That is a shame, I hope you can come back from this better and quicker than may now seem possible, hang in there...

I have hydrangia, and they always pout more than anything else I have, some times a good watering makes them look ten times better, I have no idea if that will help or hurt in your case, but hopefully some of the plants are playing possum and not finished.

wow, I've never heard of anything like that happening- I'm so sorry!

Thanks for the warning. I haven't mulched my hosta beds but was considering it.

Lavander, so sorry to hear this misfortune. It is great of you to warn us. I have some pine bark ordered, hope it has no toxins to mess with my planted shrubbery. My hosta are in pots, but everything else is in the ground.

OMG, I hope you called the person who sold you the mulch!

Deanna

Oh my. I'd never heard of toxic mulch so I'm so glad that you posted. And I'm so sorry to hear that this happened to you.

Attaching a link with more info.

I have a huge pile of wood chips, mixed oak & pine, on my driveway. Have spread a lot of it already, when it was freshly chipped and, fortunately, with no ill effects. But I'll certainly get out there and give the rest of the pile a turning. Guess that I'm lucky that the weather got too hot or I might have had a lot more of it spread.

Moccasin, according to the link, pine bark mulch isn't as likely to develop the toxins as hardwood mulch is.

Here is a link that might be useful: Toxic Mulch

Wow- who would have thought mulch could kill. I hope at least some of your plants come back, and thanks for the warning. You must be sick.

Thank you all for the support and kind words, it means alot. I did notify the landscaper who delivered the mulch, he's out of town and told me he'll come by when he returns.

Steve, we took your advice and gave the beds a good soaking and then some, thank you.

Was out this morning to survey the damage. Grass is pretty well gone along the border edges and various areas in the lawn where we dropped mulch.

Foundation Hydrangea and lavender bed is in pretty bad shape - not sure they'll recover. Sadly, I was remarking to DH as I spread the mulch in the lavender bed, how beautiful it looked and how good it smelled. As a side note, everyone should have a small patch of lavender in their garden-the scent is soothing and it raises ones' spirit.

A couple perennials in the foundation bed are played. Four small azaleas in the Hosta bed are browned out at the bottom. Jacob's Ladder and several ferns are gonzo. Our Empress Wu's largest leaf looks like it was dipped in bleach, she's a baby, newly planted and I'm hoping for a recovery. Shade Fanfare looks like she has HVX, white streaks down her veins and Lemon Juice and Red October have some bleaching out of the leaves.

At this point, am I better off replacing the damaged hosta (after the mulch degasses) or waiting it out to see if they recover? My plan is to give the mulch a week or so and then to top dress the hosta with a good compost - good idea?

is this painted/stained black mulch ... or just dark mulch???

i once used a black mulch.. and basically it was the equivalent of throwing everything on the blacktop.. it simply cooked everything due to the retained/reflected heat ... but this was a sun bed ...

if so.. it may be an issue equivalent to hardening plants off to a stark change of circumstances ... its not that it is a long term problem .. its that you changed everything .. the 'culture' overnight .... [and this is speculation.. to be sure]

just water the heck out of it all ... and see if they bounce back...

if you had a severe hail storm.. you would be no further ahead or behind [though i would not wish that on you ]

its mid summer flush time ... ignore the hosta.. lets see what happens in the next month or two.. its premature to be thinking about replacing plants that can.. wait for it.. live on the driveway ...

as to the hydrangea .. who care.. its NOT A HOSTA ... lol ..

ken

I like to buy Scotts mulch from Home Depot (the cheaper brand) but I have noticed that I recommends that you water it in after speading it. I have never read that on mulch bags before. It has never effected plants like yours was effected but maybe because I always water it.

Good Morning,
I'm not sure if this will help but I would wait and see what happens before redoing this bed. And were do you live? Are you in this heat wave that is effective everything humans and plants. If you placed this dark mulch on the beds in the heat it is possible, like Ken said" that the heat from the sun and the dark mulch just changed the eco system of this bed. Even my Rottweiler who goes out to relieve herself then runs in is hot, hot, hot to touch. Water and wait till next year. The roots if well rooted may have a chance. Keep your fingers crossed. We've all been there...it will be OK. :)

Ci_lantro, forgot to thank you for the link!

Ken, I can love my hydrangea just as much as my hosta...so there ;) It's funny how our love for our gardens imitate life, you tend to be very protective of the very young and very old. The mulch was the very finely shredded dyed black stuff, which I will never use again, feel free to remind me if necessary.

I used that same Scotts stuff (brown colored) on our small back hosta bed, Valtorrez. Missed the watering part on the bag (but we probably watered anyway). I really like the look and feel of that mulch fwiw.

Fingers and toes crossed Hostared and thanks. We are in zone 6.

Feeling a little less sick to my stomach this morning, I can't thank you all enough for being here.

So sorry to hear about your black mulch. One of the reasons that I never use colored mulch,(if that's what it was.) I only use natural mulch,and the cheapest I can buy. It only deterioates,and adds compost to the soil. Keeps the soil cool,and prevents mud from getting on the hosta leaves when rain splashes on it. Hope everything turns out alright. Phil

The mulch was the very finely shredded dyed black stuff, which I will never use again, feel free to remind me if necessary.

==>> but i dont recall you asking me BEFORE you bought it .. so it might be hard to remind you BEFORE the next decision .. lol ..

we as gardeners basically go natural .. its part of nature..

i never understood painted mulch ...

naturally aged grey mulch .. is my choice ... [besides i get such free from the tree guy.. so i have no color choice]

whatever pleases you is fine with me ..

ken

Hey LL,

Don't use the dyed black mulch.

There you've been reminded. :)

Actually, that may or may not be the problem. I don't like the dyed mulch myself. It's often made from ground up pallets or scrap wood. It's not bark at all. Even so it's more likely to be the supplier who piled his mulch too high and never turned it releasing all that phytotoxic gas that created toxic or sour mulch.

Here's a couple of recommendations for next time:
1. Don't be in a hurry to get it spread on your plants. Let it sit for a while. (No good deed goes unpunished)
2. Go to the mulch yard yourself and see the pile. Pick it up and smell it. Talk to the guy about making sure it is quality mulch that hasn't been sitting there for a year cooking.
3. If you do get a sour smelling batch, spread it out on the driveway (removed the Hostas first) to release the gas before using it.
4. As Val said, it probably is a good idea to water it in. If there is any gas in it, water will help to dissipate that gas.

I think those Hostas are going to live. They might have smaller leaves next year, but they'll live. Continue to water this area even if you don't see any new growth. They may, indeed, be building roots and reserves for next year.

Steve

When you buy from a small guy, it's different than buying from big guys like HD and Scotts, which have deeper pockets to pay for damages. I buy Scotts mulch at $3.33 per bag from HD, a few bags in the car trunk at a time, and I can carry those then easily without rush.

Thanks Phil, appreciate it.

LOL Ken, can we conference call any further decisions on my part? Hey, free is great and grey is pretty, what's not to like.

Thanks Steve and amen to your recommendations!

That was our original plan berndnyz, which DH vetoed (grumble, grumble). I don't understand why he couldn't of shlepped 120 bags of Scotts mulch from HD. I liked the stuff.

So sorry about this happening. Hope your plants end up being ok. I would be just sick over it too. Bad enough when it happens anytime but after all that work, just makes it worse.
Cher

Best mulch is from your own pile - then you know what you have and how long it has been aged.

Aged mushroom soil is still premium grade in my mind - still miss the Delaware mushroom soil at $5 a large scoop in my pickup truck. Sure built good soil for plantings!

If I had to buy it, I would consider only the Scotts or other name brand varieties.

Bruce

Went out this am and a couple other hydrangeas are showing some browning out of the lower leaves, thought they might have been spared. Large foundation azaleas are getting noticible worse. I don't know how much more of this I can take.

We backed the mulch off from around the hostas, hopefully there will be no further damage to them.
__________________________________________________________

If anyone is in some aspect of the horticultural business, perhaps you can help me. I am trying to determine the fairest way to resolve this whole mess. Replacing the dead plants and repairing the damage to grass is one thing, but how do you go about estimating damages for a damaged or injured plant? One hydrangea is pretty bad, although it may come back next season, who knows if and in what shape. Same with several hosta.

I do know that I better be sitting down when I see our next water bill and that if our time and energies spent on this matter were compensible, we'd be able to take a very nice vacation next year (this week was DH and my vacation week).

LL,

From hort business standpoint and consumer law side ( been in business on both levels):

Sorry to say, but suppose the "buyer beware" legal clause may be in effect here, unless you can substantiate that there is something in the black mulch specifically causing the problem.

Although the cause and effect seems clear, if the mulch guy didn't spread it, he may have limited liability as a supplier of a consumer good. Normally they do not have to cover damages caused beyond their control.

If you know the company that sold it and can speak with them, you and he might gain from the discussions about any compensation.

Bruce

hey lav..

no pix.. i am not sure anything is dead yet .. rather than jsut shocked due to the 'culture' change ...

EVERYTHING.. i mean EVERYTHING.. in my yard is stressed and has brown edges.. due tot eh heat wave ...

just water them.. and see how it all develops in the next few weeks ...

hope springs eternal.. then we smack her it a large stick.. and reality rolls in .. [i have no clue what that means.. lol]

ken

ps: my ONE hydrangea .. on drip irrigation.. droops every afternoon .. its not happy.. i dont care.. it lives or it dies.. so be it.. life is cruel ... if its too foo foo for me.. so be it ...go to foo hell .. lol ...

Bumping this one to the top again. This happened to us. 5 yards from the small garden center guy we've been buying from for 18 years. Bushes, trees, new plants, bedding plants, vegetable plants are all dying. I really wish I would have read this warning back in 2012. As a note.. this garden center guy that I've carefully cultivated a great relationship with over the years is not returning my calls or emails. So much for the little guy.

Wow, so sorry to hear this, Erin. That's just awful and gut-wrenching; I can't even imagine.

Please try what the folks above recommend, and that is water the daylights out of everything. Lavenderiver never came back to let us know how everything eventually fared. Did some bounce back later that season? The next year? Never heard so perhaps your plants will recover. Don't give up yet.

Stunada- Just noticed the original date of this thread. But a lot of great advice from some of the most knowledgeable hosta growers - including Ken!

Operation "Water the daylights out of them" began last night. Will try to remember to let you know how everything does. Fortunately, there's no mulch near any of my hostas. (Small miracle.)

Update - it's not the mulch! My mistake. It was a misused herbicide. Not by me. However, this is a good warning anyway. The gentleman from the Extension office said they get at least one case a year of sour mulch.

Since it was not the mulch, all the edible plants have to come out and be replanted. So... (biting my tongue here) because somebody didn't read the label, I have to pull up 225 feet of beans, replace mature lemon balm, etc etc etc. So mad I can't see straight.

Woooow, that's terrible! Glad you found out exactly what the issue was but that's a lot of $$, time and sweat gone to waste. Just smh, I really feel for you. So sorry, Erin, and sure hope the rest of your season goes much better.

So did the herbicide come with the mulch or was it mistaken added after the mulch was laid down?

The herbicide was applied a day or so before the mulch, did not come with it. It was a separate event.