Wood chips for evergreen trees

[jester7891]

5/23/07

Hopefully this is the right place to ask this question. I just put in 250 Christmas trees with a post holding digger using my Kubota B7610. After figuring out the initial problems, I was able to the make the holes in no time. The trees are in and they seem to be doing okay but I am watering them a lot. I am wondering if anybody knows if I can put wood chips around the base of each tree (I have a lot of mixed wood chips from when the house was built - area for the house was cut out of the forest and wood chips were left). This would obviously prevent grass from growing around the tree but also hold moisture in. It may cut down a little bit on the number of times I have to water them since we have had a pretty dry Spring here by the Delaware River. Does anybody have any bad feelings about putting wood chips around the base of 6’’ to 18’’ trees? Thanks.

 

[bigtiller]

Yes, put some mulch down as soon as possible but make sure it is small stuff. If you use chips that are as big as your finger then mice will make a home in it and start chewing on the bark of the trees. Same thing with straw, mice love it. keep it away from the trunk to prevent rot.

 

[1bush2hog]

You need to make sure those chips have aged enough before you use them around landscaping, otherwise the chips will suck all the nitrogen out of your trees and kill them.

If the chips are over a year old you should be OK - If not go with something else to mulch. Also keep the chips back away from the trunk a bit