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Posted: Aug/23/2007 2:19 PM PST
We have mulch available for free from a city run landfill.Is it a good idea to use it on veggy gardens?I think it is mostly leaves but can contain any lawn waste.Do I need to apply fertilizer along with this mulch? |
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Posted: Aug/23/2007 2:45 PM PST
We have the same thing here in my town. I have used it in my flower gardens and under trees. I have not seen anything that I would not want on my veggies. I am thinking it is the recycling of trees, plants grass, weeds. So anytime you use such a mulch there is the factor that you might bring in plant matter you wouldn't want in your garden. But as I said, I have never had anything come up from the mulch I use. Do be sure though that they give you the 'heated' composted mulch. If you don't watch it, they may give you something that has not completely decomposed into a good mulch. Good Luck Linda B from SC |
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Posted: Aug/23/2007 3:00 PM PST
I have used sawdust from an area pallet plant for more than 30 yrs. I store it over winter to "age", I do, however, add some nitrogen fertilizer when I turn it under in the fall, to make up for any "N" used in the decaying process. Leaves are good, the only problem could be a possibility of herbicide carry over in grass clippings. grnspot Attachments:  |
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Posted: Aug/23/2007 6:09 PM PST
Another thing I would be concerned about is disease. If the wood was mulched from a tree taken down because it was dead or dieing, was it dieing because of disease. If so, you will only transport the disease to your garden. If you KNOW what the wood was and where it came form that would be one thing but not knowing the source of the wood I would hesitate. |
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Posted: Aug/24/2007 5:50 PM PST
Most people I've talked with about it have had good luck in the sense that they've never found anything unpleasant in it, or noticed any negative effects. But if you're going to have a nagging doubt about the safety of your food every time you take a bite of a fresh garden veggie, then forget about it. Your peace of mind is worth more than that. Go ahead and use the landfill mulch in the flower bed, maybe. But if you just want mulch for the garden, then you could just get some straw/hay from a farm/feed store and spread that around. It works for me, and I don't worry about anything going in my garden that a horse wouldn't have eaten. ;-) |
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Posted: Aug/28/2007 9:15 PM PST
My husband and I are not pro gardeners and have been kind of learning as we go the past few years. That said, we've been using grass clippings off our yard ( we don't put anything on the grass ) to mulch in our veggie gardens to keep weeds down. Would there be any reason we shouldn't be using grass clippings? In past years we have also tried that black weed blocker material that comes on rolls and didn't have the best of luck as the weeds still found ways around and up through it.... that's when we started using our grass clippings. |
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Posted: Aug/29/2007 6:22 AM PST
Those weed mats only gave my crabgrass better purchase for their roots when spreading...  The grass clippings worked well for me this spring, especially since my non-gardener neighbor was mowing just about every other day! Only caution I found is to make sure there's space around the plants' stems so they can breathe, some of my pepper plants weren't so happy 'til I cleared around them. I even introduced my gardener neighbor to the grass clippings as mulch concept, she's loving not having to weed every day...
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Posted: Aug/29/2007 8:11 PM PST
Quote: Originally posted by mbvirtue Those weed mats only gave my crabgrass better purchase for their roots when spreading... The grass clippings worked well for me this spring, especially since my non-gardener neighbor was mowing just about every other day! Only caution I found is to make sure there's space around the plants' stems so they can breathe, some of my pepper plants weren't so happy 'til I cleared around them. I even introduced my gardener neighbor to the grass clippings as mulch concept, she's loving not having to weed every day...Thanks for your reply...I was wondering if I shouldn't have piled the clippings up around the plant stems. In fact I really mounded it around the plants  It didn't seem to bother the tomatoes but the pepper plants just didn't do as well this year...thought perhaps due to the clippings or the excessive amount of rainfall we got this year. Next year I'll keep the clippings back. We have lots of yard to mow and land across the road so are never short of clippings. I love being able to walk around in the garden and never get muddy feet  and what weeds do sneak up through the clipping are really easy to pull.
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Posted: Feb/25/2008 5:42 PM PST
I know this is an older conversation but I wanted to make a comment. A few months ago, I saw an episode of Dirty Jobs on TV and the guy was helping the city workers clean up road kill--deer, cats, dogs, you name it. And guess where they put the bodies? In the city compost piles. They just bury it in there and cover them up. I don't know if this would make it not really good to use on vegetable gardens or not but I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of what could be in there. |
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Posted: Mar/09/2008 5:03 AM PST
how awful it would be to be filling up a tub of compost and run into that!!!!!!!!!!! Would totally freak me out 
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