What To Do With Wood Chips From Stump Grinding
Trees in your yard provide shade and great ambiance, but once you cut them, the tree stumps remain and may hinder movement in the yard. You must remove the stump using a grinder and collect the wood chips for proper disposal.
So, what to do with wood chips from stump grindings? You can use the wood chips to fill the hole left after grinding the stump, make compost fertilizer or use it as mulch for your crops. The wood chips can be used as fire starters to make a dog run or walkways. You can spread them on the snowy in winter to make them less slippery.
This article shall review the best creative ways to use wood chips from stump grinding on your farm. In addition, we shall also discuss the easiest way to clean the wood chips after grinding.
What To Do With Wood Chips From Stump Grinding?
Tree stumps in the compound need to be removed for other young seedlings to be planted. Using a grinding machine, you can reduce the stump into smaller fine wood chips that are easy to handle on the farm.
Below are the various ways you can use these wood chips from tree stump grinding.
Use Wood Chips To Do Mulching
The wood chips from the tree stump can make mulch on the farm. Spread the chips on your farm or around the crop stems. You can also spread the wood chips on the farm for vines and horticultural produce to prevent contact with the soil.
Mulching helps preserve water from evaporation and acts as manure when the chips decompose and mix with the soil during subsequent cultivation.
Make A Walkway In Your Compound
Walkways are often characterized by mud, water pools and snow, especially during the rainy seasons or in the winter. Such environments are unpleasant and may cause injuries since they are slippery.
You can spread wood chips from the stump grinding to absorb the wetness and maintain comfortable, less muddy or snowy walkways. Keep adding the wood chips as they get muddy and wet.
Fill The Hole Left By The Tree Stump
The hole left after grinding the tree stump should be filled and well compacted to avoid causing injuries if someone falls in it. You can use the wood shavings to fill the hole and then cover it with soil.
Ensure proper compaction of the wood chips and the soil, and keep adding soil as the wood chips decompose and reduce in volume.
Make Compost Manure/Fertilizer
To make compost manure, you can collect and heap the wood chips in a compost pit with other organic waste materials, such as kitchen refuse.
Compact the chips in the compost pit and ensure no nutrient seepage. You can then apply the compost manure to plant new seedlings in the compound.
Make A Dog Way
Wood chips are perfect for making dog ways in your homestead. To keep the dogs clean, you can spread a thick layer of wood chips from the stump grinding along the path.
The chips help reduce compaction and water puddles during the rainy seasons as dogs chase in the paths.
Use Them To Start Fire
Wood chips from dry tree stumps can start fires during camps and even at home. The chips are light and easily catch fire, spreading it to the heavy logs that require time to burn.
Use Them To Control Soil Erosion
You can dispose of the wood chips in areas where water runoff occurs to trap soil, allowing water to pass through. You can put the wood chips in sacks for soil erosion control and then arrange them across the gullies.
Weed Removal
In areas experiencing high levels of soil erosion, you can apply wood chips in the field to kill weeds or suppress their growth without cultivating the soil.
Covering weed with wood chips inhibits sunlight penetration, limiting oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange and causing the plants to die.
The wood chips from huge tree stumps can equally dirty the environment. You may keep the tree stump and use it in other ways, as discussed below.
Steps To Clean Up And Remove Wood Chips From Tree Stump Grindings
After grinding the stump in your compound, you must remove and dispose of the chips. Before starting the cleanup process, gather the following tools.
- Hand rake
- Shovel/spade
- Hand gloves
- Gumboots
- A wheelbarrow or a trolley
Follow the steps below to clean the wood chips with the above tools.
Step 1: Start by wearing the protective gear – hand gloves and the gumboots for your safety. These will help prevent splinter and cuts from the chips and rocks.
Step 2: Use the rake to gather the wood chips around the left hole.
Step 3: With the shovel, collect the wood chips, dirt, and rocks, putting them into the trolley or wheelbarrow.
Step 4: Transport and dispose of them in your preferred location for use.
Step 5: Repeat steps 2 to 4 until the wood chips are all removed. It’s a tedious process, but ensure you clear all the debris.
Step 6: You can fill the hole left with a suitable medium. You may use the wood shavings if you have no use for them or fill them with soil and gravel.
Step 7: Compact the soil in the hole and plant grass as soil cover.
What Other Alternatives You Can Do With A Tree Stump In Your Garden
If you don’t want the hustle of collecting wood chips from tree stump grinding, you can be creative and use the stump innovatively. These alternatives include;
Make Birdbaths
You can chip off the top of the stump into groves that fill with water for birds to bathe. Similarly, you can chip several holes even on the side to accommodate several birds. Fill the holes with water or wait for the rainy seasons.
Make Sculptures Or Wood Carvings
You can carve beautiful art pieces and sculptures on the stump using chisels. You can also paint the carvings for beautification in your yard. Depending on the stumps’ location on the farm, you can use it to give directions by carving in words of direction.
Use It As A Tree-Stump Planter
You can chip away the middle of the tree stump and fill it with soil or any other medium for growing flowers and other plants. Ensure you plant trees that don’t grow tall and huge, as they will fall when the stump decomposes.
Turn It Into A Piece Of Furniture
You can level the top of the stump and design it into furniture for outdoor activities. You can erect a shade over the stump and place seats around it to make an outside shade place.
Plant Climbing Vines To Hide The Stump
If you have no use for the tree stump, you can plant climbing flower vines around the stump to hide the stump. Trim the flowers to a fashionable design for a more decorative appearance.
You can also cover the stump with moss, which will help in decomposition with time.
FAQs
Read the following frequently asked questions to understand better how to use the wood chips from tree stump grinding.
Q: Is It Better To Grind Or Remove The Tree Stump?
Grinding the tree stump is better since it causes little or no soil disturbance around it. And then reduces the tree stump into small wood chips that can be used in various farm activities.
However, the grinding process leaves the roots beneath the soil and requires high-level technology, such as grinders, compared to stump removal.
Q: Is It Advisable To Burn The Wood Chips From Tree Stump Grinding?
Even if burning wood chips is a way of disposal, it’s not advisable to burn them since they can be used in better ways, such as mulching and making compost manure.
Ash from the burnt wood chips alters the soil pH, which affects plant growth.
Q: How Long Does Wood Chips Take To Decompose Into Compost Manure?
Wood shavings may take between 3 and 5 months to decompose, depending on the compaction and the components included in the compost pit. You can introduce bacteria for decomposing wood chips, such as kitchen refuse and other compost activators rich in nitrogen.
Conclusion
Tree stumps in the compound limit the utilization of the yard, yet when ground, the wood chips need to be well disposed of and the hole filled. You can creatively use the wood chips from the stump grinding and ensure the compound remains clean.
You also need to collect the wood chips from the compound and fill the hole left by the stump. Any wood chips you have no use for can be disposed of in a compost pit or heaped in the farm to decompose into manure for the farm. If you don’t wish to remove the tree stump, get creative ways of utilizing the stump.
