I found a stick (read very dead bush) and it would be a crime to not use it. Tips?

[biofish]

So my house, I’ve lived here for about 2 years, and we were doing some gardening. We’ve completely transformed the backyard from a sickly deathbed to a flourishing garden!

ANYWAY. We were clearing away some of the plants that weren’t doing so well, including some sort of bush that was very very dead, and leftover from the previous owners.

And we pulled up the bush, and the root system was gorgeous. I trimmed off all the smaller thinner roots to leave the major ones behind and yeah. It’s wonderful.

But I have no idea what type of plant it is. The previous owners were pretty neglectful on just about every part of the house but I don’t think it died of any disease or termites or any type of fertilizer was used. We managed to nurse a half dead lemon tree back to life that they left.

And I just wanted to ask y’all what you thought. How to prepare it, if it’s safe, how I can make it safe, etc.

 

[Sgooosh]

So my house, I’ve lived here for about 2 years, and we were doing some gardening. We’ve completely transformed the backyard from a sickly deathbed to a flourishing garden!

ANYWAY. We were clearing away some of the plants that weren’t doing so well, including some sort of bush that was very very dead, and leftover from the previous owners.

And we pulled up the bush, and the root system was gorgeous. I trimmed off all the smaller thinner roots to leave the major ones behind and yeah. It’s wonderful.

But I have no idea what type of plant it is. The previous owners were pretty neglectful on just about every part of the house but I don’t think it died of any disease or termites or any type of fertilizer was used. We managed to nurse a half dead lemon tree back to life that they left.

And I just wanted to ask y’all what you thought. How to prepare it, if it’s safe, how I can make it safe, etc.

I’m not home rn but I’ll upload a pic of it when I can

that is really nice!
if it is very very dead it should be ok... does it remind you of "spider wood"? it might be manzanita because the roots are nice

 

[Byron]

It certainly looks to be dead dry, so should be OK. Dead dry means it has not been growing for enough time for all the sap to evaporate/dissipate out. If bent, the branches will snap off, not bend and be green inside. I wuld rinse it off under the tap/hose. If you boil it it will fall apart because boiling breaks the fibers. Chances are, dead dry means no problems.

Keep a close eye on it for several weeks. Fungus may be in it and some is toxic, there is no way to know until it appears, if it does.

 

[Sgooosh]

So my house, I’ve lived here for about 2 years, and we were doing some gardening. We’ve completely transformed the backyard from a sickly deathbed to a flourishing garden!

ANYWAY. We were clearing away some of the plants that weren’t doing so well, including some sort of bush that was very very dead, and leftover from the previous owners.

And we pulled up the bush, and the root system was gorgeous. I trimmed off all the smaller thinner roots to leave the major ones behind and yeah. It’s wonderful.

But I have no idea what type of plant it is. The previous owners were pretty neglectful on just about every part of the house but I don’t think it died of any disease or termites or any type of fertilizer was used. We managed to nurse a half dead lemon tree back to life that they left.

And I just wanted to ask y’all what you thought. How to prepare it, if it’s safe, how I can make it safe, etc.

View attachment 308784

this bush looks like an azalea, but not sure what the big rhizome things are.

 

[biofish]

Alrighty! Yeah it’s been dead for at least a year. It was on its last legs when we moved in and never recovered. Our other plants grew over it so we forgot about it. Dug it up about 2-3 months ago and I was letting it bake in the sun and get rained up to help it dry out/get cleaned

 

[Sgooosh]

Alrighty! Yeah it’s been dead for at least a year. It was on its last legs when we moved in and never recovered. Our other plants grew over it so we forgot about it. Dug it up about 2-3 months ago and I was letting it bake in the sun and get rained up to help it dry out/get cleaned

nice!
azalea leaves are toxic, but the wood is good
if you remove the bark it becomes a common type of drift wood in the aquarium trade, "spider wood"