"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
om...
Alan Gould wrote in message
...
In article , Nick Maclaren
writes

Oh, come off it! That is scientific nonsense. Depending on what it
was treated with, there is SOME chance of a residue, but that is
small. And then there is another small chance that such a residue
would cause significant damage to plant roots. "Very risky" is
nonsense - the risk is somewhere between very small indeed and nil.

I was thinking more about from what the tree died than with what it had
been treated. Fungal spores can live on in decaying material for ages.

Sensible caution, I'd say. But if the tree _did_ die of a fungal
infection (and that's _if_), those spores are dotted around the whole
neighbourhood already. If your compost-heap's a good one, or if you
leave it a long time, I wouldn't hesitate to mix in the already
rotting material from the old tree. Best to chuck in some extra
nitrogen.

What makes me uncomfortable -- unduly so, according to some here -- is
burying undecayed wood.

Ocassionally, the splinters of timber used to make the compost bins snaps
off, or some bits of fencing wood has found its way into the heap. Later, on
finding such things I note the do not really rot down, but boy oh boy, the
worms sure do seem to find them attractive.

Patrick.