The Giant Wood Chip Pile

One day a week or so ago I was visiting the local free wood chip pile. It was a routine stop for me. I load my small car up with about 20 five gallon buckets, attack the pile with a shovel and drive home with enough wood chips to mulch... one tree. Repeat this day after day with so many things to mulch around the yard- its a real chore!


However on this one particular day a forester was there dumping a load of wood chips for the pile. I told him how I always wondered where all the wood chips came from... like I knew they didn't fall out of the sky... but who put them there and were things shredded to bits on the spot or brought it. It made a lot more sense seeing that the chips were created somewhere else and then brought to the pile. He said that 'all the tree guys bring their chips here'. I was shoveling a pile of fresh chips and he walked over and identified the species of tree just by looking at some markings and coloration in the wood that were caused from a disease for that particular tree. I wish for the life of me that I could remember that name, but I was a little distracted with my task and wonder for this guys enthusiasm for trees.


Mr. Forester then, probably seeing my serious effort to load more mulch laden buckets into my small car, offered to drop off a whole load to my house. He said he does work all over and was sometimes up by area and it would be convenient enough to do. It did seem to make a lot of sense that if he had several jobs lined up for one day that it would make his day easier to drop off the chips at my house if it was closer than going all the way to town and be able continue on to his next job. 

For me a giant pile of wood chips at my disposal in my own yard would be like a dream come true. It would save me so much effort in transporting via a gazillion 5 gallon buckets in my small car. The idea that someone would bring me a whole pile free of charge right to my doorstep seemed too good to be true...


Typical bucket haul for my car on left.



...  it wasn't!

This was what greeted me as I returned home from work the other day. This is very exciting. What on earth am I going to do with it all? Mulch mulch mulch: orchard fruit trees, blueberries, grapes, my perennial herb garden, the eight blue spruces we planted two years ago, the rhubarb and peonies... just to name a few things that come to mind. 

I won't use any of it in my vegetable garden though. I am sure some folks are fine using mulches in their garden... it keeps weeds down and retains moisture well enough. For me personally,  however, I have found mulches to harbor- SLUGS. Its a place for them to take up residence during the day and then at night they can meander out in their bathrobes and slimy slippers to munch on my veggies at their convenience. I just don't want to take the risk.

Have you had any mulch successes or failures in your garden?