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Old 20-03-2012, 08:51 PM
lannerman lannerman is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: May 2009
Location: Lanner. Cornwall.
Posts: 359
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shazzbat View Post
The tree fellers are busy across the road, at long last cutting down a row
of leylandii which this morning were about 10 feet taller than the houses.
They are shredding the branches into a truck, and I'm sure if I asked them
they'd let me have a load. I'm wondering about their suitability as a mulch
for the fruit bushes on the allotment to keep the weeds down. Anybody done
this, and is there a down side? OK, there's always a down side, what's the
down side here?

Steve
Hi Steve, several years ago I had a similar situation where by I also had a row of mature Leylandii felled. The tree surgeon took away the timber but left the shedded greenery which I left in a pile for about six months by which time it did make a perfect mulch. I'd suggest that if you manage to acquire any that you too leave it in a heap to 'mature'. By the time i got to the bottom of the heap (about a year later) it was like peat and i even used it to bulk up my compost for potting shrubs !! I wish I could have another such pile it was very useful stuff. The only downside is that you need somewhere to store it, I cant think of any other reason why you shouldnt use it. It heats up tremendously when its first put in a heap which not only sterilizes it but also helps to break it down.
best of luck ( I hope its not already spoken for ??) Lannerman.