Using chipped limbs in the garden

[swimmer_spe]

I have several different types of trees in my property. They all have a limb or so that are dead. As such I will be cutting them back to clean them up. I just got a wood chipper and plan to chip most of the smaller stuff, and cut up the larger stuff for backyard fires.

My question is about the chips. Can I chip them today and tomorrow put them in my garden? Can I use all the limbs from all the trees, or are there some that I should avoid? When laying the chips down, how deep should I have it?

 

[Sparky617]

Here is a good article on the subject. Bottom line, I think you'll want to compost it first. Fresh wood chips use a lot of nitrogen to break down. Age it, and add composted leaves.

https://mrtreeservices.com/blog/can-you-use-fresh-wood-chips-as-mulch/

 

[bud16415]

Much of the wood chips you buy are not composted all that much. they spray them with dye to make them black and composted looking or sometimes colors.



It sounds like what you will be feeding your home chipper will be mostly sticks and twigs and not good woody limbs. Pile that stuff up for a year mixed with leaves and household compost waist and you will have some good stuff for the garden.



I had the steel ring from a pool that was 36’ dia and 54” tall. I chopped off 12’ of it rolled it into a 4’ dia ring and bolted it and use it as my compost bin. Every couple years I move it and till all the compost into the garden. I add grass clipping leaves all our kitchen compost. Even some ash from our campfires. I don’t put weed with seeds in though.

I don’t turn it and all that but when I move the ring I mix it up good with the tiller before throwing it on the garden in the fall and working it in before winter. The last couple years I have covered the garden about 2’ thick with maple leaves in the fall. I leave them there and when I go to plant there is about 6” of matted leaves. I put most of them in the bin and they stop all the spring weeds from coming up. Till and plant.