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Default I think I screwed up

OK, here's the thing. We have an area about 100 sq ft that my son's cedar
playset sits in, right now there is just a layer of clean sand down. We have
been planning on doing the tire mulch thing. But after pricing it we figured
on the real thing. So, The other day our neighbors have this tree company
taking down a healthy maple. So, I stop by and ask what they did with the
mulch, just drop it off at the yard came the reply. Why, did you want it, OH
WOW, FREE MULCH. How could I resist? Well, when I got home there was this
pile of leaves/mulch and leaves LOTS OF LEAVES. Now I got a pile of leaves
in my driveway.

Is this going to be a mistake? How long is it going to take for the leaves
to decompose so its a decent mulch for the play area? Can I just throw it
down now, just to get it out of my driveway?

Thanks

SD


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Default I think I screwed up


"Shopdog" wrote in message

Is this going to be a mistake?

Yes

How long is it going to take for the leaves
to decompose so its a decent mulch for the play area?


Never, IMO



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"Shopdog" wrote in message
news:xoNii.10475$bh5.12@trndny01...
OK, here's the thing. We have an area about 100 sq ft that my son's cedar
playset sits in, right now there is just a layer of clean sand down. We
have been planning on doing the tire mulch thing. But after pricing it we
figured on the real thing. So, The other day our neighbors have this tree
company taking down a healthy maple. So, I stop by and ask what they did
with the mulch, just drop it off at the yard came the reply. Why, did you
want it, OH WOW, FREE MULCH. How could I resist? Well, when I got home
there was this pile of leaves/mulch and leaves LOTS OF LEAVES. Now I got a
pile of leaves in my driveway.

Is this going to be a mistake? How long is it going to take for the leaves
to decompose so its a decent mulch for the play area? Can I just throw it
down now, just to get it out of my driveway?

Thanks

SD



SD,

I did the same thing with my neighbors this spring, they had 3 large pine
trees removed,
seemed like such a good idea...
well,
30 yards later, my driveway was full.
fortunately I have a ditch on the side of my property that I was able to
dump some of the stuff in.
I did make good use of about half of the mulch though

if you shovel selectively you can probably find good pockets of chips to
fill whatever planting beds / play areas you want
however, you probably will have tones of sticks and leaves, those really
won't be any good for anything ever.
the leaves will rot and turn to dirt in a few years if you leave em, and
the sticks will take longer.

unless you have a spot to dump on your lot, I'd look into finding a friend
with a pickup truck.

Dave


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Default I think I screwed up


"Meat Plow" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 04 Jul 2007 13:37:33 +0000, Shopdog wrote:

OK, here's the thing. We have an area about 100 sq ft that my son's

cedar
playset sits in, right now there is just a layer of clean sand down. We

have
been planning on doing the tire mulch thing. But after pricing it we

figured
on the real thing. So, The other day our neighbors have this tree

company
taking down a healthy maple. So, I stop by and ask what they did with

the
mulch, just drop it off at the yard came the reply. Why, did you want

it, OH
WOW, FREE MULCH. How could I resist? Well, when I got home there was

this
pile of leaves/mulch and leaves LOTS OF LEAVES. Now I got a pile of

leaves
in my driveway.

Is this going to be a mistake? How long is it going to take for the

leaves
to decompose so its a decent mulch for the play area? Can I just throw

it
down now, just to get it out of my driveway?

Thanks


Mulch from a tree aint mulch until it's had a chance to cure. What you got
isn't going to be usable for quite some time if at all. I have a shredder
for branches up to 2" since I have a lot of trees that constantly drop
branches, need trimmed etc. I would never think of using that stuff around
the house.



The other fact is that his mulch isn't treated against bugs!

The only thing he's really done is invite bugs that could lead to major
house damage!!!



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Default I think I screwed up

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
"Shopdog" wrote in message
Is this going to be a mistake?

Yes


As in already is?

How long is it going to take for the leaves
to decompose so its a decent mulch for the play area?


Never, IMO


Don't know what you have in mind as mulch for play, but leaves ain't
gonna' be suitable imo. When they do decompose they'll turn into mush
and will be a wet mess/mass when wet before they do.

As someone else said, you're only hope would have been to have been able
to have selectively had them blow the actual wood chips where you wanted
w/o the smaller branches and leaves but maple wouldn't have been a very
good choice even then as it doesn't have good weathering properties and
will rot sooner to turn into more dirt than later...

I think you got stuck w/ getting rid of the neighbor's problem...

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OK OK Anyone got a pickup truck I can borrow for about an hour?


OR......

anyone want some FREEE mulch!

Thanks for the help, guess I'll get what I pay for OR pay for what I get!

SD


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Shopdog wrote:
OK OK Anyone got a pickup truck I can borrow for about an hour?


Where are you? (I'm safe, they're no trees around here)


OR......

anyone want some FREEE mulch!




Thanks for the help, guess I'll get what I pay for OR pay for what I get!


What kind of maple was it, do you know? If a soft/silver maple and you
have a garden spot and a place to let it compost for a while, it will
eventually break down and be of some use for additional humus if your
soil needs it. Sugar maple ("hard" maple) is much more
weather-resistant and would take quite a bit longer...

As an alternative to having to haul it off, perhaps, and depending on
how much of it there actually is...

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On Jul 4, 2:05?pm, "Shopdog" wrote:
OK OK Anyone got a pickup truck I can borrow for about an hour?

OR......

anyone want some FREEE mulch!

Thanks for the help, guess I'll get what I pay for OR pay for what I get!

SD


start a compost pile, what you have will be wonderful black rich
topsoil probably within a year. i did that my yard looked wonderful
the next year.

just pile it up add a few shovefulls of dirt as you make pile,
surround with cheap wire fence if your concerned with it blowing
around,

you can forgget about it but churning it gets it decomposed faster.

excelent topsoil, free and easy

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Default I think I screwed up

I think we will pile it up and let it sit, we do have many palces that I
could use the soil. I have a strawberry patch thats coming out, so I could
just pile it there.

Thanks for the advice

SD


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On Jul 4, 9:37 am, "Shopdog" wrote:
OK, here's the thing. We have an area about 100 sq ft that my son's cedar
playset sits in, right now there is just a layer of clean sand down. We have
been planning on doing the tire mulch thing. But after pricing it we figured
on the real thing. So, The other day our neighbors have this tree company
taking down a healthy maple. So, I stop by and ask what they did with the
mulch, just drop it off at the yard came the reply. Why, did you want it, OH
WOW, FREE MULCH. How could I resist? Well, when I got home there was this
pile of leaves/mulch and leaves LOTS OF LEAVES. Now I got a pile of leaves
in my driveway.

Is this going to be a mistake? How long is it going to take for the leaves
to decompose so its a decent mulch for the play area? Can I just throw it
down now, just to get it out of my driveway?

Thanks

SD


The NG has addressed the wood mulch question adequately. I would also
not use the mulch made from ground up tires either. I recently watched
a group of children playing in the stuff and they left looking like
they just finished their shift in a coal mine.
Joe G



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"dpb" wrote in message ...
Shopdog wrote:
OK OK Anyone got a pickup truck I can borrow for about an hour?


Where are you? (I'm safe, they're no trees around here)


OR......

anyone want some FREEE mulch!




Thanks for the help, guess I'll get what I pay for OR pay for what I
get!


What kind of maple was it, do you know? If a soft/silver maple and you
have a garden spot and a place to let it compost for a while, it will
eventually break down and be of some use for additional humus if your soil
needs it. Sugar maple ("hard" maple) is much more weather-resistant and
would take quite a bit longer...

As an alternative to having to haul it off, perhaps, and depending on how
much of it there actually is...

--


Another possible is to shred it and use it as an outdoor catbox filler. My
Doug Fir dumps branches and needles all the time, plus those damn tiny pine
cones they produce - after I shred it with a chipper the cats love to use it
instead of my herbal garden.


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Sorry, But I do want to attract any cats to my yard. They are all feral
around here and quite a nusciance. Plus my dog wouldn't allow it!

SD


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Default I think I screwed up

I noticed that too, I think that after it has been exposed sufficiently to
the weather the "paint" would eventually wear off. Our son is just as happy
having the sand under his playground, we just wanted a better "match" to our
landscape. That 100 sq ft with its white sand really stands out!


SD


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"Shopdog" wrote in message
news:scTii.16322$MR5.14047@trndny02...
Sorry, But I do want to attract any cats to my yard. They are all feral
around here and quite a nusciance. Plus my dog wouldn't allow it!

SD



You "do" or "don't"? :-)


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"Shopdog" wrote in message
news:wfTii.12597$pa5.5089@trndny05...
I noticed that too, I think that after it has been exposed sufficiently to
the weather the "paint" would eventually wear off. Our son is just as

happy
having the sand under his playground, we just wanted a better "match" to

our
landscape. That 100 sq ft with its white sand really stands out!


SD



If it's that big of deal, you can buy colored sand.




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kjpro @ usenet.com wrote:
"Shopdog" wrote in message
news:scTii.16322$MR5.14047@trndny02...
Sorry, But I do want to attract any cats to my yard. They are all feral
around here and quite a nusciance. Plus my dog wouldn't allow it!

SD



You "do" or "don't"? :-)


I think HE does but his dog won't let him...

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Shopdog wrote:
I think we will pile it up and let it sit, we do have many palces that I
could use the soil. I have a strawberry patch thats coming out, so I could
just pile it there.

Thanks for the advice


Not when it's new--that's a _bad_ idea. When it's new and decomposing
it will be a nitrogen sink and add heat. Be good _AFTER_ it's
composted, but not until (except only as walkway mud barrier between
plants, perhaps).

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The area in question used to be an above ground pool (before we bought the
house it collapsed) what was left was a nice round compacted sand area.
instead of removing the sand we chose to put the playset there. We have been
putting off sprucing it up, due to new baby, and many projects within the
house. Now that we are finishing up in the house I figured to get the play
area out of the way.

I DON"T WANT CATS!!

I will end up composting the chips and leaves in the area where we had a
strawberry patch. It can just sit there til next spring, since I don't
really feel like working that area yet.

SD


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