Firewood - Sutherland Shire

[Mungbeans]

We are in the process of chopping down a number of umbrella trees. The wood is still quite soft, but I am assuming it would be fine as firewood after it dries out.

A trailer load is free to whomever wants to come and get it. We live in the Sutherland Shire Sydney.

PM me if you are interested.

[Richard on Maui]

Are you talking about Schefflera? Also known as Brassias? You mean this thing
http://photos.permaculture.org.au/gallery/albums/userpics/10025/normal_scheffleraf04.jpg
If so, Mung, mate, that's not firewood! That's mulch! Beautiful mulch! You couldn't pay me enough to take that stuff from my place. You can chop that stuff up with a sharp machete no worries.

[Mungbeans]

That is the culprit.

It might be wonderful mulch where you are but we would need an industrial sized shredder to get rid of these logs. We only have a handkerchief sized backyard so composting all the leaves is also out of the question.

We have a large 'green bin' where we dispose the leaves and smaller bits , but is only collected every second week. We have enough leaves and smaller bits to ensure the green bin will be full for the next 2 months.

[Richard on Maui]

Well, okay, I have used this one as mulch with the help of a 100hp chipper, but really, with a sharp machete you could reduce this plant material down pretty fast.
As for the leaves taking months to break down? Try a berkeley method compost. YOu will need to get a source of manure of some kind, but even without it those green leaves should be quite high in nitrogen. I wouldn't try to compost the stems, unless I had that industrial style shredder. I would just use them cut up with a machete as mulch. It doesn't matter how small your garden, you can almost never have too much mulch!

[Cornonthecob]

Was it you who had the little court yard Mungbeans?

[Mungbeans]

Yes, we have the courtyard at the side of the house and a yard out the back.

At the moment the yard is dominated by four stands of umbrella trees that have got out of hand. The dog lives in the backyard, which is mostly paved except for near the fence, where the trees and doing their utmost to push over the fence. The dog is the main reason we don't grow anything out the back. She is some kind of canine agent orange.