Hello, my name is Lisa and I'm new here. I have a question that I have not been able to find an answer to, so I hope you can help.

I have a number of dead oak trees on my property which we are in the process of taking down. They died from years of repeated caterpillar attacks and possibly a fungus in the soil, although I have no proof of the latter.

We recently cut down a large oak that was almost completely hollowed out. The stump is filled to the brim with completely decomposed tree innards. It is very lightweight and loamy and I immediately started scooping it out, thinking I have all this gorgeous stuff to use as a planting medium.

Right now I have about 30 pounds of rotted tree innards and it occurred to me that I might be making a huge mistake by saving it. There are no bugs crawling around in it, no carpenter ants or termites, but I'm concerned about spreading the "fungus" that may or may not have contributed to the tree's demise.

I would appreciate any thoughts on this Mother Nature freebee, do I keep it or dump it back where it came from?

Wood takes a long time to break down to be useful. As long as it is clean and not contaminated, it is usable if it fits into your timetable. In my opinion, you'd be better off harvesting the oak leaves than the rotten wood.
Where on LI are you. I grew up in Hauppauge and lived out in Moriches until I moved in 2005 to FL.

I would take it to your local extension agent.

Nothing like showing an expert the real thing.

Thank you for the replies. Earthworm, I'm in Riverhead so howdy former neighbor!

My plan was to mix this lightweight material with heavier soil and use it mainly for container gardening, but contamination is my concern. Alsakan, thanks for your suggestion about contacting my extension agent, that's probably my best bet.

Well Lisa you ask a wonderful question which will I suspect evoke several differing opinions.

Plants that normally live in forest litter like oh say trees or woodland flowering plants would probably like the 'duff' of a downed tree. Orchids like it too.

Yes soil can build up mosaic virus or toxins like juglone that will inhibit other plants growth or health.

Usually the hand of man is pretty firmly in the middle of soil born disease and domesticated plants.

In nature seeds that fall too near to a black walnut tree simply don't germinate--humans are more persistant.

Cultivated fields soil have different flora, all those little bugs critters bacteria and such which for lack of a better term I'll call the microherd, than does woodland soil. The microherd takes the stuph that falls to (or is tilled into) the ground and works in series to break it down back into soil.

I suspect the duff you have collected will work best with plants that live where there it occurs. Less so with cultivated fiels plants.