Wood chip or mulch

[jjll]

I have been talking to a local farmer where we dump a couple of loads of wood chip, he mentioned about doing something with it, ie mulch and bag up in dumpy bags and sell when ready, or I mentioned getting it taken for biomass.

Which is more suitable?

We produce a small amount of chip each week depending on jobs and at the moment get rid where ever we can and where ever is closest. Is it worth taking it to the same place to put in a clamp and then load it up when we have enough? How long can the chip sit for before biomass companies won't take it. I know that it has to be clean and of good grade.

Or would it be better to keep it and turn it into mulch and sell?

If so, how is a better mulch made, do you mix in anything else?

 

Cheers for any feedback

 

 

Sent using Arbtalk Mobile App

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

needs aeration and turning to break it down quicker to compost, a lot of peat free "soil improvers" are made this way these days

[Treespotter]

Why doesn't the farmer use it as a compensation for your dumping it there. It's an ideal product to enhance the organic matter percentage over the years.

 

Using it/selling as biomass for energy is in my humble opinion a waste of a wonderful product.

[jjll]

He doesn't charge for dumping, he mixes it into his muck heap from time to time and eventually spreads it. He just thought if it was worth doing as a byproduct.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Why doesn't the farmer use it as a compensation for your dumping it there. It's an ideal product to enhance the organic matter percentage over the years.

 

Using it/selling as biomass for energy is in my humble opinion a waste of a wonderful product.

 

 

agree, he could go organic and properly not as in the commercial interpretation!

[face cord]

Im mixing leylandi chip 50 50 with organic horse manure for the garden atm.

 

Amazing compost full of worms

 

 

Horse manure is is alot easier to source than chip so often short the of chip.

 

Combining them breaks down well just one or the other takes ages to break down.

[T14EES T14UNK]

Grass cuttings speeds up the break down of woodchip. Turns it more composty much quicker.

[nona]

For bio mass it depends where you are, (what you get for it depends mostly on transport cost) space available for stock piling, and ability to load the chip (good size loader)

[DN22 Gardening]

If we do any dead trees we always bag the chip into vented bags to be sold.

 

The chip off of these seems to last longer in the bags

[csservices]

I have used oak woodchip from the local sawmill as bedding in the lambing shed last few years, saves a fortune on straw as 6-8 inch layer lasts all winter and saves on foot problems with oak being natural anti bacterial, only downside is I have to put it in a seperate muck pile as it takes a long time to compost properly