Tree trimming and stump grinding are two tree services that can leave you with a pile of wood chips in your yard. Often, the tree service will give you the option of removing the wood chips or leaving them so you can use them as mulch.
Here are some of the dos and don’ts of using these wood chips in your landscaping.
Do: Use wood chip mulch in erosion-prone areas
Wood chips can be a great protective mulch for erosion prevention in muddy areas and other spots prone to erosion. This material doesn’t blow around as easily as straw or pine needle mulch, and unlike stone mulches, it will eventually decompose into soil over the next couple of years.
Don’t: Use wood chips too close to your house
One spot that you should avoid when laying out the wood chips is the area directly around your foundation. Placing untreated wood around the outside of your home can provide a food source and cover for termites, which easily spread to the inside of your home. So to avoid this hazard, avoid the garden beds right by the house when spreading wood chips.
Do: Consider composting or aging the wood chips
Wood chips can be a great mulch, but they can also be great in compost. You should especially consider composting the wood chips if you want to use them to amend the soil. Compost can be an amazing soil amendment.
Aging the wood chips before use can also be a great move. This is important if you’re planning to use the wood chips as mulch in vegetable garden beds or around young, sensitive plants.
Don’t: Mulch the same tree or other trees with diseased material
If the tree that your mulch came from shows signs of a fungal, viral, or bacterial condition, you’ll want to keep the infected material far away from other susceptible plants. In particularly extreme cases, this could mean you shouldn’t use the material as mulch at all. However, in many cases you can simply use the wood chips on some other area of your landscaping that isn’t susceptible to the disease.
For instance, if the tree has a disease that only attacks pine trees, that’s no reason why you shouldn’t use the wood chips around vegetable plants at a safe distance from your pine tree. Your tree trimming professionals can help you identify any tree diseases and determine which plants you can safely use the wood chips around.
Consider a Professional Landscaper To Get High-Quality Mulch and Avoid Possible Problems
These dos and don’ts can help you use your tree trimming wood chips to best advantage in your landscaping and avoid any careless mistakes.
For more information on landscaping services for your landscape needs get in touch with the Fernandez & Sons, Masonry and Landscaping professionals today. Our team of professional landscapers will guide you in the best direction regarding the use of wood chips or high quality mulch, along with provide you with our expert professional landscape services.
