This past fall was my first experience with it. I agree with all the pros you mentioned about it. The only thing I would knock about it other than the burn time would be the chunks it leaves behind. I think mixed with other species is the way to go for burning it. I'll be cutting more of it shortly here. You can't really go wrong hoarding it when your "better" woods are still a couple years away from being ready.
A summer of sitting around after felling the tree, or if you can fell it and buck it to length before the sap runs works well to avoid the sticky sap phase. I was able to fell and buck a fir tree up in late November, and I just stacked the rounds. I let it sit until the next fall before splitting, and there were serious sap drips all over the stack. They were all dry and non tacky when I split them though. Otherwise...
A question regarding “proper care” of Eastern White Pine for those of you in the know: There’s a good chance I may not burn any of this pine until 2022-2023, as I already have plenty of spruce and hemlock to go through first. Would you top cover the pine right away and leave it that way until burn time, or would you leave it exposed for a summer then cover it up indefinitely? Part of me thinks a summer uncovered, cycles of getting rained on, drying out, etc could wash away some of the stickiness but then again, it’s only pine and I don’t want it to rot either.
It’s been over 3 years since my first ChipDrop. I’m doing some weed management / land improvement around the house and decided to smother a few problematic areas with chips. I put in a request on Thursday last week and a guy showed up today with a trailer load for me. Go figure it shows up at the start of the hottest week of the year (so far….)
In a straight line distance with a wheelbarrow only about 50 feet. I'm not too keen on working that hard in this heat though, so I'll be using my Cub Cadet and small yard trailer, and going the long way around the other side of the house. It's about 250 feet that way but I'll be able to dump and spread as I go. It'll be hard work either way but doable.
I hear ya on the heat thing. Hear ya on the scenic route too. I’ll drive a mile in a loop to avoid pushing a wheelbarrow 50 feet
Maybe my 12 year old can help once the heat breaks. I can't imagine my wife going along with the idea of putting them to hard labor with the heat index above 100 though. They both have asthma so it can be dangerous trying to push them too hard.
As of today I started filling it. Late start to the season this year. I'm sure I'll be in and out of it every hour while moving the mulch.
Well this mulch is going to stick around for a while before it rots. It’s mostly black locust mixed with a little black cherry The fresh cut locust smell in this heat is unmistakable.
You can always mix grass clippings with it and give it some water. It will compost nicely. I took a dump truck of wood chips a few years ago and had great free mulch for a long time. It turned a nice brown chocolate color and looked great in my beds. Pile it deep and it really smothers out the weeds.
This had plenty of green material in it already (leaves) Actually the pile had already started composting sitting at the end of my driveway. As I was digging into it with the pitchfork this morning, the center was pretty hot despite the sun being low and the pile in the shade. At this point I have about 80% of the pile moved and can tell already I'm going to need another delivery to cover all the target areas adequately. Maybe this fall when things cool down.
IMO wood chips are the best soil amendment there is and it’s free. Mycorrhizae, earthworms, pill bugs and probably more microbes colonize decaying wood chips. If you have space to let a pile sit for several years it will turn into primo humus. The myth that wood chips tie up nitrogen has been disproven. Thanks for attending my soil science Ted talk.
That was exactly my intent where I'm putting the wood chips. Weed/invasive control in the short-term, soil amendment in the long-term. I'm hoping to plant all sorts of native shrubs and flowers once the soil can support them better. It's my understanding that wood chips rob the soil of nitrogen only if they're mixed into the soil. Sitting on the surface level, slowly breaking down over time won't affect the nitrogen level below the surface.
