5 Uses for Woodchips After a Tree Removal or Stump Grinding

It can feel like quite a relief when you finally have a tree removed or get rid of that eyesore stump. When you see those trees and stumps turned into woodchips, your instincts might have you saying, “haul it away.” However, there are ways you can incorporate these leftover woodchips back into your yard.

Giving new life to woodchips has numerous benefits for your property you may haven’t thought about. To provide you with some ideas, this article will explore a few different ways you can use the leftover woodchips from a tree removal or stump grinding, including:

1. Mulch
2. Compost
3. Play Area Substrate
4. Paths
5. Weed Control

Use Your Woodchips as Mulch

Using your leftover woodchip as mulch is a great choice. Mulch has a variety of uses around your yard, from beautifying your property to practical soil enrichment applications.

Not only does mulch look nice when placed around trees and shrubs, but as it decomposes, it feeds the soil nutrients like nitrogen and carbon, providing roots with sustained nutrition. Additionally, mulch can help prevent erosion caused by rain and running water, and it can help your Central Virginia soil retain moisture.

Mulch is an outstanding choice for recycling your woodchips and yard waste! Don’t have any of your own? Henrico County offers mulch free of charge.

You may have heard that adding woodchips will tie up nitrogen in the soil as they decompose. This isn’t necessarily true. If the woodchips are tilled into the soil, it’s possible that they could tie up nitrogen, but this is not the case when you lay them on the soil surface. Go ahead! Lay down that woodchip mulch!

Use Your Woodchips as Compost

Adding woodchips to your compost bin can add valuable nutrients. As the woodchips decompose, they add extra nitrogen, carbon, calcium, phosphorus, and sulfur to your compost. The result is a nutrient-rich compost fertilizer that will feed your soil and help your trees and plants thrive!

Use Woodchips as a Playground Substrate

Woodchips make excellent bedding for a playground. Woodchips are affordable, natural, and safer than artificial surfaces like rubber and plastic, which according to a study by the National Center for Health Research, contain chemicals connected to childhood cancer, asthma, obesity, and reduced IQ. Given this information, woodchips are the obvious choice for playgrounds.

Note: It’s important to remember that when using woodchips as a play area substrate, you remove any long, sharp chips to prevent injury.

Using Woodchips as a Garden Path

Using woodchips as a substrate for paths on your property has numerous benefits. Not only is it attractive, easy to work with, and affordable, it’s also natural and feeds your soil as it breaks down.

As they decompose, the woodchips will need to be replaced periodically. Still, you can then recycle the old chips as compost. Woodchips just keep on giving!

Using Your Woodchips for Weed Control

Instead of pulling weeds and spraying herbicides, you can use your leftover woodchips to help control your weeds.

Adding a 2-inch layer of woodchips on top of the soil in flower beds and around your trees and shrubs will block sunlight and prevent the germination of many weeds.

This easy, affordable, and natural solution will also feed your soil as the chips decompose, providing your trees and shrubs with additional nutrition free of charge!

Do you have Trees or Stumps You Want to Turn to Woodchips?

If you need a tree removed or stump grinding in Central and Northern Virginia, ZZ Tree Service can do the job and leave you with the wonderful woodchips. Call us today at 804-688-7099 and give your trees and stumps new life by incorporating them into your landscape!