Truck load of Woodchips

simple life

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So a friend of ours is a tree guy and he drops off all kinds of free wood for us to use for firewood.
I asked him recently if he had any woodchips to spare I could use a little.
So the other night I hear his truck pull in so I figure he is dropping off wood I couldn't see in the dark so I just waved out the window as he drove off.
I look outside later on and he left an entire truck load of wood chips in my driveway.
A truck load!
I have no idea what we are going to do with all of them.
Its locust and it smells lovely though, just walking through the yard you can smell it. :)
We moved them all around to the back yard and the pile is at least 6 feet high by 15 around, if not more.
I can use it as
mulch
to fix low spots in the yard
in the chicken run
in the firepit to smoke meat and barbecue
even in my bee smoke but what the heck to do with the rest.
Any other ideas for massive amounts of woodchips?
 

journey11

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If you run out of ideas, if nothing else you can compost them. When they do finally break down, they make a wonderful humus.

Truly though, I don't know if it's possible to run out of uses for them! What a nice present! :)

I dumped a bunch of bark from the woodpile on a muddy spot at the back of my house and it really did make it "cleaner" to walk on...no more squishy mud.
 

4grandbabies

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We got 2 huge truck loads from the electric line cleaners, We plan to fill in low places, use for walkways and paths thru the raised garden beds, maybe even use some of it in the play area around the swing sets, to keep weeds and grass away. I hope is will be as useful as we think it will be. We also mulched around our new blueberry plants because we thought the acid content of ours would be good.
 

Chiefs Mess

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Now I don't know how much this is true: I was told that the chips had to be treated because of bugs. You are not sure if the tree was diseased.
So I always opt out getting free chips and just purchased bagged thinking they were treated.
Someone out there have any idea if I was told correctly?

Now since the chips give out a aroma I would think using in a path would be so nice. Ahhhh here I am snowed in with 20" of snow and dreaming of working in the yard.
 

simple life

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We did put some in the low spots in the yard to help with that, it helps absorb that muck.
I really don't know about them having to be treated, I just never thought about it.
The only thing I know about the tree is that the people wanted to build something where the trees were and had them removed, otherwise they were very healthy.
The wood itself is just beautiful, its a golden yellow color.
I have the entire tree in 4 foot lenghts, I looked it up when he told me it was a locust and its apparently the hardest wood there is.
The bark is very pretty too, I may keep some of those logs to use in the yard for some type of project.
I like how hard the chips are, mulch is usually that mushy stuff and the color washes out on them. I love this stuff.
 

bills

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If you have raised beds in the veggie garden, or have worn paths in your lawn, these would be great for pathways to garden sheds, hen house, garden gate, etc.

I use a layer of chips on top of landscape cloth all around the perimeter of my veggie garden fence. This stops the grass from sneaking into the garden, and kind of gives the deer fencing a finished look. I use some landscape logs to hold the chips in place, as well as a guide for the lawn tractor.

If you have a shrub garden, you could lay down some landscape cloth, then cover it with chips. Keep the area free of weeds, and may keep moisture in the ground longer, for the shrubs in the summer.

Never heard of folks using Locust chips in the chicken run before? Are they safe for the birds? (I don't believe we don't have Locust trees in BC, what do they look like?)

I wish I had a free truckload, I have a ton of spots I could use them..! :)
 

herbsherbsflowers

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I asked a guy cleaning up a yard down the street if we could have his truckload of woodchips a few weeks ago and he brought them to me along with 5 bags of organic garden soil that he did not want. We have mulched a big shrub bed and will be using them in the paths between raised beds in the garden. I'll be looking out for another truck in the neighborhood before spring. Those guys are always looking for places to get rid of that stuff.
 

lesa

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I love to use them for paths. It just makes everything look much neater and it does help keep the weeds down, somewhat...I'm sure you will find many uses for them. Counting the days till spring!!
 

vfem

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We have a path going through the woods... I've wanted to line it with wood chips to keep the path there... occasionally it gets overgrown and I have to mow it.

Have you thought of creating some paths with it?!
 

ams3651

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I have a big pile in the middle of my side yard. It contributes to my goal of not having so much grass to mow. Its bigger than it looks, this is just a part of it, it was a pickup load.

5307_dscn0064.jpg
 
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