I have a land with some sloppy section. Neighbors have already filled they lands and my land needs some filling to level it. I have got a tree lopper to cut some big trees in the land and he suggested to leave the mulch for me to level that section. Looks like natural mulch will break down into small particles in 3-5 years. Looks like it wont' cause a termite issue. I am wondering if there is any down side of using mulch to fill the land? Thanks.
How many sqm and depth?. It will look ugly, weed will popup, hard to mow, and cause more drama if you want to remove it. I had a IP with entire backyard full with red wood chips, took my week and full skip bin to clean it
About 60 SQMs of a 760sqm land; the bottom part of it. Why did you have to clean your backyard? Any specific reason? I have just purchased the land and hope to keep keen it for long time... What will happen if I put some soil on top of it, just to make it easier to mow, just an idea..
Mulch will give you bouncy effect when you will walk on it. Weed, wild mushrooms etc will grow after sometime. Area will be not usable till much breakdown. Why not contact your local swimming pool builder and ask him to give you few truck load of soil for free.
I heard that I'll need council approval to fill which can be a pain. I thought this can be a workaround for that. Also, tree lopper is charging less if they don't have to take it. Also there is no enough side access for a truck...
Why do you need to level it? We used our swimming pool fill to level an IP over 20 years ago. We had no clue we had to get permission, and neighbour reported it. Council inspected it and result was we paid for a retaining wall (under 1m but with structural footings and done professionally - still cost us several thousand). Twenty years later that fill and most of the retaining wall was removed as part of our development. With hindsight we shouldn't have done anything.
Thanks for your reply. I am thinking of levelling it because 1. Tree loppers provided it has a cheaper option for me, so they don't have to remove it. Narrow side access is also an issue. 2. This section is already lower than the neighbors lots. Looks like they have done something to raise theirs or mine is specially low. There is no retaining wall at the moment and I will fill only up to match with neighbors land level. 3. It's a 760sqm land, but I feel like it's a 600sqm. I think this sloppiness not looking good..
I have done this, filled 1m deep by 60sqm. Used a tractor to compact by driving back and forward over, yes it settled a little further. Put a few random squares of buffalo turf on top (after a month or two) and it will spread to cover the area.
If you just want to spread the mulch around your garden to fix unevenness of the existing soil and also to get rid of the wood chips from tree removal, -then absolutely OK. It will sink down a bit over time as it rots.
You dont fill earth with wood chips. They rot...maybe.... Termites eat timber and they absorb moisture. It wont compact well. Tree loppers arent not engineers. They just want to use your land as free dumping. I wouldnt even use it in the garden as it probably gums and termites eat gum trees. You fill earth with something that will compact and harden and want that lump free and clean. If you want free CLEAN fill then slowly have it bought in and compacted but carefully check each load. Pool builders locally may appreciate it.
