We are getting 3 of our trees pruned. A big leaf maple, a huge Douglas fir tree and a cedar. The company that is going to do that said that they could either keep the wood chips for us to use or haul them away. What do you guys suggest? Should I keep them for mulching or ask them to haul away? I never used anything other than Home Depot bought mulch. Are the wood chips good for mulching? Thanks
I always accept free wood chips. Since they are your trees you can see there is or is not disease. If there is no disease in the trees and they just need pruned.... happily take the chips. I use them for mulch everywhere as often as I can get them.
Cedar chips are great for keeping bugs away, though toxic so try not to handle them or let animals get directly in them, you would want to put them inside cloth for an animal to use. An animal bed filled with cedar chips will kill fleas and ticks. As for mulch it takes quite a few years to rot down enough to use. It does work really well if you have an area you want to keep weed free, spread it around there. You can still get Lambsquarters or thistles that will still grow in it but most everything else will be killed by the wood chips. You can buy a load of bark that is aged and or even colored for not too much so it really doesn't matter much either way. My best friend is a tree trimmer....ok... "arborist"... he hates the term tree trimmer, and he now grinds all of what he trims and he hauls it back to his newly acquired 40 acre homestead just down the road from us and is stock piling it for use years down the road in his garden. Most places will take it to the landfill and will be mixed and aged then resold, but that is getting expensive, they charge here about $15 a ton to take it then resell it at about $15 to $20 a ton. That about covers my knowledge on wood chips...hope it helps...
I would keep them...but ask them to keep the chips separate...cedar, maple and fir. You may want to use the chips for different purposes.
