Subject: Pine shavings as mulch?

From: [email-masked] (Tien-Yee Chiu)
Date: 20 Mar 1995 23:34:51 GMT

Has anyone else tried pine shavings as a feeding mulch?
	I got extremely frustrated at the prices of compost and commercial
mulches (I have an apartment and have a plot at a community garden, so
I don't have any convenient lawn clippings and my fiance REFUSES to have
a balcony composter), so I've been buying pine shavings at my local feed &
tack (i.e. horse stuff) store and using those.  $5 for a 40 lb. bag, and
it seems to work pretty well as a mulch (I add a bit of nitrogen)--packs
down and prevents weed growth with only a thin layer.  No weed seeds, either.
	Has anyone else tried this?  Is there a reason why I've never seen
it recommended?

					Tien Chiu

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From: [email-masked] (Vince Miller)
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 1995 21:28:33 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Jeff Cook) writes:

>In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Tien-Yee Chiu) writes:

>>...(I have an apartment and have a plot at a community garden, so
>>a balcony composter)...

>This doesn't really answer your main question, but I just wanted to put in
>a side note:  If you want grass clippings, you could try cruising around
>the neighborhood on Saturday mornings, looking for homeowners who are
>mowing their yards.  I'll bet a lot of them would be delighted to let you
>take their grass clippings off their hands.

I thought about this, since my push mower just mulches.  However, many of my 
neighbors spray thier yards for fleas and use herbicides, which I don't 
want.  It's a good idea  for leaves though.

Vince

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From: ettings <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 95 00:35:27 -0500

might be
I wanted to use woodchips from the local lumberyard, but was afraid to since
there might be too much acid in them.  I checked with a local display garden,
and the owners said they'd used them with no problems, so I did, too.  I had
great results.  I was warned, however, not to mix it into the soil: apparently
the decomposition process would rob the soil of its nitrogen, starving
the plant foliage.
 
Carol

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From: [email-masked] (Jeff Cook)
Date: 21 Mar 1995 19:23:23 GMT

That's what I'm doing for leaves in the fall--my property doesn't get
enough leaves for my compost pile, so I'm letting friends and neighbors
drop off their leaves at my place.  That way, I'll get the "brown stuff"
I need, and they won't have to pay to dump their leaves at the landfill.
--

Jeff Cook                                 [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Vince Miller)
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 1995 21:28:33 GMT

Vince

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From: ettings <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 95 00:35:27 -0500

might be
 
Carol

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From: [email-masked] (Jeff Cook)
Date: 21 Mar 1995 19:23:23 GMT

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From: Paula M Craft <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 20:40:29 -0700

We buy $5 truckloads of pine chippings from the local mills and all my 
flower beds are mulched with them..  The "robbing nitrogen" is a sort of 
myth, I've never had a problem.  I've also used pine shavings from our 
shop for containers with good results.  I find them quite attractive.  

- Paula Craft