Composting conifer hedging

[ideasguy]

I thought I had lost control of my hedge (Cupressocyparis 'Castlewellan Gold'), but this past two Saturdays, with the enthusiastic  help of my son  , I am relieved I think I have got it back to acceptable shape again.

Its not quite topiary like this yet:
http://www.topiaryshop.co.uk/CareCupressocyparisPrintable.htm
but it will do!

The hedge runs up the right boundary of my garden in this photo:
http://www.ideasforgardens.com/forumfriends/aerialphoto.jpg

Incidentally, I grew the hedge from cuttings.
There are three age groups in that hedge (oldest at top) as cuttings were propagated and reached the proportions to plant out.
Once planted... whoosh!

I HATE it!

It grows much too quick, and if its not kept under control, will die in the centre. Some parts (the wide part at the top of the garden) are already dead in the centre. I cant cut back into dead wood (doesnt regenerate) so the hedge is wider that I had planned.

Needless to say, there was a LOT of clippings from Saturday, and I mean some clippings 3 to 4 ft long.
So, out came the shredder, and I ran them through.
It shredded quite easily (pretty soft wood).
I bag all my shreddings, and normally use them around my shrubs when they have decomposed.

I'm not so sure about Conifer shreddings.
I heard a person comment when I was in US that they didnt put conifers through shredders as they dont decompose fully.

My question is... Has anyone used shredded Conifer compost? Any problems?

[greenfinger]

I have several truck loads waiting to be composted since a few months (as the result of getting rid of a few hundreds of Cypressus. They will probably be replaced by willows). So my experience is very limited not in quantity but in time. Perhaps mixing with a lot of other material? Second question: what about the pH?

[ideasguy]

Ah ha, the fellowship willow project! 

Its a good idea to put them through the shredder when they are fresh cut. They harden up when lying for a while.

Mixing - I dont have time to do that. I know I should, but...

PH. Now that is a REAL interesting question, and I was going to mention that in the original posting.
I dont know the answer to that i.e. Does the compost have a PH value according to the plant?
I suspect it would.
My soil is a little on the acidic side, judging by the health of my Rhododendrones and Azaleas.
Do Conifers prefer acidic soil? They also seem to delight in my garden.

To play safe, I would use the Conifer compost to use around the conifers.

[JeanV]

We used to use conifer shreds as a mulch : it worked well like that : composting it works if you mix them with other things but they take ages to rot down The mulch worked fine.

[Palustris]

Tree shreddings from trees grown on acidic soil are acidic. Tree shreddings fromm those grown on alakaline soil are alkaline. This also applies to leaves used to make leaf mould by the way.
We use any conifer shreddings as mulch around acid loving plants as our soil tends to be neutral and the slow decompositiion rate of conifers does slightly increase the acidiy of the soil.
By the way, the best mulch of all for any rhododendrons is shredded rhododendron leaves!. So if you find them tearing out the R. ponticum pest, grab some branches and shred them for your plants!.

[ideasguy]

That is a very interesting post, Eric.
I hope you dont mind me asking, but did you arrive at those conclusions from your own tests on shreddings and leaf mould ?

[Palustris]

The first one is fairly standard and mentioned in lots of books, expecially older ones where the use of leaf mould was far more common.
All organic material added to soil tends to reduce the alkalinity of a soil, because of the activities of soil bacteria and fungus in producing humic acid.
The mulch of rhodo leaves is fairly new. It comes from work done at various Botanic gardens and is something to do with the discovery/belief that what causes Rhodo's problems is not so much the alkaliinity of the soil as the 'locking up' of manganese by the lime. Shredded rhodo leaves contain manganese in a form accessible to the plants. Never tried it as we do not grow them. They do not thrive here for some reason other than alkaline soil.

[ideasguy]

Interesting indeed. The older books are a treasure,aren't they.

Rhodos, Camellias, Azaleas, Magnolias etc do very well in my garden.
I grew most of the Rhodos from seed - very easy.  Also a few deciduous Azaleas - one of which is particularly good.
Tried Magnolias without success.

I have a bit of Rhodo "weeding" to do in that some are not really garden worthy. Now I know what to do with the shreddings - thanks to you.

[JeanV]

Maybe you got an answer already but yes we did and it is fine if you shred first and do not put too muich in at once : layer with other materials. Probably you have long since found the answer out.

My husband used to keep our hedge in top by slanting it so it was thicker at the base. Each year he cut the top a bit below what we wanted and just  trimmed it but it is a relief to have lost it in our move!! Jean Vann

[ideasguy]

I had a look over this thread again and I have top say there is some useful and timely info, since its close to time to start mulching.

Thanks for your input Jean. Hope you get a message to rejoin us again!
RE:

My husband used to keep our hedge in top by slanting it so it was thicker at the base.

That is a nice shape and a perfect way to keep them in control.