Cypress mulch comes from two types of cypress trees: bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) and pond cypress (Taxodium distichum var. nutans). Billed as a decorative mulch, it has become common for landscaping and flower gardens. It may not be the ideal choice for vegetable gardens, however, due to its intrinsic properties. It will not kill vegetables, but it also won’t encourage successful creation.
Water
Major reasons for mulching include suppressing weeds and maintaining water for crops so that they do not dry out quickly. Cypress mulch can help to prevent weeds about vegetables, but it does not perform well with water regulation in the long term. In the beginning, it keeps a high quantity of water, keeping that water from the plants. Once cypress mulch is soaked, then some water gets through it into the plant roots. At that point, the cypress mulch helps by reducing evaporation from the ground. If, however, the mulch dries out, then it loses its water-retention properties completely. Once it reaches that stage, it repels the water and is no more helpful to the plants.
Texture
Cypress mulch in the form of hardwood chips requires a long time to decompose. Employing cypress hardwood chips in perennial gardens may help you save money because it lasts more than some other sorts of mulch. Most vegetable gardens have been annual gardens, however. So using cypress mulch for these is more expensive than using a number of the other choices. Because cypress hardwood chips do not decompose during one growing season, the chips may clog a tiller machine. If you work in the vegetable garden without gloves, you may locate cypress’ texture abrasive to your hands.
Nutrition
Like many other wood mulches, cypress mulch really pulls nutrients, mostly nitrogen, away from soil, storing it as the sulfur very gradually decomposes. Nitrogen is an essential mineral for your vegetable protein manufacturing process; without it, vegetable plants do not grow vigorously. You may observe a nitrogen deficiency from the yellowing of older leaves around the plants. An excess application of nitrogen-based fertilizer can help correct that problem.
Environmental Considerations
Before cypress mulch became popular, it was gathered mainly from the byproduct of timber operations. Demand for it climbed, however, and now complete trees are harvested only for mulch. Cypress trees are part of the delicate wetland environments in places like Florida and Louisiana. They supply a home for creatures and filter pollutants out of water. Areas where cypress trees were cut are difficult to reseed with cypress. It’s for this reason that many groups and communities in Florida and Louisiana prohibited using cypress mulch, according to a post on the University of Florida Polk County Master Gardeners site.