Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Early Xmas. Chips. 12.14.15

Now and then I call an arborist in my neighborhood and ask for him to leave a pile of tree chips in my driveway.  Thank you!  That saves him the hauling/dumping costs, and saves me the cost of the wood chip mulch.

This batch smells really good.  Pine. 

Yesterday my neighbor was hauling a load of tree leaves to be disposed of.  I asked if I could load them into my pickup.  Thank you!  Those are now already spread on the garden bed for next year's corn / squash / sunflowers.  They'll keep the weeds from growing, plus be mixed in a compost in situ.

Based on past experience, this batch of pine chips will take about 6 or 8 pickup loads.  They should be enough to refresh the front garden borders, and most of the orchard.  I want to be as water-wise as possible next year, and avoid the labor for weed management.  This will help significantly.

4 comments:

  1. Nice pile of wood chips, Daniel! Already spread on your garden? Did you have a tractor with scoop? I'm wondering, however if this is a good idea. I've heard where wood chips should be composted first--that they actually do more harm than good when deposited directly on the garden soil. Thoughts?

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  2. Randy,
    Here is a link about use of wood chips. The author is Linda Chalker-Scott, a horticulurist who investigates gardening practices in detail. Really a lot of info in the link.
    http://puyallup.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/wood-chips.pdf

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  3. I looked it up. She debunked several concerns. The one I had was "tieing up nitrogen". There is some of that, but the good outweighs the bad. I know my son-in-law uses a lot of it on his farm. He gets it free from a tree trimming outfit. Roto-tilling is difficult with the blades hitting the wood chips. I'll stick with good ol' composting.

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  4. the nitrogen is temporary taken off the soil, once it rots down then additional nitrogen will go back into the soil. I've always use it and no bad things have ever happen to me. It improves the soil's texture; worms love to live in there.

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