I have been clearing a bunch of limbs and smaller oak trees out. I'm thinking of renting a chipper and chipping it all up as we we could use it next year for some of our landscaping projects. How do you keep wood chips until next year and they are still good? What about combustion?
Wood Chip Pile Managment
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Industrial Toys
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Good for what? They deteriorate from day one. I guess, the species makes a difference too. I got a 15" PTO chipper and wa going to stock pile the chips, but in the mean time, got a top dresser, which I am going to blow the chips into, and distribute them right away. I found spreading the chips onto paths and roadways was quite time consuming.
Apparently making large piles can pose a fire risk for built up heat.
Apparently making large piles can pose a fire risk for built up heat.
oldballs
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I've shredded and chipped lots of cedar. They do not rot very fast. I use them for garden paths, or just spread them under border trees just to get rid of them. Don't know about oak. And I have never kept them in a pile for very long...e.g. over 3 months.
Industrial Toys
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I intend to Chip a litttle bit of Cedar. Any thing "special" I should devote that to? Bet it smells great! I had put chips in the garden for weed control, but I think it adds to much nitrogen.
Diggin It
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Wood chips = Caviar for Termites.
Never pile them anywhere near any building you want to keep.
Never pile them anywhere near any building you want to keep.
jaxs
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Chips suck some nitrogen if tilled in while fresh but as mulch,there's nothing to worry about. Mulched chips slowly decompose adding organic matter along with a small amount of N to soil. A pile of green chips may heat up and steam but there's too much moisture content for combustion. As moisture decreases,steaming subsides but so does heat so there's still no risk of combustion. The right mixture of dry combustable material and fresh,green heat procucing material will occasionally catch fire.
mike48130
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I just bought a house with about 500 yards of wood chips piled on the back half of my property. The guy before let or got paid for a tree service to dump them there along with piles of wood. Some of the wood is good and some bad. All dumped there various times so different state of rot. I wish I could make the chips compost faster.
This sums it up perfectly. I let tree services in the area dump chips on our property. I let them sit for a year before using. Using them fresh pulls some nitrogen out of the soil.
I use them for mulch in the garden for weed retention and moisture retention. I use them anywhere I don't want to mow or spray for weeds. They are invaluable.
mike48130
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Do you have any termite issues as stated above? Got me thinking. I don't think I have an issues, but just looked at some Termicides and considering a preventive measure.
Short answer - no.
Long answer - Termites live all over the outdoors, both in wood and in soil. There is no need to have piles of wood chips to have termites on your property. They are already there. The idea that having wood chips or mulch around will lead to termites in the house is an urban (and rural) myth. As long as the piles of wood chips are not against the house (or at least the wooden part of the house), there won't be termite issues in the house.
I remember after Katrina the myth that mulch from Louisiana was bringing termites all over the country. Please. That's like saying garbage from New York will bring rats. There's rats everywhere already, which is fine. If you put garbage against your house, you'll have rats in your house, which is not fine.
No reason to spray for termites outside. It's as effective as air conditioning your property to keep it cool.
