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Are Long Island free municipal compost & wood chips OK to use?
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Posted by sincny z6/7a NY (My Page) on Tue, Sep 28, 04 at 10:50
| Hi, I'm pretty new to Gardenweb. I live on Long Island and was very excited to discover this Northeast Coastal forum! This is my very first post, so I hope I do it right.
I recently phoned one of the Municipal sites here on LI that has free compost and wood chips. I asked if it's OK to use the compost on my grass, as a top dressing. The response was that I should NEVER put the free town compost on my grass, because it is not heated up enough to kill weed seeds and would therefore add weeds to the grass. I was told only to use it on flower/veggie gardens.
The person on the phone also said that the LI Municipal compost is not fully digested compost, but rather the kind that still has pieces of undigested ingredients in it. Plus he said that the wood chips they have are not as clean as what you'd buy in a store and could contain a lot of bugs.
So now I'm wondering - is it worth using any of the free LI Municipal compost or wood chips? Or should I just continue buying them from the garden center? I would hate to add more weeds and insects to my yard. I have enough as it is! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Are Long Island free municipal compost & wood chips OK to us
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- Posted by Donn_ Z 7, seaside,NY (My Page) on
Tue, Sep 28, 04 at 14:08
| I'm going to order a load of wood chips from my town, but, at the suggestion of one of the guys who works on a town tree crew, I'm waiting until late fall, after leaf season is over. That way, he says, I'll get just wood, and no greenery. Depending on how finely shredded it is, I may re-shred it. I'll use some for mulching paths, some for beds, and the finest will go into my compost pile. |
RE: Are Long Island free municipal compost & wood chips OK to us
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I also like to re-shred municipal wood chips, and have had no problems using them. I'm on Cape Cod, but would not imagine any difference in the product. I DO worry about using leaves, in case any really nasty chemicals have been applied, so I either get the chips in the fall or let them sit for a season in an out of the way part of the yard before using them.
Also, you might be concerned if you have any vulnerable trees, ie we have some sort of maple disease in town that may be present in the chips, so I don't use them anywhere around my maples (though I'm always secretly hoping those darn maples will succumb, so I can plant something more interesting). |
RE: Are Long Island free municipal compost & wood chips OK to us
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| hi i came across this sight by visiting google search for wood chips.do you know of anywhere i could get free or almost free wood chips... |
RE: Are Long Island free municipal compost & wood chips OK to us
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- Posted by KWoods Cold z7 Long Is (My Page) on
Mon, Nov 22, 04 at 15:56
| Hi, saberonyx. I'm in Glen Cove and I just spread around 20 yards of chips obtained free from a tree removal service. Most tree services will give them away free because they otherwise would have to pay to dump them. Just be careful. Tree services often remove diseased trees. Also try and get chips from good trees (pines are best but hardwoods are good too). There was a little black cherry in my chips even though I asked for only the maple I saw the service removing. It does not chip well and you get a lot of branches. |
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