As we continue to try to build up the fertility of the soil at Quail Run Farm, we are trying to find creative ways to find mulch. Utah is not know for it trees, and that is even more true in the valley that Quail Run Farm is located in. The one thing we have plenty of is sage brush. And we try to use that as much as possible and not let it go to waste.
As we clear our land and bring in new uses for it, we end up cleaning up areas that are covered in sage brush. We do plan on leaving some of the areas on the farm as native plants, and leave the sage brush. But some areas we have to remove it.
As we do so, we find ourselves making large piles of sage brush. Sage brush has a bad reputation, and is removed as soon as people move into an area.
One of the many heavy lifters we have on the farm is this chipper/shredder. I purchased this one because I felt it was the best for the amount of money that I had. I would of liked to of purchased a larger one, but the funding was not there.
Sage brush can be turned into some pretty nice mulch, if you are willing to get dirty and dusty in the process. Sage Brush tends to collect dirt and dust as it grows, making it hard on cutting tools, but this chipper/shredder makes pretty quick work of it.
This pictures shows some of the mulch that was made from the pile of sage brush in the first post. We are constantly finding ways to turn discarded green waste into mulch to help us retain water, and increase the fertility of the soil.
Hi Mike,
We have a lot in ID that we are going to build on. The lot is mostly sage brush. Locally they pile it up and burn it in the winter.
I like the chipper shredder idea. Have you found any drawbacks? How do you clear areas of sagebrush? Do you pull it or cut it down?
Any hints will be helpful and appreciated.
Dave
Dave, great question. We try to leave as much of our land as native. If we don’t currently have a use for it, then we just leave the sage brush and the native plants. I prefer to pull the sage brush instead of cutting it down. I will wrap a chain around the base of it, and then hook the chain to the bucket on the tractor. I then raise the bucket and rip the plant out. I find it disrupts the soil less doing it this way, and keeps the weeds down. We have to deal with Russian Thistles, aka Tumble Weeds, that grow anywhere we disrupt the soil. Working with sage brush is a dusty business. We do love the using them for mulch once shredded.
I just read article that the mulch from sage is toxic to other plants. Is that true from your experience ?
That has not been our experience
Greetings from Nevada!
I had been thinking of doing the same with the plethora of sagebrush on my property, but have been reading that it has allelopathic qualities that make it difficult for other things to grow. Are you finding this to be a problem where you have used the mulch, or are you using it where you don’t want things to grow?
Thanks,
KT
I have not found that to be a problem, I have most of the mulch in my flower beds and both my bedding plants and weeds grow just fine.