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Wood Chip Mulch and a Wooded Lot

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Posted by rdavisiii Santa Cruz Mtns CA (My Page) on
Sat, Dec 24, 11 at 9:12

I just moved into a new home in the Santa Cruz Mountains and have been in the process of cleaning up the area around the house creating defensible space and just making it tidy overall. It appears this has not been done in years. I am working on my "front yard" which is a combination of various slopes and flats down to the road. This area has large trees but most of it does get sun at times during the day. As I peeled off the years of litter I discovered a good amount of wood chips. It appears that they chipped a tree or two right there and made some attempt to spread it about but mostly it is just concentrated in a few areas and a foot plus deep in places.

My short term goal is to keep the area clean of fallen debris and let the forest floor do what it can do on its own before deciding on further improvements or alterations so I am wondering what to do about the wood chips and the compacted "carpet" of needles, sticks and leaves in places that is fairly deep. A lot of what I find is very wet, rotten, smelly, etc...

-Should I remove these wood chips or thin them out?
-If I keep them what is the ideal places to use them. I have been thinking on the steeper slopes, in the drainage, I want to avoid the flatter sunnier areas because I want stuff to have a chance to grow.
-If I keep them, is it a bad idea to have these chips right up to the trees? This was the case on a few large trees and when I peeled it back I could see damage being done to the bark.
-As I remove these layers I am finding rotting pine needles and leaves. I am thinning this out but am hesitant to remove it completely. Once I thin it out should I work that last bit into the upper surface of the dirt below? I still see recognizable needles, leaves and sticks.
-Lastly, I see wood chips like this used around here quite abit. In regards to fire wouldn't the large wood chips be ideal surface fuel for fire? Is there a benefit in that the lower layers stay wet longer and may help slow the burn?

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RE: Wood Chip Mulch and a Wooded Lot

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In a forest the litter accumulates on the floor year after year and no one clears it away, although it seldom accumulates to a depth of a foot. I would spread out what you have more evenly, and clear areas around the trees trunks some. Those wood chips might, depending on how dry they get, be a source of fuel if a fire were to move in, but if they are moist it would take more for them to burn. Leaves and pine needles would be of more concern.
Wood chips piled up against a tree trunk can hold moisture and allow some insect pests a place to live and work on the tree under the mulch which can then cause the tree to die, eventually. However, I have seen the same thing happen when soil accumulates against a tree trunk.

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