Works For Me Wednesday: Free Mulch
Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 7:00AM MAD21 By MAD21
I'm always on the look-out for a good deal. And finding ways to take care of my yard that are economical (and ecofriendly) is no different.
The family we bought our house from had done over $4000 worth of landscaping just before they found out they had to move due to a job transfer. It's a lot more that I would have ever done myself (too much money, I hate to weed!), and it's a lot to take care of, but it is beautiful, and I kind of feel obligated to take care of something they had put so much time and effort into.
The first few years we lived in our house, we were like most people when it came to buying mulch for our flowerbeds. We'd truck ourselves off to Lowe's or Home Depot and buy bag, after bag, after bag. When you have five large flowerbeds like we do, that can be very expensive. Even having it delivered was expensive.
At some point we learned that our local yard waste disposal site offered free mulch. We were like.. "YAA!" (The mulch is free if you shovel it yourself, or you can pay $10 to have a frontloader fill your trailer.) We'd heard some positive and negative feedback from friends who had used it. Some thought it was awesome, others complained that it brought unwanted weeds and bugs to their yards. But we had to give it a try for ourselves.
I'm so glad we did. Out of all the years we have used the mulch there was only one year that we had some issues with thistles, but even now we aren't positive it was because of the mulch. We've also since learned that because of the curing process these places use to recycle everyone's yard waste into mulch, nothing can survive. No weeds, bugs or anything else.
I highly recommend you contacting your local yard waste facility and find out if they offer mulch either free or at a significantly reduced cost. It's totally worth it.
Every Wednesday, fellow blogger Kristen at We are THAT Family posts clever ideas for getting things done. She calls it, "Works For Me Wednesday" or WFMW. Be sure to go visit her blog to read her post along with links to other blogs who are participating.
Reader Comments (3)
We've done that a few times, but ended up going back to Cedar mulch because it kept bugs away. We live in the country and need as much help as we can! ;-)
You are very fortunate to live in an area like this! Our town charges for this mulch. Everyone's always trying to make a buck. Oh well.
Did they ask for proof of residency? I wonder if another area town might give theirs for free...hmmmm...
:)
Jenny- Unfortunately, I'm actually allergic to Cedar and most other trees. So we have to get mulch that doesn't keep it's smell for long.
Niki- It's free if you shovel it yourself. We tried that once. It was way too much work. So we pay them $10 to do one large scoop from a front-loader into the trailer. I believe they technically charge $10 per cubic yard. They do ask to see your drivers license to verify that you live in the county. But that's what friends are for :-)