blownz281

My parents have tons of mulch and said I can have a trailers worth for free. I think its pine,as its really light colored. I would really like to save money up and buy some cedar to help keep bugs out of the mulch. But May is almost over and my nanners/garden could really use some heat protection from the sandy soil around them. By 8:00am our yard to walk in your bare feet burns to give you some idea.

Dean W.

I would put it around my plants!

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oakshadows

Go for the mulch, one can never have too much. As Chris in Tampa says, create a forest floor. Read some of his posts. Bugs bothering you, well save some coins and plant basil around everything that you don't want bugs. Basil is one but there are many that will repel insects, lavender, rosemary, thyme, etc. Much less expensive and side benefit of being a very good herb for the kitchen. Many gardeners use different methods of repelling unwanted pests. Fish emulsion is good for turning some pests that find their food by smell. I may be a bit smelly for you for a little while but it does the trick. Good luck just keep looking for alternative solutions and get good results with less expenditure.

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"What this country needs is dirtier fingernails and cleaner minds."

RobG7aChattTN

The bugs in the mulch are part of the ecosystem that breaks down the mulch into food for your plants. If you want a more ornamental mulch I'd suggest putting down the free mulch and then topping it off with what you find more ornamental. I personally get free mulch from my county and I put tons on to use as winter protection. I scraped some of it off in spring but it really breaks down pretty fast and the plants seem to love it. It makes the soil very rich and dark.

Magilla Gorilla

I apply around 20 yards of free mulch every year! In fact, tomorrow I'm getting another truck load. You really can't over mulch. Only caution is fresh mulch can be really hot. Be careful not to burn your plants by covering them with it. Have fun mulching!

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Andrew

jjjankovsky

mulch is way great, but...if it's chipped pine, you'll be changing the ph of your soil if you use it too early...it's acidic...

i used it in the Pacific Northwest when the guys were gringing trees near powerlines, but much preferred the broadleaf chips and about 6 months composting in a pile...

blownz281

okay,I shoved up 6 5gal buckets off mulch up and brought it home. I found three cockroaches. Killed two one got away. Now I worry the mulch might cause issues. Roaches love it in NC at least you notice them alot in mulches here. Last thing we want is them coming inside the house. Any thoughts. Thanks

G.W.

find a termiticide containing bifenthrin
termiticides are usually the highest concentration active ingredient so you get more for your money

Bayer has one in a pint for $20
home defense max or something

do your math and mix for around .05%
spray your foundation and around windows doors
repeat every 80 days
1 gal= 100ft (don't be so cheap)

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winter winners, jackfruit, carambola, hua moa, d namwah, hak ip lychee with pink leaves 2 days before a cold snap eeeek!

Winter losers, kohala longan, misi luki, 80% jackfruit seedling loss

first bloomers, HUA MOA, DC, D NAMWAH, FHIA 17, KANADARIAN, RAJA PURI, M D NAMWAH

best bunch FHIA 17 , undisclosed

WORST BUNCH hua moa, 2 fingers

revensen

Great question and I'm curious if anyone has ever spread disease from the mulch to their plants.

We have free mulch here too, I went to pick some up and the guy actually talked me out of it!! He told me that along with all the healthy plant material they chip, shred, etc, they also shred the unhealthy, diseased plant material. I guess if it's processed correctly after shredding should any disease be eliminated?

cincinnana

Great question and I'm curious if anyone has ever spread disease from the mulch to their plants.

Living in southwest Ohio I have a tree service that will deliver trimmings from specific jobs. I will gladly accept pine, oak and maple. NEVER NEVER accept walnut for it contains a chemical called JUGLONE which will absolutely STERILIZE your soil. I usually receive about 40 yards of trimmings per season and I spread them along the trails and beds of my gardens. Please keep in mind that I add 36-00 or 10-10-10 to amend these heavily mulched areas. These mulched areas contain hosta, ferns, bananas and many woodland plants endemic to the area..

I have a shredding facility close by my house and this is what I observe that they shred: full plastic bags of leaves, skids with nails, car bumpers, yard waste, manure and any other organic waste that is in their pile.

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flaflowerfloozie

We can have all the free mulch we want here from the dump where they grind up the yard waste...problem is for me anyway. I did it once when we moved here and I was chasing seedlings of all kinds of pesty invasives for the whole year seemed like for every season a new breed of invasive came up, Posion ivy, viginia creeper, florida holly, black elm, camphor, 4 O'clocks all in the flower beds...asked the grind guy what was in there and he said "Oh there's no discrimination everything goes into the grinder"...didn't do the free mulch from the dump again. When the electric company came and ground up some stuff on the easment getting in the electric lines most of it was oak, bamboo and walnut so John asked them to shoot a pile on the side yard...had to let that rest a while 4-5 months but that was much better, no weeds or invasives came up from that. They were happy to get rid of it.

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I wanna buy your seeds...maybe??