In my opinion it's a good product. I've never heard otherwise, plus I've been piling on the free mulch from chipped trees and brush for years without a problem.

I am fortunate enough to have enough room to get mine delivered (for free) from the tree trimming companies. It costs them quite a bit to dump it at the city dump, so they are elated when someone has room for it. I had five large truck loads dumped a few years back over a spot where the mud pumped out when they were drilling my well was. It has since become so rich that I am certain the "mud" will no longer be an issue for growing grass over it. In the meantime, I used it for mulch on my beds.
All this to say, it works for me, so why not give it a try?

On several occasions I've been fortunate to get some tree trimmers to dump a load or two in a vacant area one house over from mine. As Carrie says they are happy to not have to take it to the dump and it's handy to have it close by so I can load the wheelbarrow and put where needed. After a couple of years what I don't move makes some wonderful compost. So if you have a place for it and see a truck near by chipping the trees they are trimming just ask.

I get free mulch and compost from the city all the time. They give it away to any resident who wants it. Never had any trouble - in fact, quite the opposite. I've found it to be terrific. The compost is even better than expensive bagged soil.

The free mulch available at the SA brush disposal site is pretty coarse, and may not appeal to all. It has been allowed to "cure" for a while, though, and has taken on an attractive brown color. Don't recall ever having seen "weeds" dropped at this facility, mostly ash, elm, oak and cedar. As of last week, they were still giving away Christmas tree mulch, usually available only for a limited time. They will load it for you. Right now, there are at least two people in the SA area on Craigslist trying to give away cedar mulch.

The last batch of tree trimmings that I got from the electric company was pretty coarse, and mostly pine. I plan to put it in areas that are mostly trees, to cover some of the bare soil, so the size of the pieces shouldn't be an issue.

I really like the mulch, because there is limited possibility of it being sprayed with anything. Same thing with leaves (if I ever run out of them here). I wouldn't take anything like grass clippings, though, as folks throw all sorts of chemicals on their lawn and I don't want them here.

just want to let you know this...its awesome if it happens to you. The first year i got free mulch from my city I had a massive lady bug hatch from it the larvae were crawling all over my roses i thought omg...what have i done until i found out it was lady bugs and I am sure they saved not only my roses but also went after the aphids in my pecan tree. It seems the favourite place for them to lay their eggs is wood mulch. Happy gardening.

I use the mulch from the city in all the beds and the chicken cooop. You have to load it yourself here. Good exercise!
Tally Ho!

Tally! Haven't heard from you in ages. Good to see you posting!

Hi, Tally............good to have you back.....I've missed you.

HI everyone!
Tally HO!

Round Rock gives it away if you load it up yourself. I get lots of it and I've never had a problem with it. The worms love it and it sure does keep the weeds from sprouting.

I don't want to offend, but I think this type of "mulch" does more harm than good in the garden. I know it is free but it contains all sorts of things which I don't want in my garden. The pieces of wood this mulch contains just leaches the good stuff from your soil and it just sits there.

Now, "Hardwood mulch" or pine mulch is another thing. These products decompose in a couple of years and provides your soil with needed nutrients.

Again, this has been my experience in my years of gardening but I certainly don't want offend anyone by saying what I believe to be true.

to each his own. I have found that the free mulch I get from the city is usually oak, pecan, hackberry and palm branches that have been run through the mulcher. It does contain some large chunks that breakdown slowly, I throw them into the compost pile. Using it as potting mix in the spring yields a pot full of thick, black and rich soil by the middle of summer.

I`ve never had any kind of mulch last more than one season here, as a matter of fact I usually haul a load or 2 of mulch every time I have a couple of days off. I`ve bought about every kind of mulch available, cedar, hardwood, cypress and the only thing that ever lasted more than a month is the rubber mulch by the pond.

I use this mulch in my dogs kennel and it breaks down in a matter of a couple of weeks, I use it in the chicken coop and it lasts a lot longer, but they are not as hard on it as the dog and the coop is not exposed to rain.

I do not understand how mulch would leach the good stuff from my garden and just sit there and "hardwood" mulch wouldn`t, oak IS a hardwood and I`ve never seen any mulch do anything but sit there. Well, sometimes it floats around the yard and the chickens throw it everywhere.
Tally Ho!

My understanding is that the leaching of nutrients occurs when you dig it into the soil. The wood will use nitrogen to compost. As a mulch, this shouldn't happen.