How to Decompose Wood Mulch

Wood makes an ideal mulch in most areas. It decomposes and adds nutrients to the soil. It encourages earthworms, which enrich the soil. It is generally attractive in yards and landscapes. About its only serious downside is that in some regions it tends to attract termites, which can be destructive. It can be long-lasting or can be made to decompose more rapidly.

Pitchfork or similar tool

Rake

Choose a wood for your mulch. This largely a matter of availability of materials and personal preference for looks. You can use pine or cedar bark, pine or cedar shavings, other commercial wood products, sawdust or simply gather wood chips from a utility or municipality which grinds tree trunks and limbs for mulch. Pine bark chunks and similar larger, heavier mulches will decompose slowly. Sawdust, small shavings and ground up wood will decompose faster.

Spread your mulch in flower beds, garden areas or around trees. It will help retain moisture and keep down weeds. It also will decompose. You also can make a mulch pile, similar to a compost heap, to decompose it more rapidly and in a single location so you can then spread the decomposed material for soil enrichment. Material from a "green waste" chipper will usually have a variety of elements -- some large chips mixed with some green twigs and leaves, whose nitrogen content will create heat and aid decomposition.

Water and turn. Most wood mulch decomposes slowly, although a bed of small wood chips may vanish over a winter. You can speed decomposition by mixing fine and heavy material, by frequent watering and by periodically turning with a pitchfork--if you have a big mulch pile--or with a rake in gardens and flower beds. You also can aid decomposition by mixing in compost--wood or similar organic material that has already decomposed--and adding some nitrogen.