Re: Question about composting
- To:
- Subject: Re: Question about composting
- From: M* T*
- Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 01:27:51 -0500
Nan's right.
In my experience, it takes a huge pile (15' diameter; 5' high) of shredded
pine trees about 5 years to become rotted enough to incorporate into the
soil. Two years to make a good mulch....and this included pine needles,
green at the time of shredding so providing some nitrogen to the mix.
If your pile is only one stump, you will really need to mix it with other
organic material so you have enough volume to heat and rot....grass
clippings would be very good, since they are so high in nitrogen. And,
you will need to keep it damp, otherwise it will take quite a few years
longer to rot. If you just leave it where it sits, it will eventually rot
down, but you are talking a longish period of time.
Another thing I've found in big piles of wood chips is that if they aren't
thoroughly damp, the dryer parts won't turn black; they sort of turn into
lumps that are rather hard to break up and they don't rot like the moist
parts do.
But, all wood will eventually rot given time and moisture.
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
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----------
> From: Nan Sterman <nsterman@mindsovermatter.com>
> Date: Thursday, March 18, 1999 11:46 PM
>
> >>Does anyone know the best way to compost the shredded material from
pine
> >>tree stumps? Would black plastic bags with holes work as with dead dry
> >>leaves? Or should it just be left in a pile? I'd like to use it for
soil
> >>amendment in my perennial beds a few months..or years down the road. Is
> >>this a good idea?
> >
> >We have found pine tree stump grindings to be extremely slow to
decompose
> >as they usually contian a large amount of resins, more so in the stump.
> >Would not recommend using them until they are well decomposed as an
> >adamant to garden soil. If you really want to compost them mix in
> >gradually with your other compost materials. We doubt if using plastic
> >bags would help much.
> >
> >Actually we only use this type of material to cover are pathways.
>
> I think that the amount of resin would depend upon the variety of pine --
> some seem to have more and some less. If you want to use the bark for
soil
> amendment, I'd DEFINITELY compost it first. To speed up the
decoposition,
> you'll need to add a nitrogen source. You know how they always recommend
> layering the compost materials -- Carbon, nitrogen, carbon, nitrogen and
> then watering it well. Here in the Southwest where we dont get much
rain,
> we have to water our compost piles (and cover them with plastic or other
> water conserving materials). In rainier parts of the country, you might
> need to cover them so they don't get too wet and start to smell. Also,
the
> smaller your bark is shredded, the sooner it will break down.
>
> I'd say its definitely worth a try to compost it. Maybe layer it all
> together and leave it sit in a pile for a while if you don't want to go
to
> the effort of turning it for quicker compost.
>
> What I don't recommend is applying straight shredded bark as a mulch
layer....
>
> Nan
>
> **********
> '''''''''''''''''''''''
> Nan Sterman
> San Diego County California
> Sunset zone 24, USDA hardiness zone 10b or 11
>
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