Chokes Weeds But Is Toxic To Dogs. (Sunshine Of Africa Cocoa Shell Garden Mulch)

Member Name: Machair1

Product:	Sunshine Of Africa Cocoa Shell Garden Mulch
Date:	08/07/09 (91 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant mulch and kind to plants.

Disadvantages: Deadly to dogs.

I love gardens and plants, but weeds are not pleasant, and they can be difficult to control, if like me you refuse to use any chemicals.

Sunshine of Africa produce a mulch which is made form the discarded shell of the cocoa bean, so if you purchase this not only will you have the weeds under control, but the aroma from the beds will be adorable!

I first saw this used many years ago by the sadly departed Geoff Hamilton, and I also remember Bob Flowerdew, the famous organic gardener using it too.

To make the mulch they use the shells which are actually extracted from the beans here in England, and not in Africa, as they are shipped whole and refined to make chocolate, so this is a by product of that process. Making this compost and indeed shipping it is the pride of a small family business.

I have used this not only for weed suppression, but also for conditioning the soil I have here in Essex, which is heavy clay, but you can also use it to condition sandy soils too. It breaks up clumps quite nicely, and it also assists moisture retention which is really important at the moment.

I have sprinkled some around the base of a new hydrangea which I bought recently, as despite some heavy downpours it needed something to stop the soil drying out in between. It worked really well.

To use it you need to apply about a 2 inch layer, and it has to be watered in as this releases a gum like material which binds the mixture together and provides excellent moisture retention.

I have to say that we have used it with great success, and it is so much better than bark which in my experience rots over time and quickly allows weeds to poke through. In many ways it resembles egg shells, and is also really good at stopping slugs as they don't like the hard edges on their delicate bodies! It works really well around lettuce plants, I know mine have some slug interest and this stops it.

Aesthetically this looks really lovely and at first it has a reddish tinge to it but later turns to a dark brown. One of the main ways it is better as mulch around plants is that it actually contains lots of nitrogen, and so it can compost down itself without robbing the plants of this essential nutrient which bark does. This benefits my vegetable garden, but is not of that much importance where I use it for large areas as a weed suppressant.

Having a teenage son a few years ago with a passion for old Ford Capris we actually dug up part of our front drive to make an extra parking space for him. Having used bark on this for a number of years we switched to the Cocoa Shell and have found it to be much more weed suppressing, and it actually looks so attractive we have refrained from turning it to grass, but have instead made it into a woodland garden which is edged in snowdrops and winter aconites, which look really pretty against the cocoa shells.

Price wise it varies a lot depending on where you purchase. Not all garden centres stock it but mail order I have used the following
www.organiccatalogue.com this place charges £12.97 for a 75 litre bag, but if you buy two and a little something extra and can make the order up to £27 you will receive free delivery.

It is also available from
www.gardendirect.co.uk but this site is more expensive.

There is another make of this from J Arthur Bowers and I have used this obtaining mine from www.gardencentre.co.uk and if you click through from the cash back site Give or Take at www.giveortake.com you should receive 7% cash back, and currently the site has a voucher code for an extra 5% off. They do however charge for delivery.


Now a serious word about animals. Cats don't like the smell of this so it may well keep them off your plants as they often like to use the garden as a litter tray. I know I used to have three who went outside, not now I have indoor Persians. but it could help you if you don't like their little gifts in your flower beds.

Dogs however are a much more serious matter. Chocolate kills dogs every year. This stuff is toxic to dogs for at least two weeks after it has been laid so please don't put it where your dog goes by his or her self off the lead. Chocolate contains theobromide and is a stimulant and it will affect the heart and may be deadly. I know to my cost as my little Shih Tzu ate one chocolate from a dark selection last autumn, and we spent an agonising night at the emergency vets wondering if she would make it through the night. You would think I would know better, having a daughter as a vet, but my husband accidentally left the almost empty box I had bought him for his birthday in her reach. It was nearly a very sad birthday indeed.

6 dogs have already died in the United States from eating this mulch, the greatest risk being in the first two weeks when the smell will attract them.

I think this is a great product out performing bark in all aspects but just use it with extreme caution if you have dogs, or indeed have dogs who wander off the lead in your front garden, maybe off their owner's leads. The RSPCA are very concerned about this and hope vigilance will prevent any sad consequences.

Summary: A great product but needs extreme caution when used near to dogs.