What to do with the wood and mulch after tree work
· Tree Fellas Christchurch
When a tree comes down, the timber has to go somewhere — and with a little planning, somewhere useful. A medium-sized tree can heat a Christchurch home for a good chunk of winter and mulch its gardens for a season or two. Here's how to get the value out of it.
Firewood starts with cutting to length. Rings should suit your firebox — usually 300 to 400 millimetres — and splitting follows soon after, because split wood dries far faster than rounds. Stack it bark-up, off the ground, somewhere the nor'wester can blow through it, and top-cover the stack while leaving the sides open.
Seasoning times vary by species. Pine and poplar can be ready in six to twelve months; gums, oak and other hardwoods want twelve to twenty-four. Burning green wood wastes heat boiling off water, coats your flue in creosote and annoys the neighbours with smoke — patience genuinely pays.
Fresh wood chips make excellent garden mulch. Spread 75 to 100 millimetres over beds (kept back from direct stem contact) and they'll suppress weeds, hold moisture through dry spells and feed the soil as they break down. Christchurch's free-draining soils and dry summers make mulch especially worthwhile here.
One caution: use chips on top of the soil, never dug in. Fresh wood mixed through the soil temporarily locks up nitrogen as it decomposes. As a surface layer it's all benefit; as an ingredient it's a season of yellow plants. And if you simply don't want the material, any reputable tree job includes full removal — just say so before the saws start.