Free Mulch!Free mulch?!?! I’m sorry, did you say “FREE”....”MULCH”?!?! Ok, now we’re talking! :) Are you aware of the fact that many municipalities have free mulch available to its residents via the city/village dump?? This mulch is made available to the residents as a result of the yard waste and tree debris that’s ground up to make a nice, natural, wood-chippy, wood-shreddy type mulch. (That may not be proper grammar, but I get seriously excited when I’m talking about mulch! Especially when it’s *FREE*!
I kid you not when I say this...I have collected at least 50 truckloads of mulch from my village dump over the last 5 years. I can’t get enough of the stuff, and neither can my family!) Depending on your particular municipality, the quality of your mulch may differ from that of your neighboring township. The “grinder” responsible for shredding my village’s yard waste does a F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S job of producing attractive shredded mulch - fancier that what can be purchased at many landscaping supply companies! I also live in a highly wooded area so there is lots and lots and lots of this mulch available throughout the season. My parents are not so fortunate in that their mulch is “chipped” instead of grinded or shredded, making their mulch somewhat less attractive, but still nice and natural. Of course, since their daughter owns a truck and has access to lovely shredded free mulch, they have landed themselves a truckload or two full of my village’s mulch from time to time. Which is the main reason I do not plan on disclosing what village I live in – the free mulch is available to “RESIDENTS ONLY.” (sssshhhhh...that’s our dirty little secret!) I don’t have much guilt about this though, considering the fact that my village has more mulch than they know what to do with. Did I point out that using natural (non-processed) wood chips or shredded wood such as that which would be found at your local dump, means that your mulch will naturally “break down” or “decompose” over time, and therefore will not need to be removed by you for any reason (easy breezy...I love it!) The only type of landscaping fabric I would use under this type of mulch is newspaper. You can layer sheets of newspaper (black and white sheets only – no coupon pages or colored ink) 3 to 4 sheets thick and place a 3 to 4 inch layer of mulch over the top. Both items will decompose over time, adding nutrients and improving the condition of the soil. This method will also provide a sufficient weed barrier throughout the season. I generally wet the sheets of newspaper as I go along to prevent them from flying away, and then pile the mulch right on top. Some people use shredded newspaper, however I find that I get much better organic weed control with full sheets of paper that are laid on top of each other in solid strips. I’ll eventually put some pictures up on this page of examples of the process to give you an idea. This process should provide you with good weed control for the season. For free mulch be sure to check out your local municipality’s dump. You may be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the material that you find, and may even prefer it to the fancier versions. See for yourself! Oh, and if your mulch is “shredded” be sure to pick yourself up a pitchfork....the kind used to bail hey. Shovels are too heavy and cumbersome, and pitchforks used for soil do not work well. Trust me on this. (Remember I’ve gotten over 50 truckloads of mulch from my village’s dump!) The men that I see at the dump’s mulch pile are quite indignant about the fact that a little woman like me can load my truck full of mulch faster than they can load a bucket or two! :) Happy mulching!
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