Why is rubber tire mulch a problem for gardens?
• The rubber mulch has an excess amount of zinc – and the excess zinc stunts the growth of plants. See North Carolina’s Department of Agricultural’s study on rubber mulch -http://www.ncagr.com/agronomi/pdffiles/rubber.pdf • There is the potential for ground water contamination from the chemicals in the ground up rubber tire mulch. For people on residential wells, this is particularly worrisome. • If the rubber mulch is used on vegetable gardens there is the possibility that the plants will take-up the chemicals found in the used tire mulch. • The companies producing and selling ground-up rubber tire mulch do not fully explain where the rubber mulch comes from nor the potential danger it presents to gardens, soil contamination, ground water and humans.
