Our utility company just cleared tree branches away from the powerlines. they chipped up everything, and left a big pile of it for us to use as mulch. Is it okay to use now, or does it need to "age", or go thorough a "heat" first? please help. just planted my first ever flower beds, and don't want to kill the little flowers.
I think the chippings should be fine as long as there was no disease or bug infestation in the trees GardenGreenie. I use wood chippings from my trees all the time in the garden and have never had any problems with them.
they could cause burn on your young plants. There is the concern about the fresh wood chips tying up nitrogen during their decomposition. An article by Frank Gouin (University of Maryland) states that wood chips (as opposed to pine bark) have a very wide C:N ratio, and that they do cause significant nutrient deficiencies, particularly for herbaceous plants. Mark White (Professor, Wood Science and Forest Products, Virginia Tech) has done research on the pH of wood leachates and reports that they are quite acidic and could significantly change soil pH depending on the volume used. Since they can be in the pH 4 range, the acidity could both damage the plant and plant roots immediately and reduce could reduce soil pH with repeated applications. Large trees and plants that require an acid soil can survive this situation better than tree seedlings and most herbaceous plants. But there are also lots of posts on the web that say they are fine to use.
Wood chips Wood chips attract termites in areas where they are endemic. They do use nitrogen as they decompose, but if the chips not very small (powdery) the process will be too slow to starve your plants. Also, the portions that are constantly moist (the portions in contact with the soil) will collect fungi (particularly rust, bracket fungi), which could spread to your other plants and trees. This process happens in Nature all the time as leaves and branches break off and are decomposed and the goodness returned to the soil. So there should be no harm in trying. Be alert though. With warm regards
