Wood Chip Mulch Tips?

[bigbendmarine]

Local electric company is trimming trees / tree limbs along power lines that run along the front of my property.



Talked to the crew chief doing the work and asked if it would be any help for him to dump truckloads of chips in a big pile on my place and he said he was more than happy to do so, saving his trucks from having to drive quite a distance to where they otherwise would dump.

The wood chips are primarily going to be mixture of limbs from water oaks, sweetgums, hickory, and a bit of pine.

In the past I've done lots of mulching with truck loads of leaf litter I get from the parking lot at an office my wife and I run, but I've never used wood chips. That said, I've got no shortage of potential uses -- 24 pecan trees, 50 sawtooth oak trees, a dozen or so chestnut trees, 8 pear trees, and about 20 crabapple trees growing in my outer yard / fields, and closer to the house I've got a rosebed that is nice but constantly weedy, as well as 4 oriental persimmons, couple of peach trees, and a couple of fig trees. Everything I've listed has stayed relatively healthy to date with either occasional leaf mulching and / or just mowing tall grass down making a layer of hay around the trees. I'm in Florida, so everything can get a bit stressed during hot summers if we go a while without rain.

Looking for ALL tips and wisdom those of you who use wood chips can offer, such as any concerns I might should have on pH (our soils run acidic in general - in the mid 5 range if not limed), mulch aging (better to let age before application?), best tree species to use wood chips with and / or any to avoid, and all things I might not be considering?

MUCH appreciate any / all advice.

 

[omicron1792]

People swear by mulching their trees. Maybe I’m lazy but I put a weed mat and that’s it.

 

[bigbendmarine]

People swear by mulching their trees. Maybe I’m lazy but I put a weed mat and that’s it.

See lots of reference to weed mats, rocks and cages on the forum but to date have only used tree tubes for trees needing protection from rubs, leaf debris and / or mowing hay around trees. Much like you likely see in Alabama, pretty mild weather here during the winter months so don't fight the same issues as many guys on the forum do up north.

Thing with the chips was I just couldn't resist asking for something free already in trucks just yards from the house. Worst-case scenario, I can even just dump them on top of an earthen berm I use as a shooting backstop now for a bit of extra protection.

 

[omicron1792]

See lots of reference to weed mats, rocks and cages on the forum but to date have only used tree tubes for trees needing protection from rubs, leaf debris and / or mowing hay around trees. Much like you likely see in Alabama, pretty mild weather here during the winter months so don't fight the same issues as many guys on the forum do up north.

Thing with the chips was I just couldn't resist asking for something free already in trucks just yards from the house. Worst-case scenario, I can even just dump them on top of an earthen berm I use as a shooting backstop now for a bit of extra protection.

Totally agree with that. I’m an obsessive mulcher at my house, just think it looks good, much better than pine straw.

 

[Bill]

Mulch for trees is fine. Don’t use it as mulch around any buildings or things you don’t want a bunch black spots on. I made that mistake once with electric company wood chips.

It can produce a mold spore that actually bursts and shoots mold out. “Artillery Fungus” is real, trust me. And it’s hard to clean.

 

[SD51555]

Fresh pine is a good mulch. You get a little extended grass control outta pine needle allelopathy.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Nice score on the wood chips. I was able to pick up a couple loads a few years ago when the power line tree trimmers were in our neighborhood. My chips were about a 50/50 mix of pine and hardwoods. I read that it was best to let the chips age for a year, so that's what I did. I just left the big pile of chips in the corner of my yard and a year later I spread them around my apple trees and the trees in my yard. It works great, but you will get an explosion of mushrooms wherever you spread the stuff, so I'd avoid putting any in your yard. Some of the mushrooms that grew in my front yard stunk like a rotten boot filled with dog shit when you ran them over with a lawn mower.

It was almost unbelievable to see mushrooms growing around some of my back apple trees that were planted in sandy soil. That soil is so sandy that the trees there tend to struggle, but they seem to be doing better after getting a couple of tractor buckets full of wood chips per tree. I'm assuming the thick layer of wood chips helps conserve moisture, but there might be other benefits as well.

I wish the tree trimmers would hit our neighborhood again so I could score another big pile of wood chips.

 

[SwampCat]

I have very little luck with weed barriers. The fire ants build their nests under the weed barriers, they carrier dirt to the top of the weed barriers, and the dirt overcomes the barrier. I have had much better luck with mulch barriers.

 

[SD51555]

Nice score on the wood chips. I was able to pick up a couple loads a few years ago when the power line tree trimmers were in our neighborhood. My chips were about a 50/50 mix of pine and hardwoods. I read that it was best to let the chips age for a year, so that's what I did. I just left the big pile of chips in the corner of my yard and a year later I spread them around my apple trees and the trees in my yard. It works great, but you will get an explosion of mushrooms wherever you spread the stuff, so I'd avoid putting any in your yard. Some of the mushrooms that grew in my front yard stunk like a rotten boot filled with dog shit when you ran them over with a lawn mower.

It was almost unbelievable to see mushrooms growing around some of my back apple trees that were planted in sandy soil. That soil is so sandy that the trees there tend to struggle, but they seem to be doing better after getting a couple of tractor buckets full of wood chips per tree. I'm assuming the thick layer of wood chips helps conserve moisture, but there might be other benefits as well.

I wish the tree trimmers would hit our neighborhood again so I could score another big pile of wood chips.

Where I built my first hugel garden, I get big flushes of shaggy mains just down hill of the mound after a rain. I'm curious what I'll get from the one I built this past summer. It did take a few years before that first one really started throwing mushrooms.

 

[omicron1792]

I have very little luck with weed barriers. The fire ants build their nests under the weed barriers, they carrier dirt to the top of the weed barriers, and the dirt overcomes the barrier. I have had much better luck with mulch barriers.

Def agree with that. I still use roundup about twice a year around the barriers. They always end up with dirt buildup on them too

 

[omicron1792]

I had something pretty cool yesterday. I was doing some maintenance on some of my trees planted in grow tubes. They were planted in fields where I had rye, ryegrass, and other grains growing. They were all about 6 to 8 inches tall in my field.

When I pull the grow tubes the grain is 3 feet tall in the grow tube. The greenhouse effect is real.

 

[TreeDaddy]

I have very little luck with weed barriers. The fire ants build their nests under the weed barriers, they carrier dirt to the top of the weed barriers, and the dirt overcomes the barrier. I have had much better luck with mulch barriers.

Little bastards

I keep 2 bags of ortho/andro in the bed of kawasaki mule at all times and use liberally

bill

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Where I built my first hugel garden, I get big flushes of shaggy mains just down hill of the mound after a rain. I'm curious what I'll get from the one I built this past summer. It did take a few years before that first one really started throwing mushrooms.

It was a couple years ago that I spread the wood chips, but I've noticed that different kinds of mushrooms show up over time. None of them appeared to be edible mushrooms though. I also think that wood chip juice has some good stuff in it as well since the area that used to have the giant wood chip pile still has random flushes of mushroom growth even though the wood pile is no longer there. I'm assuming that decaying wood juice soaks into the dirt in that area and becomes a happy place for mushrooms.

In addition to the wood chips, I also dump leaves and grass clippings around my apple trees. I figure any type of organic matter will eventually break down and help my sandy soil. It is working, since over time I have built up a few inches of nice topsoil on top of otherwise crappy sandy ground.

 

[SD51555]

It was a couple years ago that I spread the wood chips, but I've noticed that different kinds of mushrooms show up over time. None of them appeared to be edible mushrooms though. I also think that wood chip juice has some good stuff in it as well since the area that used to have the giant wood chip pile still has random flushes of mushroom growth even though the wood pile is no longer there. I'm assuming that decaying wood juice soaks into the dirt in that area and becomes a happy place for mushrooms.

In addition to the wood chips, I also dump leaves and grass clippings around my apple trees. I figure any type of organic matter will eventually break down and help my sandy soil. It is working, since over time I have built up a few inches of nice topsoil on top of otherwise crappy sandy ground.

Man, there is no limit to the good that comes from wood chips if you ask me. Give me 10 yards of chips, 100 lbs of gypsum, 5 pounds of baking soda, and microsoft excel (pre-365) and I could start my own country from scratch and eclipse China in 5 years.

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

I had something pretty cool yesterday. I was doing some maintenance on some of my trees planted in grow tubes. They were planted in fields where I had rye, ryegrass, and other grains growing. They were all about 6 to 8 inches tall in my field.

When I pull the grow tubes the grain is 3 feet tall in the grow tube. The greenhouse effect is real.

Watch for wasp nests in those grow tubes

 

[SwampCat]

Little bastards

I keep 2 bags of ortho/andro in the bed of kawasaki mule at all times and use liberally

bill

I use so much ant poison I some times wonder if the tree roots will take it up. And then I think and hope the tree roots take it up and kill the coons and possums that eat every piece of fruit.

 

[Telemark]

I put wood chips around all my trees and bushes now. It's a great mulch that slowly turns into great fertilizer. Mushrooms are an indication of a healthy soil ecosystem, and if you get edible varieties then that's just a bonus. You can "plant" some edible mushroom varieties around the mulched trees.

As I understand it, wood in general is decomposed by fungus rather than bacteria. The resulting compost is highly beneficial to trees. In the mean time, the wood chip mulch holds down weeds and preserves soil moisture around the trees.

I say go for it.

 

[bigboreblr]

Was rolling in some oats yesterday before the snowstorm, way too many voles trails. Cat's getty lazy......

IF I was doing mulch. One of 2 things I would do. Trees themselves, just put it around them. let nature beat them up a few months before adding a bit of lime.

A pile I would be coverting to good soil / compost. In your dry climate, mix it up with some soil to help retain moisture. Maybe lightly cover with soil to retain moisture too. let it get beat up some, then lime and a bit of nitrogen fetilizer. Try to stir in some rotten tree bits you got around as a "starter". Let it get going some, then every now and then take the tracotr bucket and sitr it up some, Let the lower stuff come up a bit to get some air. Move the pile to the left and then back the next time kind of thing. IF possible water it some during a dry spell. Also, if possible put it in the shade.

I drive by a retired guy's hunting place on my way to work. I don't know how he does it, but young apples trees no cages, no weed mat, just tree chippings. His place is next to a state forest. I have seen voles scuttling around while I was squirrel hunting near his border.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Mulch for trees is fine. Don’t use it as mulch around any buildings or things you don’t want a bunch black spots on. I made that mistake once with electric company wood chips.

It can produce a mold spore that actually bursts and shoots mold out. “Artillery Fungus” is real, trust me. And it’s hard to clean.

This is 100 % accurate. The spores shoot out for quite a distance. That's why they call it "artillery fungus." Blackish, spots about the size of a pinhead - and sticky like tar. Horrible to clean off anything they get on.

I put double-ground wood chip mulch around the shrubs surrounding our house, which has light vinyl siding. WOW. Siding looked like it was shot by bird shot - but the spores stick like tar. Pressure washing will not take them off. I tried digging a few off - and it's like tar that's been left to dry for about 6 months.

BILL is dead-on with his commentary above.

 

[OakSeeds]

I use wood chips almost exclusively for a number of reasons; they let water/oxygen move to the roots more quickly (less compaction than finely shredded mulch) and - most importantly for me - they break down more slowly so I don't have to replenish as often (maintenance issue with lots of trees).

Apply a 2- to 4-inch layer of organic mulch and no more; use less if the soil is poorly drained. More than 4 inches may harm the tree's root system. An important point ... "If using finely textured or double-shredded mulch, use 1 to 2 inches since these materials allow less oxygen through to the root zone."

Really nice / informative piece on mulching trees from Penn State. https://extension.psu.edu/mulching-landscape-trees