Free mulch (San Antonio, Bowie, Anton: how much, house, to buy)

[JCoyle]

I'm mulching my garden tomorrow. Trying to decide between the good stuff (expensive) from garden-ville and the free mulch from the city. Has anyone tried the free mulch? Is it any good?

[shenane]

Well, the good thing about the free mulch is that you can pull your pickup truck up to the pile and a they will come up with one of those scooping things (I don't know what they call that thing) and fill your truck up in one scoop.
If you decide to go that route, remember to bring a tarp to cover your load.

I went there and didn't like it. IMHO, it was a bunch of stinky twigs and sticks with a little trash scattered through out. There is a pile that costs (I don't know how much) but it wasn't much better than the free pile.

When you get there, there is sign that says "be prepared to show your CPS bill to prove that you live in San Antonio" (paraphrasing). I didn't have that and they didn't ask for it.

I scooped up a little in put it in a garbage bag simply because I had driven all the way over there, then I went straight to Lowes to purchase some cedar bark mulch.

If it's for a vegetable garden or something, I would say go for it. You probably use manure and stuff anyway. But I was looking for something for right in front of my house that I'm trying to sell. I didn't want something stinky and ugly there.

Originally Posted by JCoyle

I'm mulching my garden tomorrow. Trying to decide between the good stuff (expensive) from garden-ville and the free mulch from the city. Has anyone tried the free mulch? Is it any good?

[Paka]

The one thing that scares me about "free" mulch is the possibility of Oak Wilt.

I watch folks stop along the side of 1604 as they were clearing for expansion and scoop up the free mulch after the trees were chipped, but I have been told that you need to let it sit at least 6 months before you are free of disease, bugs, critters that might have been able to cause damage to your own trees. Kinda like burning wood that has not been "cured".

Don't know if it is true, but just thought if I throw this out there someone more in the know might be able to clarify.

With two HUGE oak trees over 145 yrs old, I am NOT interested in cutting corners that might cost me both my trees and HUGE removal fees! (not to mention loosing my beautiful trees and all the shade they provide!)

[JCoyle]

Great advice. Thank you both. I had heard that the free mulch ugly and trash-filled but then I read an article by a SAWS official saying it was high quality stuff. I'll take your word for it.

[SnappyBob]

If your looking for pretty mulch then I would go buy some cedar mulch. But basically mulch is mulch. It all does the same thing. Personally I use the pecan leaves that fell last fall. I save them in bags and then suck them up with my leaf blower set to vacuum. This grinds them up nicely and makes good veggie garden mulch.

[shenane]

Very smart use of your leaf blower - instead of what i usually see. People make all that noise and just blow the leaves over into the neighbors yard. All that exhaust and noise and the leaves are still there

Originally Posted by SnappyBob

If your looking for pretty mulch then I would go buy some cedar mulch. But basically mulch is mulch. It all does the same thing. Personally I use the pecan leaves that fell last fall. I save them in bags and then suck them up with my leaf blower set to vacuum. This grinds them up nicely and makes good veggie garden mulch.

[did0c]

This topic is of great interest to me because we need to mulch the front of our house to sell too. I didn't even know about the free offer but thanks for the replies so we won't do that.

Does anyone know of a good place to get mulch at a cheap price?

[Bo]

Originally Posted by did0c

Does anyone know of a good place to get mulch at a cheap price?

It's always cheaper to buy it in bulk. I usually get mine from GardenVille or Fertile Garden Supply. I think there's a place somewhere on the east side than makes mulch out of old pallets. That's probably cheap, too.

[did0c]

Thank you Bowie! I must spread some reputation around before giving you some more (so says the popup.) Thank you.

[TXtrkgrl]

Originally Posted by Bowie

It's always cheaper to buy it in bulk. I usually get mine from GardenVille or Fertile Garden Supply. I think there's a place somewhere on the east side than makes mulch out of old pallets. That's probably cheap, too.

Go to Walmart, pay for two bags, load up 10



just kidding of course~ But you could soooo do it.