On Wed, 20 Jul 2005 15:13:47 +0000 (UTC), "nambucca"
wrote:


"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
Can I spread "raw" shreddings out of a garden shredder as a mulch or do i
need to compost it first please? I had some idea that spreading it
uncomposted would affect teh nitrogen content of the soil but was not
sure.
Thanks,
Hayley


If you spread shreddings raw they will indeed rob the soil of nitrogen etc

Compost them with grass cuttings, weeds, shredded paper /carboard and horse
manure/ stable clearings plus lashings of night water ............mix well
and turn into another compost bin in 3 months then again in another 3 months
............then by a year you should have pretty good compost which you can
spread .........Jan /feb is the best time to pile it on



All good advice if you've got enough other stuff. But if, like me, you
tend to have a large amount of shreddings from a woody hedge or large
shrubs that are being cut back hard, just bag it all up in old peat or
compost bags (I use the big so-called 'dumpy bags' that builders get
their sand delivered in, roughly 1 cu.m. I guess; I've just filled
three!), keep them six months to get the decomp[osition going and then
spread it on, thickly.

This morning I just pushed my hand quite deep into one of the bags
filled last week. I had to withdraw it sharply; was it hot in there!


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net