement involves not just making something look good but doing so in a way that doesn’t put the homeowner at risk for injuries. Bark blowing services are therefore a good option, regardless of your fitness level, for applying a landscaping material like bark chips.
Save Time
Each minute is important, and even when you’re working in the yard, you can treat it as such. People are known to feel stress due to the fact that they can’t do what they have to do in time. On the other hand, working out in your yard is a nice way to de-stress. Gain valuable time by hiring a bark dust company. Having the option to save time, especially when you need to get your lawn or garden just right can really boost your weekend. Each minute is crucial, so hiring a bark dust company can give you the freedom to spend less time scraping and spreading and more time hanging out enjoying your landscaping.
Save Energy and Prevent Injury
The majority of landscaping involves applying at least a small amount of stress to your spine. A crucial part of your core, your spine helps stabilize your body and forms a connection between your upper and lower halves. Hiring a bark dust-spreading company helps keep you from lugging load after a load of landscaping material in a wheelbarrow or with buckets. Instead of stooping over to grunt through all of the spreading, a bark dust blower can take care of most of the distribution of the material. This not only simplifies your landscaping, but it gives your spine a break.
The Benefits of Bark Dust
Did you know there are countless benefits when it comes to applying bark dust? Not only do bark dust blowers offer a wide variety of options (such as red fir bark dust), but it also helps keep your landscaping healthy and happy.
Here are just some of the reasons why you should look at bark dust types (along with bark dust blowers companies) for your home:
- They make your lawn look amazing. Whether you’re trying to sell your home or just spruce it up for the summer, just 1 unit of bark dust can make all the difference.
- Bark dust lasts a long time. The lifespan of bark dust can range from seven to 10 years if you maintain it properly. Just don’t let your dog eat the chips. Ask your provider about the best bark dust for dogs, but no dog should be rummaging through your garden unattended.
- It’s great for your lawn and garden. Since bark dust blowers rely on natural ingredients, the dust will fertilize the soil as it starts to decay. How is that for some healthy lawn tips?
- Bark dust blowers are designed to protect your plants from the weather. As soon as it’s laid, you can rest assured that plant roots won’t get tugged out of the soil by plants and wind or washed away by water.
- Bark dust also helps the soil retain water. If you’re trying to use less water, rely on bark dust blowers to help your garden use water more efficiently.
Less Maintenance, More Fun
Bark dust spreading can also ease the burden of landscaping because each application lasts for so long. Instead of investing time and energy every year—as some landscaping applications require—you can have bark dust applied only once every two or even three years. This means the look of your yard or play area can last through eight seasons or more. To make sure you take full advantage of the longevity of bark dust, you have to use it in the right amount. For landscaping, you want to apply it to a depth of about two to three inches thick. This will help it last longer while making your yard look great at the same time. When it’s time to apply more bark dust, you may not have to apply as much, depending on how it has held up.
Why Not Mulch or Wood Chips?
Mulch and wood chips are the more traditional ways to finish your yard but they require yearly reapplication. Mulch doesn’t tend to add as many nutrients to the soil as bark dust and it can be washed away fairly easily. You could use cheap wood chips for playground or other heavily uses parts of your yard but since wood chips are so large, they can cause splinters, cuts, and other injuries. Wood chips can also be damaging to young plants since the decomposition process will tend to decrease nitrogen levels and chemical used to dye brown wood chips other colors can be harmful to the environment. Bark dust, however, doesn’t wash away easily and because of it’s softer nature, is less damaging to young plants. It also tends to add more nutrients to the soil as it decomposes.
Whether you crave the soft scent of fresh cedar chips or you just want your yard to look great, bark dust can help you check off all the boxes. It can last for at least two years and saves you valuable time and energy that can be spent with family and friends.