No, they are not all the same. So I will explain how they vary and where and how you should use each one. My favorite mulch is hardwood bark mulch. To better explain this I made a movie for you.
Pine Bark Mulch.
In the movie I did not mention Pine Bark Mulch. I Didn’t have any handy! Pine bark mulch makes a good mulch for mulching planting beds and it’s also a great additive or can even be used as the base for a good potting mix. Pine Bark mulch doesn’t break down as quickly nor does it contain the nutrition that hardwood bark has, but it’s still a great mulch to use for growing and potting soil. Actually here in Ohio pine bark is hard to find unless you buy bags. But the local nursery growers here like it so well as a potting mix they actually have it trucked in from North Carolina 90 cubic yards at a time.
Shredded Hardwood Bark Mulch.
Shredded hardwood bark mulch is made from 100% tree bark, and not ground up wood. Therefore it contains a great deal more nutrition for your plants and as it decomposes it greatly improves the soil in your gardens. When the logs of hardwood trees are arrive at the saw mill one of the first things that happens is the logs are put through a de-barking machine and all of bark is removed from the logs before they are cut into lumber.
The bark is the shredded and often times it’s shredded two or three times. That’s what they mean when they say double or triple ground. But the most important thing for you to know is to confirm that you are indeed buying mulch that is made 100% from hardwood bark. Because . . . there are a lot of mulches that pretend to be hardwood bark mulch and they are not.
The Impostors!
Red Mulch Black Mulch and Brown Mulch that has been dyed to obtain the brown color.
All of the impostors are dyed to get their color.
The impostors, as I call them, are mulches that are made of ground up wood, usually pallets. These mulches contain little to no bark at all and are 100% wood. Wood might be okay as a mulch to keep down weeds, but not only do wood mulches contain no nutrition for your plants, they actually pull nitrogen from the soil and the wood decomposes. Once the pallets are ground up to look like mulch, the ground material is dyed so it has a deep color. Today a lot of people like these mulches because they are red or black in color because of the dye.
Thats fine, and using this kind of mulch to mulch the beds around your house is okay. I don’t like these wood mulches for several reasons. One, the mulch floats out of the beds too easily and is always all over the sidewalk. Plus these mulches really don’t break down all that well. I want a mulch that is going to improve my soil, not pull nutrients from the soil. But as a mulch they are okay. In potting mix they would be disastrous!
Wood Chips from the Tree Trimming Company.
Tree trimming service produce tons and tons of wood chips and they are often looking for places to get rid of all of this mulch so they offer to drop a load off at your house free or charge. Wood chips from a tree company are okay for mulching pathways in your garden, but that’s about all I would ever use them for. They contain a great deal of ground up wood, leaves and twigs. It takes this material a long time to break down and as it does it will pull nitrogen from your planting areas.
But more importantly, wood chips contain no nutritional value therefore really do your garden more harm than good. If allowed to rot for a period of many years, they might be okay. But they are not something I’d ever use in a planting area around my home or in my nursery. They’re great to use over a muddy path. For that they are wonderful.
Compost.
Many supply yards that sell mulches also sell compost. Compost can vary considerably from supply yard to supply yard. For the most compost materials are great for the soil. They really don’t make the best mulches because they are really fine textured and contain enough nutrition that weeds will grow right in the compost.
So compost materials shouldn’t be used as a mulch, but they are great for adding additional organic matter to a landscaping bed. Most compost materials are made from leaf compost, maybe mushroom compost, and sometimes the include material from sewage plants. It’s important to know for sure what’s in the compost that you are using. Should the compost that you buy contain any material from a sewage plant you should not use it in your vegetable garden.
I hope this helps! -Mike McGroarty
Have your say today in the right margin!
By Accessmilton.com
The cold rain didn’t keep competitors and supporters away from the 2011 Road To Safety Event. This year's program was held in the Alpharetta High School Auditorium on February 1st and ran from 6 to 8pm.
The "Road To Safety" (RTS) competition allows local high school students to compete by submitting a two minute video advocating safe driving. Competing this year were the following 7 North Fulton County high schools: Alpharetta, Milton, Johns Creek, Centennial, Roswell, Chattahoochee, and Northview. Over 120 people were in attendance.
Many local families from our community donated money for the awards, and local business sponsors also stepped up to the plate including Shane’s Rib Shack, Music Matters in Milton, Oasis Vending, Men At Work Construction Services, LLC., Katy's Car Wash, Bloor Family Dentistry, BHG-Leslie Harper of Metro Brokers, and Ray Of Light Media. Total monetary donations raised were $900. Other donations given for first place were a Fender Electric guitar, amp package and free guitar lessons from Music Matters in Milton, along with Defensive Driving courses from DriveSmartGa/Johns Creek Driving Schools for First, Second and Third place winners. Monetary scholarships were awarded to the winners, 1st place $500, 2nd place $250, and 3rd place $150.
The Road To Safety program was inspired by the unfortunate deaths of two young men from Milton, Patrick Enloe and Parker Jackson, and this year’s program was dedicated to the memory of both of them. Their tragedy’s are what sparked this program and the idea to challenge high school students to use video to send a message to other teens and students educating them on the dangers of teen driving. Here is this years winning video by Johns Creek High School students, Christina Schmitt and David Burgh, please watch!
Meet Liberty, a thirty year resident of Bethany Road.
Until about six years ago, Liberty would graze her pastures without worry. Today, she will not enjoy the lush green grass without a family member by her side. The reason? Liberty has been shot with paint balls, fireworks have been shot at her and thrown in her pasture, kids have screamed at her, and engines have been reved- all with the focus to scare her.
The City of Milton has clear evidence of the guilty party, but has done nothing.
Volunteers are currently working on an ordinance called "Liberty's Law" which would not only educate citizens of the proper behavior around horses and boardering properties but also to strengthen the current animal abuse laws on the books.
If you would like to be a part of this process, please email Tim Enloe at tim.enloe@yahoo.com or call direct at 770 653 0552.
Presidents' Day is intended (for some) to honor all the American presidents, but most significantly George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. According to the Gregorian or "New Style" calendar that is most commonly used today, George Washington was born on February 22, 1732. But according to the Julian or "Old Style" calendar that was used in England until 1752, his birth date was February 11th. Back in the 1790s, Americans were split - some celebrated his birthday on February 11th and some on February 22nd.
When Abraham Lincoln became president and helped reshape our country, it was believed he, too, should have a special day of recognition. Tricky thing was that Lincoln’s birthday fell on February 12th. Prior to 1968, having two presidential birthdays so close together didn't seem to bother anyone. February 22nd was observed as a federal public holiday to honor the birthday of George Washington and February 12th was observed as a public holiday to honor Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.
In 1968, things changed when the 90th Congress was determined to create a uniform system of federal Monday holidays. They voted to shift three existing holidays (including Washington's Birthday) to Mondays. The law took effect in 1971, and as a result, Washington's Birthday holiday was changed to the third Monday in February. But not all Americans were happy with the new law. There was some concern that Washington's identity would be lost since the third Monday in February would never fall on his actual birthday. There was also an attempt to rename the public holiday "Presidents' Day", but the idea didn't go anywhere since some believed not all presidents deserved a special recognition.
Even though Congress had created a uniform federal holiday law, there was not a uniform holiday title agreement among the individual states. Some states, like California, Idaho, Tennessee and Texas chose not to retain the federal holiday title and renamed their state holiday "President's Day." From that point forward, the term “Presidents' Day” became a marketing phenomenon, as advertisers sought to capitalize on the opportunity for three-day or week-long sales.
In 1999, bills were introduced in both the U.S. House (HR-1363) and Senate (S-978) to specify that the legal public holiday once referred to as Washington's Birthday be "officially" called by that name once again. Both bills died in committees.
Today, President’s Day is well accepted and celebrated. Some communities still observe the original holidays of Washington and Lincoln, and many parks actually stage reenactments and pageants in their honor. The National Park Service also features a number of historic sites and memorials to honor the lives of these two presidents, as well as other important leaders.
By Tim Enloe; Accessmilton.com
Recently, I had the honor of enjoying another "ride along" with one of Milton's Police Officers. I was assigned to fifteen year veteran officer Lt. John Borsey for a few hours. His shift would run from 5am to 5pm.
As we patrolled the city, discussion would take us to Lt. Borsey's career. He started in Hapeville in 1997. From there, he transferred to Woodstock in '99 and then jumped over to Kennesaw in 2003. He decided to come to Milton in '07. While his knowledge is vast, his main area of expertise is traffic and fatality investigations. For those Milton families who have lost a loved in one of Milton's open road neighborhoods, Lt. Borsey was most likely the lead investigator.
I was also surprised that Milton typically has only four officers on duty for our 35,000 plus population. Earlier this week, our home town suffered a great tragedy when a father gunned down his teenage step son. According to authorities, all four officers on duty rushed to the scene. Those scheduled for the following shift had to be called in early for coverage purposes. However, during that brief moment of exchange, our citizens were left in great jeopardy as the rest of the city was unprotected. Before the end of 2012, our elected officials must guarantee six or more officers per shift. This would
insure one officer in each of our three zones remain when emergencies take place.
Our officers typically work over forty hours a week. When an emergency takes place, the last thing I want are first responders who are exhausted. When seconds equal years, these men and women need to be as well rested as possible so that they can perform their important tasks clearly with extreme focus. Again, more officers are needed.
With citizens having the honor to employ such a credentialed hero, I had to ask myself what can we do to keep Lt. Borsey, Sgt. Kiel, Officer Hayes and others like them here? Much like thousands of industries throughout the US, all are looking for the better deal to provide the best life for loved ones and themselves-including police officers.
There is quite a bit of overlapping from city to city in North Fulton. Johns Creek residents go to Alpharetta for various things, Milton residents go to Roswell for the same and vice versa. Our communities are interlinked via many routes.
Police: Man Shoots 16-Year-Old Stepson: MyFoxATLANTA.com
