On Apr 28, 2:41*pm, Malcolm wrote:
I've lopped some branches off a Sitka spruce and have put everything
small enough through a shredder. I went on the Internet looking for
advice on whether these chippings could be used either as a mulch or
added to my compost heap. The advice was both conflicting and confusing,
so I thought I would ask here for clear, unambiguous answers :-)

The online advice so far can be summarised as:

OK as mulch but let it lie for 6 weeks to allow resins to disperse.
Don't use it as mulch as toxins will kill plants.

OK as compost if mixed with other material but may slow process down.
Don't use it as compost as it will make compost acid.

I also came across:
Don't mulch right up to the house walls as this will attract termites!

What experience here can I draw on, please?

--
Malcolm

I had conifers which I shredded when I took all the lower branches
off. I just put the entire lot in a corner behind a huge shrub and
left it there until I remembered it some months later and then raked
it on as a ground cover between shrubs. The original shrub did
wonderfully even though the shreddings, several bags worth were only
about a metre from it.