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Using Laurel Leaves for Mulch? | (Read 165 times) |
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clp3
Posts: 1
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August 14, 2008, 06:05:30 PM |
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Hi,
I got a place a few months ago with a huge laurel hedge in the front yard and I've been thinking of getting rid of it. It takes up too much space that could be used for better things and I don't want to have to be pruning it every 5 minutes. So someone suggested the hugelkultur option of taking it down and using the pieces as part of a raised bed, I've also though of using the clippings as mulch in some of my other beds . . . all well and good until I started poking around and found the following info about laurel containing cyanide, not too good for anything around edibles, I'm thinking.
Found naturally in the stones of cherries, plums and peaches, the cores of apples and the leaves of the laurel plant, cyanide evolved as a plant protection mechanism of grazing animals (interestingly, a number of bacteria, fungi and algae are also found to produce the chemical). Ingestion of moderate amounts of these natural substances cause headaches accompanied by mild heart palpitations, more than enough to steer animals – two-legged or four – clear. However, the Middle Eastern people of ancient times made the discovery that the distillation by evaporation of laurel leaves produced lethal concentrations of this innocent plant product.
The other important thing you need to know about Laurel is that all its
parts are very poisonous. Be careful when you come to dispose of prunings.
When it burns, it gives off cyanide; similarly, if shredded, there will be
cyanide in the sappy vapours.
Ignore people who say they've always burned/shredded it without any trouble:
they've been lucky so far. A friend of mine merely trimmed his Laurel hedge
lightly, and his arms became very red and covered with blisters. It's
really not worth the risk.
Does anyone have any other info on this?
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david c
Posts: 27
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August 14, 2008, 10:48:42 PM |
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I am very glad I saw this post. I have a bunch of laurel wood in my wood pile. That would have been a very bad thing to burn indoors.
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kelda
Posts: 263
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August 15, 2008, 12:15:26 AM |
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Ditto, I've heard that about not burning laurel: not good.
But in a hugelkulture? I think that would be okay. Just a gut feeling.
But people make great compost out of apple cider pressings, that contains cyanide via the apple seeds. And it won't harm plants.
I guess the question is more 'how does cyanide move around in the soil?'. if it's taken up by plants and put in fruit/greens then there's a problem
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Arthur Lee Jacobson
author
Posts: 19
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August 21, 2008, 10:57:03 AM |
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First, various plants are called laurel. My book Trees of Seattle indicates 8 genera and 10 species so called. Only one genus (Prunus) has the "cyanide" (cyanogenic glycosides that break down to release hydrocyanic acid). Guessing, for the sake of discussion, that the "huge laurel hedge" may be Prunus Laurocerasus, then yes, it has cyanide, as do its relatives. In my experience of decades, I shrug "big deal." I had read that if I took a leaf of this plant, and squished and mangled it to release its poison, and put it in a jar with an insect, that I would thereby kill the insect. After several hours of waiting, I let an annoyed bee fly free. I prune this species of laurel every year --as do thousands of others-- without any ill effect. I burn the seasoned (dry) firewood regularly. That said, I admit that some people, of more sensitivity, and not dressed so as to protect their skin, may, in the right atmospheric conditions, get a modest rash from it. I write this because the number of plant saps or chemicals that cause dermatitis in one person or another is vast. But numerous garden trees and shrubs are more worrisome in this regard, including juniper. Finally, the fully ripe plump black cherries of Prunus Laurocerasus are edible, but do spit out the pits just as you should cherry pits, apple seeds and the like. The idea that laurel leaves would be unsafe as mulch is ludicrous. I have composted them and mulched with them for decades, and my lush thriving garden bears silent testimony to their safety. You readers can "ignore" me if you care to. I aver that if you take the time to review facts and evidence calmly and logically, rather than relying on knee-jerk emotions of fear, then you will end up confirming my experience.
Arthur Lee Jacobson
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permaculture.dave
Posts: 113
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August 21, 2008, 11:10:29 AM |
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Yeah, I'm with Arthur on this one. Although evergreen, remember that those laurel leaves are always falling off and hitting the ground. With the number of laurels in landscapes around Seattle you would think it would look like a desert if they caused problems. That clearly isn't the case.
I'd say wear long sleeves, but don't hesitate to whack that hedge and put the products to good use.
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SueinWA
Posts: 303
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October 03, 2008, 06:53:49 PM |
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Just don't feed the prunings to livestock, to which they are poisonous.
And don't feed them to children, for the same reason. I was recently reading that eating a single peach leaf can kill a small child.
Sue
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SueinWA
Posts: 303
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October 04, 2008, 03:22:56 PM |
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"...what the hell is in a peach leaf that is so toxic?"
This isn't the article I had read a while back, but the info agrees with it. From http://www.forestmanagementcenter.com/PDF/PoisonousPlants.pdf
"Disturbingly-Common Poisonous Plants"
"Peaches, Cherries and Apples all have toxic components. All parts of the cherry and peach trees, with the exception of the edible fruits, contain cyanide-producing compounds that are released when cherry or peach seeds, bark, and leaves are eaten. Children have died from eating the seeds, chewing on peach twigs, and making " 'tea' "
Many, many things we eat are quite toxic if the wrong part is eaten: potato sprouts and green skins, rhubarb leaves, are two of them.
Many Americans don't teach their children anything about anything. Ignorance is rampant today.
But when I was a kid in SoCalif, my mother grew castor bean plants every year. She told us when we were small: "That plant is poisonous and will make you very sick. Don't chew on the leaves and don't eat the beans."
When neighbor kids came over, we told them: "That plant is poisonous, don't eat those beans, they'll kill you." Nobody ate the beans. We used them for tic-tac-toe, for counting, as markers for bingo cards, slingshot ammo, and lots of other fun things, but we didn't eat them. No one got sick and no one died.
Sue
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