As a gardening enthusiast, you need to know the importance of mulch. Mulch is spread over the soil near plants or vegetables to prevent the soil from drying out, eroding, and growing weeds. Mulch can be made up of a variety of materials such as wood chips, sawdust, straw, dry leaves, twigs, etc. Actually, whatever you use to compost can generally be used as mulch. But the difference between mulch and compost is that mulch spreads over the ground, while compost works best in the soil by digging because compost is the natural fertilizer for your vegetables. So for the mulch, just spread them on the ground near the vegetables and moisten them with water.
Almost all plant residues (pruning, cuttings, fallen leaves, etc.) can be used as mulch. But when it comes to Oleander, you have to be careful. Oleander is an evergreen plant that can grow to heights between 6 and 12 feet and up to 20 feet wide. It blooms between summer and early fall. The size of the flower is approximately 1 ½ inches in diameter. They can have single or double petals with colors like white, red, pink, rose, salmon, or magenta. Found mainly in South Asia and the Mediterranean, every part of the oleander is poisonous, especially its milky sap. In fact, eating just a few leaves can kill a young child. The leaves of the plant are also covered with a certain type of dust that can make you sick if you inhale it into your lungs or come in contact with it on your skin. Dust is especially abundant in summer when it is hot and dry. So if you want to prune or cut an oleander plant, do it after a heavy rain. Also, protect yourself with gloves to avoid coming into contact with the sap. So can oleander be used as mulch or compost?
Research shows that when oleander is added to the compost heap, its toxin known as oleandrin is depleted after 50 days. So when compost is added to the soil, it doesn’t harm the vegetables. Studies with lettuce (which are fast-flowering vegetables) and tomatoes (which are slow to ripen for harvest) did not detect oleander toxic substances in them. But using Oleander as mulch is more risky because Oleander’s parts are not as decomposed as in compost. Therefore, it is better to be safe than sorry. If you want to use Oleander as a mulch, use it on ornamental plants (such as flowers) but not on vegetables.
If you add oleander to your compost, allow the compost to mature beyond 50 days and make sure every part of the plant is decomposed and no longer visible in its original form before using the compost. Even then, always wash vegetables well before cooking and eating. Anyway, this is good practice.
Taking these necessary precautions, you can use Oleander as mulch or compost.