Has anyone ever used mulched trees/brush that your township offers? I worry there is the chance of getting diseased materials in my beds if I chose this option, any thoughts?? Would I be safer with using collected leaves from the neighborhood? Really cutting back this year and need a FREE alternative for winter mulching. Our neighborhood is only 10 years old so the trees are just starting to be a good source the past couple of years. And there are not alot of trees.

A friend said she used the free mulch once and wound up with tons of weeds in her beds.....

Pam NJ 6B

I have also contemplated using the free much offered by our town. I think a lot depends on how they do the mulch. If they just toss any and everything into the shredder you probably can get lots of weeds if it hasn't cured. I pass by the maintenance dept all the time and I do see that people are digging it from the bottom most of the time. So far I haven't gotten any but I may give it a shot this year.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

I have used township leaves and the problem was acidity. It would be nice if all the mulch I need could come out of the yard. The fall leaves get bagged up in November and all the old miscanthus grass flower stems are used, but it is never enough. This year I would like to get a load of woodchips. Since most of the garden gets covered with a fabric mulch I only need enough to cover the fabric.

I usually my own avocado wood chips for mulch. But this year I had a lot more landscaping around the house to mulch and my wood chips quickly turn gray, so I bought 20 yards of shredded wood from the local municipality (not free around here). The mulch was fine for a while, but now I'm fighting something called Dog Vomit Slime which is popping up in the mulch around the house. It is harmless to the plants, but unfortunately the name describes how it looks.

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Farmer Steve
Deluz, CA usda zone 10a

Farmer Steve,
I know exactly what you are ferrring to. I had that a few years ago in the pine bark mulch the previous owner had put down. It was really discutings and I did scoop the biggest patches of it out. The rest died off as the wood chips decomposed. It seemed to be more prevalent in shady areas without good air circulation.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Ward,

"Since most of the garden gets covered with a fabric mulch I only need enough to cover the fabric."

Ah Ha! So thats your secret. Thats alot of fabric!

Pam NJ 6B

Our local garden writer advises using county mulch only after letting it sit for a season, to avoid weeds and mold. I have been wary of using it for just that reason, and I have no room to store a large quantity. We had bulk hardwood mulch delivered by a landscaping company, and that was less expensive than buying by the bag.The only other mulch I have used was wood chips from a tree we had taken down.

Priya
Zone 7, Maryland

Wont be using any county mulch, early this spring I raked up a few trash bags of muluch I put around the garden to keep weeds down and will be using it and a plastic covering per donalds method to see if I can get anything to come back or be winter protected. Its worth a shot.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35