Avoiding itch mites in the garden - Ask Extension
What is best to use for weed control in pathways between raised vegetable beds? I have used straw in the past, but inevitably suffer itch mite bites. ...
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Avoiding itch mites in the garden #929915
Asked April 28, 2026, 1:39 PM EDT
What is best to use for weed control in pathways between raised vegetable beds? I have used straw in the past, but inevitably suffer itch mite bites. Wood mulch- shredded hardwood, hardwood chips, pine bark nuggets - is one preferable over the other? Will it help to mix cedar shavings for pet beds in the mulch? Or landscape fabric? If fabric, which is best? Thank you very much.
Kent County Maryland
Expert Response
Any biodegradable mulch material should be fine to use, be that wood chips, shredded bark or bark chips, pine needle "straw," and leaf litter. It shouldn't matter which type of bark mulch is used if you decide to use that material, and cedar shavings would probably not work as well since they might either blow around due to their small size and light weight, or break down too quickly (even being cedar).
We generally do not recommend landscape fabric unless it's the paper-based alternative material. Synthetic landscape fabric doesn't prevent weed germination well over the long term if it is covered with mulch; it can wear-down and develop holes if not covered with mulch; and it may shed microplastic pollution into the soil over time. It might also interfere with oxygen and moisture reaching the soil below (even though it's supposed to be permeable material), and while the soil in a walkway between beds won't harbor many roots due to the soil compaction and the smaller root systems of vegetables, if any desirable tree or shrub roots have grown into that area from outside of the vegetable beds, it would might stress them to be covered with that material, and removing the fabric years later after roots may have tangled into it is very difficult. If you do decide to use landscape fabric, we do not have information about which type is best since we haven't tested brands or materials.
Miri
We generally do not recommend landscape fabric unless it's the paper-based alternative material. Synthetic landscape fabric doesn't prevent weed germination well over the long term if it is covered with mulch; it can wear-down and develop holes if not covered with mulch; and it may shed microplastic pollution into the soil over time. It might also interfere with oxygen and moisture reaching the soil below (even though it's supposed to be permeable material), and while the soil in a walkway between beds won't harbor many roots due to the soil compaction and the smaller root systems of vegetables, if any desirable tree or shrub roots have grown into that area from outside of the vegetable beds, it would might stress them to be covered with that material, and removing the fabric years later after roots may have tangled into it is very difficult. If you do decide to use landscape fabric, we do not have information about which type is best since we haven't tested brands or materials.
Miri
Thank you for your very prompt reply. I will abandon any idea of landscape fabric. However, can you inform me which biogradable mulch material is least likely to harbor itch mites.
Anne
We are not aware of any research that has studied mite abundance in different mulch types...it's not generally something we get asked about or have heard of from most gardeners. Straw itch mites feed on insect larvae in stored grains, which is not a resource they would have in mulch materials, so we would not expect them to be a problem in that situation. Chigger mites, which can also bite, can occur most often in vegetation transition zones such as along the junction of forest and grass, along margins of swamps, brush thickets, and in home lawns, but not mulch.
Miri
Miri
