Pine mulch, fir mulch, hardwood mulch -- are they ok

[DrRod]

I have a big pile of culled out fir trees plus a lot of ash tree tops. I plan to rent a big chipper and grind them down to chips. I recall that there may be a problem with using pine chips as mulch -- I think they leach the nitrogen out of the soil but don't exactly remember. So the questions are:

a. is there a problem with pine mulch
b. is it the same with firs
c. are there problems with hard woods

Thanks

 

[murphy1244]

I have a big pile of culled out fir trees plus a lot of ash tree tops. I plan to rent a big chipper and grind them down to chips. I recall that there may be a problem with using pine chips as mulch -- I think they leach the nitrogen out of the soil but don't exactly remember. So the questions are:

a. is there a problem with pine mulch
b. is it the same with firs
c. are there problems with hard woods

Thanks

Here, bugs seem to love pine.

 

[Oldpath05]

A> No
B> Yes
C> No
D> Chipping up a pile of tree tops for disposal is better then burning and catching something else on fire, if it came from the ground it can go back.

 

[DrRod]

Thanks -- and have to agree on the fire thing. I've been itching to burn it on a nice wet day -- not all at once but as a day-long camp fire of sorts -- but we had a forest fire a mile from me last month and it was a sobering experience. You can see that stuff on the news all you want but until you see a mountain you know well engulfed in smoke and its that close it hits you pretty hard. So for $150 I can rent a big tow-behind chipper and reduce it to something useful in a day.

 

[Streetcar]

Yes ,yes,yes Decaying chipped wood will take nitrogen from the soil.
Depending on the amount of chips in a area, you may need to add nitrogen to the chip soil mix

 

[mapper]

While decaying wood chips will absorb nitrogen they will also release it slowly as the decay becomes complete. Adding nitrogen will speed up the process, if you are using them as mulch it will not remove much nitrogen from the underlying soil. It will require that if you want to fertilize plants where the mulch is being used you will need to place the fertilizer under the mulch for best results. Most trees and shrubs benefit more from the mulch protecting their root zones from weeds and moisture loss than any loss of nitrogen due to the mulch.

 

[rswyan]

Pile in the center (left) is (clearly) new fresh chips ... pile on right in the back is mainly a pile of wood chips that have been decaying for the last 5 or 6 years, with some recent additions (leaves, grass clippings, etc.)

It's just filled with earthworms.

Makes a great soil amendment.

 

[bigtiller]

Black walnut leaves, nuts and roots will kill a tomato plant. It makes a toxin called juglone. Some maples and oaks also make it but not to the extent the black walnut does.

 

[DrRod]

Yes -- that is for sure. In fact there's not much that will grow in and around walnut trees due to this.

 

[bigdeano]

I wouldn't put wood mulch near a building. Wet wood draws carpenter ants and probably termites which will happily move into the building. I found out the hard expensive way.