Fuschia wrote:
On Thu, 25 Aug 2016 09:32:22 +0100, Jeff Layman
wrote:

In the next month or so I'm having a conifer (leylandii) hedge taken
out. There are around 20 trees 6 or 7 metres high.

The trunks and larger branches will be cut and stored for the
log-burning stove. But I'm wondering if the smaller woody and green
stuff would make a good mulch for the flower beds once shredded. I have
around 100^2 metres of beds, so reckon around 7.5^3m of mulch could be
used to cover them to a decent depth. I could store some more if needed,
as I reckon at least 10^3m of shredded material will be produced from
the trees.

There seem to be mixed comments on numerous webpages about the use of
shredded conifer as a mulch, but I reckon it will do more good than harm
(especially with the weeks of drought we seem to get now). Anyone used
this material as a mulch in the last few years?


Be VERY careful putting it on the stove!

Pine logs can explode violently due to the oil inside.

Leylandii are a long, long way from pine. We have burnt probably
several tonnes of them over the past twenty years or so (we haven't
quite finished felling the Leylandii yet!).

Although technically Leylandii are softwood in practice it behaves
much more like a hardwood, it's close grained and quite hard. It's
incredibly robust outdoors, we have poles which have been used as
markers laid on the ground which have lasted well over ten years.

Leylandii actually burns quite nicely, as with any wood you have to
keep it for long enough to make it reasonably dry, a year is OK. We
also have some pine trees and burning that there's no comparison
(still, if it's properly dried, it's OK).

--
Chris Green
·