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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?

There are no termites on the isles ... I hope. (Incidentally, NZ
flatworms seem to have died the death this past chilly winter).

I use chipped conifers for paths (ideally, lying on top of carpet
with a canvas back) and it lasts for years;
which tells me it wouldn't do much good in either a compost heap or as
a surface mulch to feed soil and plants

Janet.

Actually there are! its a small area of north devon near saunton sands, I
think it has been contained and is on its way to being eradicated
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea