Hybrid hauling and towing mulch

[bbeverag]

I’ve never tried mulch from the dump myself, but the rumor where I live is that the dump guys sometimes throw furniture wood and particle boards into the chipper.

My city does yard waste collection regularly and grinds it up and offers it for free. They are strict on what they collect.

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[JohnCondren1933]

By " town transfer station", do you mean the place where the city arborists dump the tree debris from city property, which gets chipped and piled up? If so, (and I say this out of love for my Mav brother) those wood chips are garbage. It usually is comprised of many tree species, which are not appropriate for actual mulch. It decomposes fast, which takes nutrients(N-P-K) away from your plantings; it invites a party for undesirable guests, including termites, snails, centipedes, milipedes, slugs, crickets, mice, and up the food chain. Your property looks awesome. Using mulch made from 100% cedar is not cheap, but it is worth it, because not only does it break down slowly, but it also actually repels the nasties.

Can 100% agree!!
At the very least I would treat the mulch with pesticide to prevent what I am about to describe.

At my previous house some friends were getting piles of free wood chipper mulch from city, they got a couple truck loads for their raised garden beds & had extra asked if I wanted it. I said sure just dump it along the side of my house for a mulch bed.

Next day I came, it looked great, but Im noticing a bunch of ants. Assumed theyd stay outside, NO! Next day I see a couple ants on walls, the rug & kill them, turned to if I left a sandwich on the table half hour later it's swarmed in ants, sugar on the counter? Ants!

Sprays & bait traps over & over just get most of them only for them to return 2 weeks later.

Mulch farms are treating the wood, the free stuff you could be getting a sample of the worst pest outbreaks across your county. At least spray it then maybe keep it seal in bags for 4 or 5 days.