I hope you're right about the loppers waste as mulch. A mountain of the
stuff was delivered today & I've been spreading it around, although keeping
it away from the trunks of plants. Obviously the lopper lopped an orange,
because the pile reeks of orange, perhaps valencia or navel... yum!

Exhasted & the pile barely touched
Wanda

good stuff wanda,

i've used about 50 cubes of it in the past years.

yeh no fun moving it hey you fill a barrow it weighs almost nothing
and the pile never seems to get smaller.

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/

A couple of people have suggested this could be whiteant attracting. Have
you had, or heard of, this? Just incase I have kept the mulch about 10cm
away from the house.

"len gardener" wrote in message
...
good stuff wanda,

i've used about 50 cubes of it in the past years.

yeh no fun moving it hey you fill a barrow it weighs almost nothing
and the pile never seems to get smaller.

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the
environment
http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/

g'day wanda,

yes i have heard this, seems to be a bit of a catch cry, i have never
seen whiteants in all the years i have used it. then if there are
whiteants in your garden that is to be expected we do live in
australia, noted for its whiteants.

now are those w/ants going to eat your home??? dunno there are maybe a
dozen different types of subterranian termites (the ones where the
attacks will come from) but not all those types will invade homes,
then there are the mounding termites and never heard of them infesting
homes.

now of course everyone should know not to have gardens or paths up
against the house or the foundations of the house this is a good
invitation by itself for termites to take up residence. you should
have at least 1 meter clear way before you have a path or gardens this
no-mans land should be covered with loose gravel/stones so it doesn't
provide a haven for termites.

the other thing you must do is create a termite protection barrier for
you home and sheds, you can use chemical control treatments or the
more passive trap attractent type methods but if you protect your home
etc.,. then if the little beggers do eat a little of you mulch or
newspaper that you have used in the agrden it won't matter because at
the the end of the day all they ahve done is to help you recycle
organic material like lots of other things do.

you need to consult one of those specialist experts to discuss your
issues of protecting your home etc.,. seek different opinions.

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/

"Wanda" writes:

A couple of people have suggested this could be whiteant
attracting. Have you had, or heard of, this? Just incase I have kept
the mulch about 10cm away from the house.

Well, when whiteants breed they can travel a long way to find a new
home, so to stop attaracting termites to your house, you really need
to remove all sources of wood from around 100km around your house.
These days, termite contractors actually place sawdust baits outside
your house to detect termites before they invade your house. You can
use your mulch for much the same purpose.

Also, these creatures are not stupid. They will colonise the easiest
to eat areas first (soft damp rotting wood) and only move on to the
less palatable sources when their numbers are up.

Even termite removal contractors don't moan about woodchip mulch
around the house, although they do tend to grumble about logs, and
wood used for garden beds and other structural purposes.

My 2 cents.

--
Take my first and surname to email me and replace the abuse.

Ahh, we recently found lots of termite activity around the home (luckily,
not the actual house) so of course we have the whole Sentricon system in
place.

Needless to say we have removed the food source (and possibly where many may
have been introduced) - the 700kg woodchips in our gardens. Mainly had it
to stop weeds more than anything. What a weekend that was!!!

We now have weedmat with Sugar Cane Mulch - the good thing is, one of the
gardens has had this solution for a while now with not one weed in it.
Before we had anything we were doing major garden rip out and weedings every
few months.

Although anything with cellulose will be a nice food source for termites, we
have found the weedmat underneat allows the water to get to the garden and
keeps the mulch about dry yet the gardens moist - hence the termites are
less likely to go for non breaking down materials that are dry. Not only
that but the mulched gardens are going nuts! For example we are pruning the
roses every 3 months as they are getting out of hand, we have a peach on a
peach tree that was bought as a 2 ft tree about 4 months ago (tree is now
6ft) and nuts on our 8ft Macadamia that was purchased as a 4ft wiry tree
about 12 mths ago. I cannot recommend the weed mat and sugar cane mulch
solution high enough.

Now all I need to know is why the Lime tree (in the same garden) has only
grown about 30cm in 2.5yrs!!! Me thinks the tree might be a retarded
specimen......



"Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish" wrote in message
...
"Wanda" writes:

A couple of people have suggested this could be whiteant
attracting. Have you had, or heard of, this? Just incase I have kept
the mulch about 10cm away from the house.

Well, when whiteants breed they can travel a long way to find a new
home, so to stop attaracting termites to your house, you really need
to remove all sources of wood from around 100km around your house.
These days, termite contractors actually place sawdust baits outside
your house to detect termites before they invade your house. You can
use your mulch for much the same purpose.

Also, these creatures are not stupid. They will colonise the easiest
to eat areas first (soft damp rotting wood) and only move on to the
less palatable sources when their numbers are up.

Even termite removal contractors don't moan about woodchip mulch
around the house, although they do tend to grumble about logs, and
wood used for garden beds and other structural purposes.

My 2 cents.

--
Take my first and surname to email me and replace the abuse.

"Martin Field" writes:

Ahh, we recently found lots of termite activity around the home (luckily,
not the actual house) so of course we have the whole Sentricon system in
place.

That backs up my theory (below). There was more good food around the
house, so the hard to eat unrotted stuff in the house will be left til
last or forgotten. I had a friend who had a long standing termite
problem in the garden, but he eventually (some years) later got round
to getting the termite guys in, and again there were no termites in
his house, despite termites up to the back door.



Needless to say we have removed the food source (and possibly where many may
have been introduced) - the 700kg woodchips in our gardens. Mainly had it
to stop weeds more than anything. What a weekend that was!!!


What area around the house did you clear?



"Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish" wrote in message
...
"Wanda" writes:

A couple of people have suggested this could be whiteant
attracting. Have you had, or heard of, this? Just incase I have kept
the mulch about 10cm away from the house.

Well, when whiteants breed they can travel a long way to find a new
home, so to stop attaracting termites to your house, you really need
to remove all sources of wood from around 100km around your house.
These days, termite contractors actually place sawdust baits outside
your house to detect termites before they invade your house. You can
use your mulch for much the same purpose.

Also, these creatures are not stupid. They will colonise the easiest
to eat areas first (soft damp rotting wood) and only move on to the
less palatable sources when their numbers are up.

Even termite removal contractors don't moan about woodchip mulch
around the house, although they do tend to grumble about logs, and
wood used for garden beds and other structural purposes.

My 2 cents.

--
Take my first and surname to email me and replace the abuse.



--
Take my first and surname to email me and replace the abuse.

i've met quiet a few people like myself who reckon if you create an
area in your garden and put old tree branches even unwanted pieces of
timber the white ants find this as a food source and stay away from
the house, i've never had termites in my houses despite using app' 30
or 40 cu/mtrs of chipped tree mulch over the years.

after all the termites are there all the time we mostly don't see them
when they are seen, some panic and pest controllers make a killing.
plus as one pest man who seemed more down to earth that others said
there is nothing that says the ones you see are of the sort that will
attack your home.

seems to me like a lot of work has been done for at best a dubious
result. with my gardens full of tree mulch i also had centricon
installed in the 2 years i used the system there was never any
evidience that the house was at risk. in the end it all comes back to
a common sense approach to the whole subject, proaction instead of
reaction.

happy new year

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/

i've met quiet a few people like myself who reckon if you create an
area in your garden and put old tree branches even unwanted pieces of
timber the white ants find this as a food source and stay away from
the house, i've never had termites in my houses despite using app' 30
or 40 cu/mtrs of chipped tree mulch over the years.

after all the termites are there all the time we mostly don't see them
when they are seen, some panic and pest controllers make a killing.
plus as one pest man who seemed more down to earth that others said
there is nothing that says the ones you see are of the sort that will
attack your home.

seems to me like a lot of work has been done for at best a dubious
result. with my gardens full of tree mulch i also had centricon
installed in the 2 years i used the system there was never any
evidience that the house was at risk. in the end it all comes back to
a common sense approach to the whole subject, proaction instead of
reaction.

happy new year

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/

i've met quiet a few people like myself who reckon if you create an
area in your garden and put old tree branches even unwanted pieces of
timber the white ants find this as a food source and stay away from
the house, i've never had termites in my houses despite using app' 30
or 40 cu/mtrs of chipped tree mulch over the years.

after all the termites are there all the time we mostly don't see them
when they are seen, some panic and pest controllers make a killing.
plus as one pest man who seemed more down to earth that others said
there is nothing that says the ones you see are of the sort that will
attack your home.

seems to me like a lot of work has been done for at best a dubious
result. with my gardens full of tree mulch i also had centricon
installed in the 2 years i used the system there was never any
evidience that the house was at risk. in the end it all comes back to
a common sense approach to the whole subject, proaction instead of
reaction.

happy new year

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/

Hi Len,

Termites are everywhere, obviously those of us who do a lot of gardening
find them more than those who don't. I must admit when I first found some I
did panic. After all we are paying the bank a large part of our income for
25 yrs for this place - and the thought of termites is pretty scary.

Its hard to tell whether to keep a food source around the perimeter of the
yard or remove most of it - I'm in 2 minds myself, however my opinion is if
there is a lot of food for them, by the sheer numbers that visit the yard
whats to say a few won't wander over to the house......

Our Sentricon system has been in place for 6 months and we have been hit in
one of them - since it is within 20cm of the house, its pretty scary to
think they were so close. Chances are the house would have been its target
if not for the sentricon - but then again, considering their only path into
the wood of the house is up the brick supports, why would they come up from
their cosy undergound hideout - they are just as likey to keep going and
maybe attack something out in the garden (or with any luck our d*ickhead
neighbours!).

When we purchased, we knew there was previous damage to the unattached
garage and old paling fences but there was so activity. I think in
hindsight considering how many there are here around the yard, even though
it is still no gaurantee, I don't think we would consider another home that
has had obvious previous moderate termite damage.

A steel framed home might be a good idea. Who cares if they eat the
skirting boards really!!!

Just one more point - our pest inspector said that in rural areas termite
damage in homes is so low due to the surrounding food source......his
company recently inspected a 30 yr old entirely wooden home in a fairly
bushy area (with around about 10 acres cleared from the house) and there was
no termite activity in the home at all. Plenty of rot, but no termites.

Martin

"len gardener" wrote in message
...
i've met quiet a few people like myself who reckon if you create an
area in your garden and put old tree branches even unwanted pieces of
timber the white ants find this as a food source and stay away from
the house, i've never had termites in my houses despite using app' 30
or 40 cu/mtrs of chipped tree mulch over the years.

after all the termites are there all the time we mostly don't see them
when they are seen, some panic and pest controllers make a killing.
plus as one pest man who seemed more down to earth that others said
there is nothing that says the ones you see are of the sort that will
attack your home.

seems to me like a lot of work has been done for at best a dubious
result. with my gardens full of tree mulch i also had centricon
installed in the 2 years i used the system there was never any
evidience that the house was at risk. in the end it all comes back to
a common sense approach to the whole subject, proaction instead of
reaction.

happy new year

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the
environment
http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/

g'day martin,

reckon that centricon system is a good system there are others
similar. our house is steel and concrete with very little wood trim
for that very reason, termite resistant and fire resistant, also no
passive termite control needed with council blessings not needed maybe
all homes in termite infested australia should be built of steel
etc.,. termites will travel up the inside of cement or brick stumps if
they can find a crack big enough to get through, they need a covered
pathway that is why they build tunnels in the open.

and as the termite fella said rural homes suffer less because there is
heaps of food source for the termites, that's is why some of us always
had piles of branches and timber up in the gardens to keep the little
beggers happy.

i've done a lot of gardening but not like most i set a garden up then
just keep adding mulch and plants as needed i don't spend time in the
garden weeding or digging, that's the permaculture way spend more time
enjoying the fruits of our labour or enjoying our favourite drink than
maintaining a garden. ours are weed free, water wise & no dig. so our
opportunities to see termites in the garden are far reduced but we can
get by without the experience.

we had centricon at our last place in the 'burbs and in 2 years never
got one look in at the traps, the place had never been treated that we
could determine and had never been visited by termites although the
fence up the back appeared to have been hit by termites some long time
ago.

take care

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://home.dnet.aunz.com/gardnlen/

Beware NEW loppers mulch as it composts under the tree and gets very hot and
burns them. It needs to have composted first.

Sandra

"Wanda" wrote in message
...
I hope you're right about the loppers waste as mulch. A mountain of the
stuff was delivered today & I've been spreading it around, although
keeping
it away from the trunks of plants. Obviously the lopper lopped an orange,
because the pile reeks of orange, perhaps valencia or navel... yum!

Exhasted & the pile barely touched
Wanda