YOUR TURN: Get ready for Gaston County's mulch sale
The end of April is upon us. Hopefully you were able to make it to the last Household Hazardous Waste event of the spring, but if you missed it you can save up your materials to drop off next Sept. 21 or Nov. 16. We have started our very affordable mulch sales out at the Yard Waste Facility at the landfill. For $2 per scoop (bring exact change please, cash only) from April 27 and following Saturdays check the website for updates. This is very fresh mulch meaning you may want to cure it onsite at your property before applying it around plants you’d like to keep around. Our mulch may still be hot when you pick it up and may need more exposure to air to keep it from souring (anaerobic digestion). If you apply fresh mulch around young or tender plants, it will rob the surrounding soil of nitrogen in the effort to decompose more rapidly. Without that nitrogen, your plants will droop or wilt. But give it some time in a pile, turn it every now and then, and it will do wonders for your yard or garden.
Because there is so much yard waste brought to our facility (which keeps this reusable organic resource out of the landfill), we have a contractor come out to grind our mulch twice a year. This grinding can take over four weeks grinding up to 10 hours a day to reduce the pile of branches, shrubs, trunks, stumps and clean pallets into the chipped mulch you can purchase. We don’t have the space or the resources to turn the piles onsite or have fully matured mulch for sale throughout the year, thus planning for what yard applications you may need next year would be beneficial. We need this mulch hauled away to make room for incoming yard waste which is why we have it priced so low. If you come to pick up mulch in a dump truck, trailer or truck bed, please bring a tarp to cover your load. There is a $2,000 fine in North Carolina for littering, and if convicted you may have to do community service work and it will cost you a point on your license. It’s just not worth the risk or the trash on our roadways.
Being able to dispose of yard waste is a great way to have it recycled into mulch. One of the reasons why people have it is because they are redoing foundational planting around their home, clearing a plot, saying goodbye to a beloved tree that may have fallen in a storm or been diseased. Replanting the right kinds of plants and trees for our native pollinators and wildlife is a choice you can make to enhance the beauty and functionality of your yard. I chose a neighborhood with no HOA specifically so I could have a front-yard garden and do edible landscaping. You might not be able to do certain plants in your neighborhood due to codes, and I highly suggest rethinking the rules around native plants to encourage foraging for native butterfly and bird species. Additionally, being able to plant species that produce fruits such as tomatoes, cucumbers or other easy-to-grow garden and container varieties helps reduce our food deserts for people. Both people and animals need healthy sources of food, and won’t your yard be a nice place for a snack? The Gaston County Public Library has hosted a Community Seed Bank for everyone to be able to participate in growing their own food. I am a fan of growing in containers and raised beds and distributing extra produce when I have it to family, friends and neighbors. Let’s be a part of something bigger and use those yards to produce beautiful gardens and native plants.
Happy planting and mulching, and as always, if you need the dirt on trash or recycling, I’m just an email away, becca.hurd@gastongov.com.
Becca Hurd is the recycling coordinator for Gaston County.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: YOUR TURN: Get ready for Gaston County's mulch sale
