Q'n'a On Chips

[ROLLACOSTA]

question ..are fresh woodchips alright to put straight on to shrub beds ,or do they need to be left do decompose a bit, some people i have spoken to say stick chips straight onto borders others say wait for six months????

whats the opinion on mulching with fresh chips on to newly planted trees???

what do most of you guys do with your chips ..i take mine to a ridding stable they use them for allsorts of stuff ..i dont charge them!...do you guys sell your chips??..personaly i haven't tried to sell mine..should i be selling them ?

sometimes i think my good hardwood chips should be used for something other than equestrian use!!

one other thing fresh chips seem to be very corrosive on truck paint!!!!

 

[a_lopa]

6 weeks nitrogen transfer

 

[TreeJunkie]

I've found in the past that there really isn't a whole lot of money in selling chips. It always seemed like more of a hastle than it was worth. All of our chips go to the recyclers, 25 bucks a load.

 

[Stumper]

Mine go to a commercial tree farm (or to any customer that requests them-I had one year in which for about 6months I only took three loads to the farm!). As they say"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." Nitrogen robbing IS a factor when the chips are tilled into the soil-its effects become apparrent whenever someone plants a tree in the hole from a ground out stump and doesn't first remove the chips and backfill with soil only. On the other hand-----When chips are used as mulch it doesn't seem to matter. The tree farm where I haul my chips takes the fresh chips and uses them to "heel in" their balled and burlaped trees. The trees sit in those mulch beds for anywhere fom a month to a year and thrive. In this area it has become apparrent that the moisture retention, soil insulation and gradual humus adding prperties of mulch outweigh whatever nitrogen scavenging that the chips cause. MULCH WITH 'EM!:angel:

 

[murphy4trees]

Nitrogen loss isn't a problem for trees and shrubs as much as for vegetable gardens... I wouldn't worry about mulching with fresh chips, but I think the public perception is going to be hard to overcome..

 

[Curtis James]

From what i have heard it is fine just not as nice looking as store bought mulch. I have also heard termites don't eat bark. Anyone know if that is true. That's why they sell bark mulch for decoration around the house. chips would encourage instead of discourage the wood eating pests.

 

[treeman82]

Dump them wherever people ask for them. You should let them sit for 6 months, but if you do that, you have to handle the stuff 2 times. 1 to get it in the truck and dumped at your place, 2 to load it back into your truck and dump it at their place.

 

[blue]

RC,
we can't give our chips away round here let alone sell them.our chip pile is HUGE

 

[treeman82]

Blue, is there a market by you for ground up mulch? If your chip pile is big enough you could grind them up and sell off the end product.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

90% of my chips are blown under the trees I'm working on as mulch. Pruning breaks the tree's nutrient cycle unless this is done. If public perceives N scavenging as a problem, broadcast N fert before spreading chips. Or is that too simple an answer?

Most trees can and should have mulch beyond the branch tips.
Why can't you guys in UK get rid of your chips? Govt regs?

If hauling chips away costs you $, why not itemize that on your quotes so the customer pays if they don't recycle them on site, the way G** intended?

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

GUY no chips arn't a problem with the goverment ,unless your storing thousands of tons wich can leach into a water course ..what Blue means is we cant give chips away no body wants them or apreciates there usfulness sadly

 

[topnotchtree]

Chips are good for woody plants and shrubs. But fresh green chips are not good for delicate rooted plants. Doing line clearance, our chips are dumped at the pull-out. Threre is a recycling company that comes and hauls them away by the semi-loads. As I understand it, they do not charge to haul them. They must make a good profit selling them! If you guys have that big of a pile you may possibly find someone to do the same for you??

 

[a_lopa]

a fresh pile of chips will steam and draw nitrogen into itself if put on established gardens fine! aussie natives love acidic mulch fresh pine etc,let it sit and draw in the goodness