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Container Gardening

Old fur and spruce bark

15 years ago

I bought 2 yards of some bark mulch I haven't tried yet. In northern maine there were some big papper mills that just piled up their fur and spruce bark. These piles are huge and have been there for many years. Now they are selling it.A local guy buys it and grinds it up. Some of it has been sitting there for 40 years. When he gets it it's still hunks of bark. After he grinds it up he mixes around 50% 3 month old pine bark. The old stuff is exspensive. I screened about 2 hundred gallons. I'm not sure if the old bark is too old for my containers. But I'm going to try some. filix.

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Comments (7)

calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
15 years ago
I am grinding up and using fir bark from trees that have been on the ground for over 50 years. Most of the wood of the tree is rotted away but the bark is intact as when the tree died fifty years ago. It makes an excellent ingredient when ground and screened to size. Al
filix
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks Al. The stuff looks great. I screened it through 1/2" hardware screen. filix.
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calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
15 years ago
Half inch screening is fine for Orchards but I screen mine with quarter inch screen for general potting mixes. Al
imstillatwork
15 years ago
What are you guys using to grind this stuff up? I can get tons of it off down trees in my area (mostly fir, some pine if I go up the hills further)
filix
Original Author
15 years ago
I don't grind my own. I buy it ground up. Then I just screen it. I have a wood chipper, but I never tried passing bark through it. I think its harder to grind than you might think. filix.
calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
15 years ago
Chipper/shredders are made with the shredder part being a hammer mill that uses flails to beat the vegetative material into small pieces. It is very effective on bark. I have mounted a plastic curtain on mine when I run bark to keep the dust down. A large plastic pan 3 by 5 feet used for hydroponic growing I put under the shredder. From the pan I sift it through a one half inch screen, then a quarter inch screen. Everything not going through the screens is run through the shredder again. The reason for the double screening is it is faster. Al
filix
Original Author
15 years ago
Sounds like you have a good setup Al. Plus you have the trees and bark. I have a small 8.5 horse that isn't any good for even small branches. Someone gave it to me. I paid 27.00 a yard for the stuff I bought. filix.

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