Delilah Gill

Email me, I'll send you a detailed listing for the SE.

Mulch: questions to ask before it arrives.

1. What type of wood is it make of, what trees, leaves, etc. Some are better than others for mulch. I live in south Georgia, near the great swamp, so cypress is an easy choice here. It takes 5-7 years to slowly rot. Never use pine straw, it is a fire hazard (we actively remove it far off our property and well away from homesites) and it makes a perfect home for fire ants (they bed up in it, and buying pine straw can come with active queens in it). Pine bark floats away in heavy rains, so I don't recommend it either. Trees that are chipped and still green are ok, but usually rot fairly fast, 2-3 years. Avoid walnut tree wood mulch.

2. How much will be delivered? Critical, too much and you may have a huge fire if incorrectly stored. Yes, it will spontaneously combust. Never store huge piles of mulch.http://vdfp.virginia.gov/fire_safety_education/tipsheets1/preventingmulchfires.pdf and https://www.google.com/search?q=mulch+fires&espv=210&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=L1wMU6vJG-f00QGoloDQDQ&ved=0CDoQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=643

3. How much do you really need? most types of mulch should be between 4-6 inches deep to provide weed resistance. Nothing stops wind blown seeds from germinating but if the light is blocked, it usually stops weed seeds already in the soil from germinating . Never place any mulch where it can be on trees or shrubs bark, its encourages rot, mold and bacteria.

4. PH changes: yes, its got a lot of carbon, it can lock up some nitrogen, so its a good idea to place it in pathways between the garden rows.

5. Insects: personally I have not experienced having a termite issue, but I usually don't have a lot of large piles laying around either. Using the best depth practices for it, in the right places should not cause issues with termites. Usually they prefer larger pieces of dead wood for food.

Yes, free is good, but be very sure there are no invasive tree/plant seeds in the mix or you'll soon be fighting to remove new unwanted seedlings. One last thought, lol, beware of getting stinkhorn mushrooms (the orange ones-Impudent Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus, ) delivered if the mulch is already starting to decompose. Been there, done that.

Place lime (heavily) around the tree out into the root zone to encourage the "grass" ya want to grow, lime ups the ph and aids the grass, but hickory likes a lower ph. It could take a couple years for it to die off. BTW, urine has a fair amount of salt, and you would later have to dilute that out with compost to replant other trees in that area and of course, plain ol salt will kill it, for they aren't salt tolerant. Lime or salt just before a good rain. Also, get some fruit that you would like to be growing, make it a gift to your father. Hopefully, he'll like the fruit (pick his favorite type) more than the "dying" tree.
oh, one last thing, consider getting the dead tree made into a table or something for him to enjoy, long after the tree is gone.

I've had them growing "wild" on the edge of a drainage ditch for a dirt road next to my property in south Georgia. They do favor growing in places that get flooded, then dry out.

For what its worth, Canadian thistles are great for making blow gun darts. They are even sold as a few powwow's in the SE. They need to be harvested just before they open to fly off the chute, tied off with thread or rubber bands and packaged. The seeds are still attached, so they aren't allowed to escape. In the SE we have some bull thistles (coastal regions) as well, but they are usually to big to use for blowgun darts. The thistles make the flower head on the 2nd year of their life, first year is just a rosette.

I've been in the waste and recycling business for many years. I always encouraged people to recycle or to repurpose materials, or at least to donate them to the charity of their choice. Under RCRA, EPA regulations, state governments require the county and towns to reduce their amount of waste, and it has to be quantified and measured based on the amount of waste going to the landfill starting on a base year, i.e. 1989. Eventually everything goes to a facility for disposal, but the preference is to divert it for as long as possible into other uses. I would encourage everyone to please reuse materials that otherwise would go to landfills. Many county and state agencies run services to assist with this endeavor including recycling divisions and waste reduction divisions. As a former recycling coordinator, I endorsed thrift stores and highly recommended them to citizens for shopping and donating items. For donated items and for hunting good materials, other non profit groups exist as well, like Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. and still others like freecycle.com. During good economic times, the landfill waste goes up, but when economic times are hard, the goals of reducing become easier to meet. It's one of the few jobs where you encourage behavior changes in people that could put you out of a job if they in fact do change. Happy thrifting!

You may wish to consider adding cork tiles, just in the area where the table/chairs are to take the impact. They are affordable, renewable, water proof, fireproof and look great to.

You may want to consider using cork underlay, its relatively cheap, renewable, water proof, soundproof, insects hate it and it chars, but is not easily burned. It does work well under tile. I used some under tile before on an earthen floor, it worked great. Good luck withthe project.

I've used willow scrapings to root out many things, especially soft woody plants. I gather the scrapings, soak them in water for 3 days which allows a scum to develop on top of the water. I take a 5 gal bucket of sand, mix in the willow scrapings, then add the plants I want to propagate and place them deep enough in the sand (past a forked cut). I pour the scummed water over the top of the sand. Usually at least half the plants will root if not all of them.
Rooting spice bush at the moment.

Borax is a naturally occuring mineral that is good for killing many insects and it is a fire retardant as well. I have used it in my attic to treat for insects and the fire suppressing properties are beneficial as well.