The Many Applications for Bark Dust in Portland, Oregon

by | Sep 16, 2013 | Home And Garden

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If you’re a homeowner in Portland Oregon and you take your homes landscaping seriously, you know that there are a wide range of different products that can help make your lawn look as beautiful as possible. One of those products that is used very often in residential as well as commercial landscapes is Bark Dust in Portland, Oregon. However, one question that most people who don’t know a great deal about landscaping will ask is what is bark dust.

The best way to describe bark dust is it is a mulch like material it can be very fine or it can be very coarse. It is often made from chipped or shredded tree bark. The course bark dust is made from chipped tree bark where finer bark dust is created during the shredding process.

Often times, the bark dust you will find in Portland Oregon is made specifically from Douglas Fir trees as well as Western Hemlock. In addition, Cedar is also commonly added to the combination of woods used in traditional bark dust. However, in other areas of the country bark dust will be made from different types of trees. For example, Florida is known for its cypress mulch or cypress bark dust. This type bark dust will be much more difficult to get in Portland Oregon as cypress trees aren’t plentiful.

The other question is what is this bark dust primarily used for. First of all, it can be used as a decorative feature in landscaping. It also soft enough to be used for cushioned areas of a children’s playground. However, the bark that’s typically used in these situations is a finer bark dust rather than the commercial and coarser bark dust.

In addition to decorative usages, bark dust is often used as weed control but its main use is as mulch. While mulch does a number of things such as raising the acidity level of soil, mulch also helps to retain moisture lost by evaporation, it regulates the temperature of the underlying soil and helps prevent water erosion.

Bark dust makes an excellent addition to your landscaping. It can be used for decorative purposes or utilitarian purposes to help improve the look as well as the health of your landscaping.

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