Pitchfork Blues

Ok, I'm tired..lol. Today I passed a landscape crew taking down a tree. I thought..wow..what are they going to do with the mulch? Most likely they have to pay to dump it..wouldn't hurt to ask to take it from them..right, gardeners? The mulch was perfect, neatly chunked and not a lot of green growth filler. My garden path already felt great walking over the stuff..lol. Anyway, the foreman was as happy as a bee when I asked for the mulch (pointing to the one truck at the site) and he was more than happy to dump it at the base of my driveway today. After giving him directions, I left to do errands and kid duty. Upon returning to my home, not only did this guy dump the ONE truckload of mulch that I wanted....he had FOUR other trucks dump their loads out front here...YIKES! I now have mountains of chipped bark that have to be removed by me and a wee little red wagon! It's sort of funny, since DH will have a "I should have guessed" look when he arrives home but, ya know, I just have these pitchfork blues when I think of all that work tomorrow...lol.
Trish

Wow, Dicentra. Delivered and everything, free of charge? Excellent bargain! Congrats and have fun carting all that stuff. :-)

Dave

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Gee, thanks Dave and Patty...I'm already singing to get my spirits in better moods..he he. I guess it is a blessing in disguise..lol. Yes, Dave, free and delivered...all of it! In this area, most landscapers have to pay to dump their loads and people/consumers mostly buy the processed mulches (dyed red, pine bark, licorice root, etc..), so this stuff is considered "trash". The trick is finding a small landscape company to dump only one truckload at a time, whereras companies like Asplundh have huge trucks with too much mulch for me at a time. Ho hummmmm, I really will try to break a smile while carting the goods away from the mountain..lol.
Trish

Yikes Trish!! My back is aching just thinking about it! Pitchfork Blues is right! It's a great deal but I can see your dilemma. If you have the room maybe you can use the extra mulch to prepare some new beds ..... you know....the lasagna method that's so popular. It would make all your hard work worth the effort and next year be all set to plant them. http://www.lasagnagardening.com/ I haven't tried this method myself but with 4 truckloads of mulch I think I could eliminate the rest of my lawn!

Tom Clothier has a good article about turning Christmas tree mulch into rich garden soil that's informative too. Here's the link if you want to read it. http://www.anet-chi.com/~manytimes/page4.htm

Just think ... with such thoroughly mulched beds you probably won't have to pull a weed or water your plants all summer :) We all should be so lucky!

Thanks Poppysue..can you tell that I'm still on Davesgarden here and procrastinating about getting started today?..lol
Trish

Trish, with all the money you saved, I think you can buy a lawn tractor and a good-sized lawn cart, LOL! (My DH hates it when I do that kind of mathematical logic.) Or at least a good wheelbarrow/cart thingy....that little red wagon's gonna get mighty tired (not to mention you!)

My back is aching in sympathy for you.....but what a deal!