throw it out or sprinkle?

I just found a 40lb bag of lawn fertilizer, 34-0-0. I think it is from a neighbor that moved. It is probably 5-6 years old and kinda chunky, but will probably break up if I open the bag. I dont need it for the lawn, but i have quite a few new beds made of piles of leaves, pine straw, grass clippings, soil, peat and some watersorb crystals. Will it do any good to sprinkle the fertilizer in the new beds or am I better off throwing it out?
I will be planting in these beds in the next couple of weeks. shade plants...hosta, fern,bleeding heart, helebores, geranium etc.
thanks for any info
chris

If you are gardening organically you shouldn't use it, something with a nitrogen content that high can not be organic.
On the other hand even if you are not gardening organically something with a nitrogen content that high could really burn your plants, unless you put it on very very lightly.
So my advice would be not to use it, and please be sure that you dispose of it properly, you might ask your city the best way to dispose of it.
Josephine.

Dont want to chance burning the plants. Well I guess putting it in the trash can is not a good thing, cause that was where it was going. Who do I call in the city? I will call the main number, maybe they will know who to talk to.
Thanks for the info.
chris

Wonder if it's largely ammonium nitrate...

I suppose one could add it to a compost heap with a whole lot of low-nitrogen stuff like wood chips, well mixed. Should get them rotting a treat.

Mark., never mind the other uses for ammonium nitrate

lol

I usually dilute the fert., and it is very soluable, and spray it on brush, that I want to see break down.Works fast, you will see. Mike

Gooley has a good idea. Instead of disposing of it, slowly convert it to organic fertilizer by gradually adding it to your compost bin whenever you're short on nitrogen.

As long as you aren't going for organic certification you should be fine. Just remember that it's soluble, and your compost leachate may be stronger than usual.

Hmmm, ok maybe I will just leave it next to the compost and sprinkle in a little at a time. Thats the only way I will remember to do it.
Thanks,
chris

The idea of using it up by adding it to compost or wood chips is probably better than trying to use it as a garden bed fertilizer. Even though you could figure out how many ounces or pounds of 34 % nitrogen to use, this stuff has oxidized some over the years and the concentration is probably weaker. It would be a crap shoot at best to formulize with it.

Also, keep it in a covered waterproof container. It will soak up enough humidity from the air to become very soupy and sloppy.

dgwm

That is the kind of thing that you place under a stump and pour on diesel fuel. Booooooooooooooooom and most of the 50 ft around it will be vaporized. I would not store it due to the possibility of breakdown into bad things. Compost a pile of sawdust and layer it in when you are shoveling it out of the truck. Then let it sit and get nice and dark and use it for the next soil area you want to ammend.