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Composting thorny material

 
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Does anyone have experience composting thorns? I want to bring in some free mulch from a tree service as my desert lot is too barren for me to gather enough material. The only problem is that the mulch will have a lot of thorns (from mesquite and palo verde I'm guessing). If I hot compost and turn it really well will these break down enough that I can use the material where my kids play without them being stabbed in the foot constantly?
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I've buried thorny branches from my Key Lime tree and my Jerusalem thorn tree beneath a layer of mulch and other material. The thorns break down eventually.

Another thing you can do is use the thorny material to make biochar which can later be added to your compost pile.
 
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