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How to get free mulch for your yard
Mulching can protect flower beds and minimize weeding.
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Jenn Baughman
/
LAist
)
Looking to say adios to your lawn by sheet mulching or to add a protective layer to your flower beds? Good news, you don’t need to pay for mulch or woodchips. You can instead get them for free in Southern California. Here are a few different ways, depending on your flexibility - and muscle power.
Free mulch piles
Municipalities across the region offer free mulch.
City of L.A.: You can grab mulch anytime from one of its free mulch piles.
O.C.: You can schedule a pick up from an greenery/landfill
Other cities: see below (or check out your own city government’s page).
- Riverside County Department of Waste Resources
- City of Rialto Free Compost & Mulch
- Burrtec's Coachella Valley Composting Facility. It is located at 87011 Landfill Rd in Coachella.
- City of Rancho Mirage Free Compost and Mulch Program
- https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/2524/Free-Compost-Mulch-Program
Pro: You control the amount you get and when you get it.
Con: Driving to the mulch pile, shoveling and loading it into your car, unloading and laying it out is a LOT of work. There is often debris in the city’s mulch.
Free mulch delivery
If you don’t want to go pick up the free mulch yourself, consider ChipDrop. It’s a service that connects arborists with gardeners to deliver free wood chips.
Sponsored message
Pro: High quality wood chips and free delivery to your home.
Con: You cannot control the amount of woodchips delivered or the time/date of delivery. The waiting list can take up to three weeks — or it can come that afternoon. And you could get tons of mulch dumped in your driveway — check out their info for more.
Beware: you may get a lot of mulch. Like, a lot.
(
Jenn Baughman
/
LAist
)
Connect with an arborist:
If you want to try to control the amount of mulch you get - or the date of delivery - you may want to consider talking to an individual arborist. They often end up with excess woodchips they need to get rid of, or take to the dump. If you call they might be happy to offload some for your garden.
Pro: you can try to negotiate delivery size and date.
Con: This requires a lot of effort making calls and may not result in a free drop.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
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