I just put a lot of a mostly decomposed tree stump (6" diameter, roughly, from dead cherry tree) through my shredder and into the compost heap. it looked very rich to me and I don't anticipate problems of any kind. I also wouldn't hesitate to use it as a mulch, except that some of the pieces (bark, e.g.) were on the large side.

g'day julie,

we shouldn't take from the habitat, man does enough damage there already, whatever is in the forest belongs there as part of a working system.

source you mulch/compost/humus elsewhere, garden centers sell products that will help or just using green spoilt hay mulches will certainly do the job, mulches such as spoilt lucerne hay or sugar cane mulch, mushroom compost from the farm or mixed where it is available.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens straw bale garden

I think it much better to scrape some OM from the nearby forest than to pump more pollution into to atmosphere while driving to get more. How did it get to the garden center? By vehicle no doubt, which just increased the pollution even more.

len has a good point, but I think moderation in all things is the key. A little harvesting here and there without taking it all is probably not going to damage the ecosystem.

Note, we've been putting out forest fires for decades, so many places have more wood on the ground than they 'naturally' would. We've already disturbed the ecosystem.

Besides fossil fuel, one has to wonder where the stuff at the store came from. Cutting down a forest, perhaps? Maybe small borrowing from nearby is actually more sustainable.

not to get technical Len, shouldn't spoilt hay be left in the fields where it came from to replenish those fields?
Where does it end or even start?
If the OP was talking about slashing/burning the woods behind her house I would agree but to take rotten stumps and fallen branches is not a crime but a smart use of local "products". Would buying peat moss from a 1000 miles away be better?
It's a slippery slope and I would like to add that I truly enjoy reading and respect your posts.

You don't say in what way your soil is 'poor' but if it's lacking organic matter, partially decomposed wood bits (especially if already in small pieces) as a mulch should help. So should just about any source of organic matter / mulch / compost. You may want to supplement with some other types of mulch, compost or manure.

Personally I think the choice of whether to compost further or simply spread around is more a question of aesthetics, effort and amounts, and how much of a rush you're in.

I wouldn't even risk guessing about your house and bugs.

Sure, but you probably need much more than you can scavenge from the woods. One way or the other, there's usually a source of organic matter for cheap or free nearby. The vtransfer station is a good place to make inquiries.

Rotten stumps are great!! When I began our veggie garden at the foot of the Casade volcanes, in this horrible to grow things pumice/ash/gravel soil, I was looking for ANY organic matter close at hand, and being close to a floodplain, I own so old slough bottoms. surrounded by meadows with lodgepole pines at the fringes. Before I bought this prop, someone had cut maybe 20 or so BIG lodgepoles down and took the logs. The stumps have been quietly rotting away for maybe 30 years at the edge of wetland areas. I took a wheelbarrow down and scraped off what rot I could. Got maybe 15 loads of punk wood. Put in my garden plot and in my compost bins with greens and leaves. My garden soil is now looking like dirt, mostly.

Over the last year or so, I have been regularly harvesting from my forest to use in the garden: leaves, rotting wood, and not so rotting wood. Great stuff in the garden or compost pile Granted, I try not to disturb the floor more than I can avoid. I use a bagging lawnmower or a hand rake--not the box blade on my tractor. I leave a majority of material behind, and selectively thin out some of the less desirable specimens to decrease competition an increase access.

Some have chastised me for this, but I fail to see any logic behind leaving the forest strictly 100% off limits. Sure, this all part of a natural cycle, but so are forest fires. Who wants one of those in their back yard? If I am a bad steward of my land for this practice, am I also a bad steward by picking the wild blueberries? I've asked those who chastise me how they build their hugelkultur beds, or where they think their firewood comes from if not from a tree somewhere, or how they burn in those fancy little rocket stoves.

The bottom line for me is that is makes perfect sense to harvest some fertility and organic matter to improve previously clear cut, graded and raped areas. This spring/summer I will stroll through select areas of my forest unmolested by thorny vines, tripping hazards, and hung deadwood while picking wild blueberries. Then, I will harvest from all the members of the plant and fungi kingdoms I have cultivated myself. I will be happy. My forest will live on and the earth will keep revolving.

I agree and it all depends on your particular situation. It's good for gardeners to be aware of all these considerations so as to make informed decisions.

I would like to put in a plug for free municipal wood chips or shredded yard waste, or utility crew wood chips, as soil improvers. Everyone will not have access to these but it pays to check it out in your area and see what resources are available. I have a place in the country and the electric co-op has delivered free wood chips. Can't ask for anything better than that (unless they spread them for me, but I doubt that's going to happen :-) .