Chip Question

[herschel]

I've been asked about putting my freshly chipped chips directly into clients shrub beds and tree wells.

I have always told them that it was a bad idea, for fear that I would have to return to remove a moldy mess.

But I never have tried it before. Should they be spread and dried prior to use as mulch or can you just throw them down "wet".

Any comments??

 

[Jumper]

I think it depends on how wet they were to begin with, the climate, the time if the year, and what type of composition they are. For example I would not want chips that were 75 % leaves from a diseased tree applied during a Seattle winter. On the other hand, healthy maple wood chips chopped up in the middle of an Ottawa winter on a dry cold day from a otherwise healthy tree would be welcomed,

I was dropping off some firewood for my sister a few months ago and there were some chips on the bed of the truck, so I offered her them-nothing special, they were mainly poplar, and given it has been really dry here, they have really integrated themselves where she put them.

Really uggy stuff should be dumped elsewhere or composted.

 

[kf_tree]

you could open your self up to some liability problems. if the chips are from a deseased tree, and they wind up killing the shrubs your going to get ?????y phone call. is it worth it? i've done it before usualy to get rid of stumping chips i would throw them around the shrubs. just don't pile them up too high to cover the flare. around me the landscapers pile up so much mulch the tree's look like poles coming out of the ground. no noticable flare at all. in the long run it will just kill the tree's.

 

[TREETX]

I try to pass off chips to customers whenever possible. This is a dry climate so we do not have the whole mold issue.

I push it as a way to help trees growing in a semi-arid region. Mulching is great for trees as long as they don't look like starws stuck in a pile of mulch. I can think of about 2 times that I have seen a tree properly mulched here.

These uncomposted chips will rob the soil of some Nitrogen during decomposition.

I never worry about chips from dead trees except red/live oaks. In a dead tree, usually you will find decomposers that will not hurt living shrubs.

 

[o0_TreeMan_0o]

be careful mulching with fresh pine chips. must be the sap but i have had problems with them. they seem ok after sitting for a while.