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| This question has probably been asked many times before, but I can't find the correct search to get the answer.
I just had several large fir trees removed from my property and then the stumps ground. The chips from the stump grinding were left in the landscape. The area where the chips are has about 6 inch of horse manure compost that I intended to rototill into the soil. Can I just rototill the pine chips into the soil with the compost? If I do can I add anything to aid in the decomposition of the chips? How long should I wait before I plant in the area? Or should I scrape the chips off and find a place to let them sit for a year before using them? Thanks |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by darth_weeder z7 NY (My Page) on Fri, Apr 29, 11 at 14:50
| I would move them to the side level the hole up to grade, add the compost, plant whatever you're planting and then mulch with the pine chips. or do like you said and pile them up somewhere for a year or two good luck |
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Fri, Apr 29, 11 at 18:06
| If you rototill wood chips in the soil you will have a dead zone for years to come. Definitely scrape them aside. They need to grow a fungus on them before they will decompose. That fungus only lives in the air. The fungus you want looks like those in these pictures. |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Sat, Apr 30, 11 at 9:58
| First, you don't get pine chips from fir trees - you get fir chips :-) Second, how easily these can be incorporated into the soil depends a lot on quantity and size -- the smaller the chip, the faster it will decompose. If concentrated into one area, I might try to spread them more evenly throughout a larger area. Thirdly, they will decompose in place - the necessary fungal organisms are present in the soil - but will tie up nitrogen as they do, making it difficult for other plants to establish and thrive. This can be relatively simply counteracted by adding a high nitrogen fertilizer to the area where the wood chips are included. |
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| ..... what Pam said. There is plenty of air in the soil to allow respiration for microorganisms that will break down the hydrocarbon chains in the wood ..... unless the soil is soggy & compacted, in which case it was already unsuited to planting. Still, as she mentioned, you should expect a considerable degree of N immobilization that will need correcting if you incorporate- the smaller the particle size the greater the degree of N immobilization - best to use as mulch. AL |
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- Posted by lazygardens PhxAZ%3A Sunset 13 (My Page) on Sun, May 1, 11 at 13:15
| dchall said, "If you rototill wood chips in the soil you will have a dead zone for years to come." No, you won't have a dead zone, and many species of bacteria and fungi can decompose the lignin in wood chips. Although, raking them up to use as mulch would be a great idea, spreading them out and tilling them in also works well. |
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| Tilling those wood chips into the soil would get the Soil Food Web working on digesting them and they would use all of the available Nitrogen to do that to the detriment of any plants trying to grow there. When those wee thingys die the nitrogen they grabbed will go back into the soil to either feed more bacteria to digest more of that carbon or, if the carbon is all digested, to feed any plants growing there. That process can take quite some time. Fir chips, pine chips, cedar chips, hardwood chips are all about the same, a high carbon material that can tie up available Nitrogen for a time if those wood chips are tilled into the soil. |
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| There is a CONSIDERABLE difference in the rate at which conifer bark breaks down as opposed to simply wood chips, which contains high-cellulose sapwood and heartwood. N immobilization is reduced substantially when/if you incorporate conifer bark. Still, it's better to use it as mulch and avoid the issue almost entirely. As Pam mentioned upthread, the remedy for N tie-up is additional N. AL |
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| HI, How many inches of pine wood chips do I need if I want the woodchips to last for 3 years before substantial decomposition/weeds begin to recruit? I'm thinking 3 inches is sufficient? Conditions: Northeast (NJ); mostly sun; mesic soil beneath. Thanks, |
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