Is It Safe to Use Box Elder as Wood Mulch?

Features

• Box elder trees grow quickly, providing shade and adding ornamental appeal. Unfortunately, they easily die from disease and internal decay. Once common as street trees, box elders are considered undesirable and are prohibited in some areas. As the trees mature, they become brittle and are subject to breakage, dropping limbs without warning. The softwood trees have little commercial value because of poor wood quality. Their primary value lies in their ability to grow in heavy, wet soils and help prevent erosion. Chipped or shredded box elder trees provide landscape mulch material.

Arborist Mulch

• When a storm-damaged tree is trimmed or an ailing box elder tree is cut down, the arborist or tree removal service typically cuts trunks and large limbs into usable firewood, then chips or shreds the remaining branches and leaves. The trunk is removed, preventing suckers from sprouting. A mechanical grinder chops the trunk and main roots into chips. The box elder wood chips from the tree debris and trunk are well suited for mulching trees and perennials. Typically gray to brown in color, the bark and chips blend into most landscapes. This arborist mulch, chopped at the tree removal site, is composed of irregular tree bits and is inexpensive.

Uses

• Box elder tree mulch, like other wood mulches, is organic material. When spread in an even layer under trees or around perennials, the mulch conserves water and moderates soil temperature. It does not decay quickly enough to feed annuals or vegetables in a season, but may be used between garden rows as a walk or work path. It is a soft, low-density wood, so box elder mulch floats in heavy rain and is not suited to slopes or hillsides. This mulch decays more quickly than hardwood mulches such as oak. Added to a composting pile or bin, box elder provides carbon and bulk for a balanced compost mix.

Considerations

• Box elder bugs, named for their affinity for box elder trees, are annoying but fairly harmless insects. These bugs feed on a variety of plants, but especially the seed pods of female box elder trees. They are not spread by box elder mulches, but they do inhabit all types of mulches and sometimes invade homes to seek winter protection. When they congregate in large numbers on rocks, mulches or other surfaces, they may be sprayed with any insecticide labeled for box elder bugs. A quick and effective treatment is to spray the visible bug clusters on the mulch with 2 ounces dish detergent per 1 gallon of water. The soap disrupts their waxy exoskeleton and kills the bugs. Wash the soap solution off any sensitive plants and surfaces.