Suggestions for finding free or really inexpensive mulch?

me too!

Our local PUD hires a local company to chip the limbs and these are delivered free. Call your local power company and ask what they do with their limbs/mulch. We've had two huge piles of green mulch which we let overwinter. a good mix of evergreen and hardwoods.

Also, have gotten year old stable mulch from local horse boarding facility. Pre innoculated!

One source I have used in the past was bags of leaves homeowners left on the curb.  No longer.  The city has gone to 95-gallon totes and bags are no longer picked up.  Homeowners must drop them off at a collection point and that location composts them and SELLS them back to the homeowners.

We've used getchipdrop.com and been happy to get free wood chips. We give the driver, who was the owner of the company delivering the load, a twenty so he's always happy to drop a truck load for us and even divide up where we want it dropped in the yard. You can be picky about what you want when you complete the form. Then when you work with the arborist or tree service company when they deliver, you can contact them personally after that and develop a relationship.Thanks for all the GrowNetwork does!! Love ya, Donna

We are on our town's yard waste program where people drop off untreated grass clippings, leaves, pine needles (great for blueberries, raspberries, azaleas, etc, or just mixed in with leaves and other goodies), branches logs, clean fill, or rocks. You list what you'll take, and people will call asking for directions to your home after asking permission to bring their yard waste to you. I love meeting new people this way, and often help them unload their bags or trailers full of black gold in the making.

We can also sign up with the town when they chip up fallen trees after storms. For smaller loads, I've chased down private tree services when I hear or see chain saws buzzing, and they usually are more than happy to drop off a load for free and near by.

These are all great idea! Thanks to everyone that contributed. I will have to do some research in our area.

starbuck's used coffee grounds - - damp, heavy, garbag bags, worms love it...

The saw mill in Sebree Ky. All you want for free if you load it.  If you want them to load it, one scoop with a monster scoop for $25. My trailer is 15 feet long and 5 feet wide with 4 foot side boards. They just about fill it. The best $25 I ever spent.

I see this is older, but I'll add my 2 cents.

I've used chipdrop.com with good results (eventually -- first time took a long time, now it seems they're in the area).

I collect the neighbors leaves in the fall, ESPECIALLY, if they're shredded/mulched with grass.

I collect the neighbor's pine needles, for which he is thrilled!

I collect a 5 gallon bucket of coffee grounds about 1/three weeks from the cafeteria in the office building where I work.

I have a shredder at home which shreds brown packing paper, toilet paper rolls, tissue boxes, etc. and white, non-glossy newsprint.

I food-process the majority of kitchen scraps for the worm bin, but there's always extra, so I freeze it until I'm going to dig a pit and/or dig a pit when my freezer gets too full.

I also empty the vacuum on the compost pile (we only have 1 room of carpet and I'm not concerned, it's mostly dog hair).

I have a 30 gal. garbage can that leaks set inside of another 30 gal garbage can. I throw my weedy/seedy waste in there and it makes compost tea when it rains. Then I throw the decomposed stuff on the compost heap and use the tea and start over. I have so much tea right now, I think I may be able to cover the entire front lawn. (I dilute 1/3 to 2/3)

And I've recently been saving the bio-char from the fire pit, just need to figure out how to use it.

Of course there is compost, but don't discount sheet composting. It is a lot more work to haul trimmings away than to just let them lay and break down. The trick is to cut them up small enough so they aren't too ugly.

Also try local stables, one stable near me actually separates the bedding from the manure so you can take your pick. Not to be used directly on food crops but will build the soil.

Wood chips from a local tree trimmer is a good source of a lot of mulch. I usually get some garbage and limbs along with it but beggars can't be choosers.

In my local garden club, members let each other know of sources for wood mulch and other items like pine needles and rabbit poo. Sometimes a member gets carried away asking for free mulch from a tree trimmer and needs us to come get some out of huge pile in their yard. Also one member's spouse is a craftsman and has sawdust from untreated wood that he routinely offers to us.

Where I live, you can just call a local arborist, tree service company, or the like and ask them to drop off a load at your home...there is no charge for this service. I assume that it's free because otherwise they would have to pay to have it landfilled but depending on when they finally have your address on their schedule will determine how large your load of wood chips will be.

Hello!

I discovered a neat place to get free mulch... my work parking lot! I was in desperate need of greens for my lasagna garden layer and my prayers were answered on my way to work from the parking lot. As I'm wont to do, I walk with my head down to make sure I don't trip when I noticed the pile of leaves that no one picks up near the curb and in the gutter. I kicked a section around to see how deep it was and I was pleasantly surprised to see a good bit of mulch underneath! And free! I'm heading back to work on the weekend with a shovel and a couple bags and I'm going to get that black gold. I've started to notice now all the places where leaves gather that no one tends.

Keep your eyes peeled and what you desire WILL BE REVEALED TO YOU! I'm a firm believer in this :)

Miss Pooz

Our local government leaves piles of shredded limbs cut from around power lines for the community to pick up for free. Since it is not clear where the mulch came from, I do not use it close to my house (possible pest infestation) or around tender plants. I use it in the paths between raised beds and anywhere I do not want weeds or grass in the landscape.