Any reason why one shouldn't add the wood chips after cutting
forewood with a chainsaw to their compost pile? Chips would be
mostly Pine.

Also, since I read where the smaller the scraps for composting the
better, seems it wouldn't hurt to pull the plants in the fall and
run over them with a lawn mower first. Thoughts? TIA

John DeBoo said:

Any reason why one shouldn't add the wood chips after cutting
forewood with a chainsaw to their compost pile? Chips would be
mostly Pine.

Wood chips are great for keeping a pile more open to air movement.
(And creating a situation where air can move in at the bottom of the
pile and rise up through it is ideal.)

Just remember, the wood chips will take a long time to break down
and require plenty of 'green' material to do so.

Also, since I read where the smaller the scraps for composting the
better, seems it wouldn't hurt to pull the plants in the fall and
run over them with a lawn mower first. Thoughts?

Chopping everything up and mixing it well *before* piling it up is what
I prefer for hot, batch composting. Fork it into a bin with provisions
for air moving up through from the bottom and let it cook...

(We're going to start a new batch today. Should be steamy by mid-week.)

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

On Sat, 09 Aug 2003 22:55:34 -0600, John DeBoo
wrote:

Any reason why one shouldn't add the wood chips after cutting
forewood with a chainsaw to their compost pile? Chips would be
mostly Pine.

Also, since I read where the smaller the scraps for composting the
better, seems it wouldn't hurt to pull the plants in the fall and
run over them with a lawn mower first. Thoughts?

Street tree (species unknown - this was in my pre-gardening era) fell
in a storm years ago and efficient city services came out and took it
away and ground up the stump, leaving a 5'x4' area of bare dirt and
wood chips. Whoof! Watch things grow! I planted zinnias and my
neighbor sunflowers. Quite a display. No fancy "compost" -- just
fluffed-up dirt and wood chips.

Smaller decays/composts faster. Whole branches in a 'hot' compost pile
(or logs left to rot) will eventually be reduced to basic components.

You can also make 'firestarters' (for fireplaces, of course) by mixing
sawdust/chips with melted paraffin in paper muffin- or nut cups with a
wick inserted. Just a thought... :-)

John DeBoo wrote in message ...
Any reason why one shouldn't add the wood chips after cutting
forewood with a chainsaw to their compost pile? Chips would be
mostly Pine.

Also, since I read where the smaller the scraps for composting the
better, seems it wouldn't hurt to pull the plants in the fall and
run over them with a lawn mower first. Thoughts? TIA

Good supply of carbon.

John DeBoo wrote:

Any reason why one shouldn't add the wood chips after cutting
forewood with a chainsaw to their compost pile? Chips would be
mostly Pine.

In 1974 the Weyerhaeuser Company leased 24 acres for a rhododendron
species collection at the Company's corporate headquarters in Federal
Way, Washington. The garden area is called the Rhododendron Species
Botanical Garden and there are over 10,000 rhododendrons growing in a
beautiful woodland setting covering 22 acres. For obvious reasons they
had tons of wood chips available, probably mostly Douglas Fir, but in
any case a mixture of softwoods. The wood chips were used as planting
medium for the rhododendrons.

Today, over 20 years later, the wood chips have turned into a slimmy
gunk that started killing the rhododendrons. The Rhododendron Species
Foundation has undertaken a project to lift all of the plants and place
them on a mixture of sand and gravel so they will have some drainage.
This work is rather impressive since many of the plants are huge now.
What is most impressive is how shallow the root structure is on the
tallest plants.

Wood chips require much nitrogen to decompose. Once they decompose they
turn into this slimmy gunk. They need to be mixed with mineral soil and
other organic matter. If used in too high a concentration they will
eventually become lethal.

The RSF is located at: www.rhodygarden.org

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Visit my Rhododendron and Azalea web pages at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/rhody.html
Also visit the Rhododendron and Azalea Bookstore at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/rhodybooks.html
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

On Sat, 09 Aug 2003 22:55:34 -0600, John DeBoo
wrote:

Any reason why one shouldn't add the wood chips after cutting
forewood with a chainsaw to their compost pile? Chips would be
mostly Pine.

Also, since I read where the smaller the scraps for composting the
better, seems it wouldn't hurt to pull the plants in the fall and
run over them with a lawn mower first. Thoughts? TIA

Wood chips make a great mulch or garden path. All this rain has left
some muddy areas where wood chips would help keep the feet dry.
They take quite some time to compost. I have loads of sawdust-both
hardwoods and softwoods (I do extensive woodworking) and it takes at
least 10 months for a pile to break down. Adding 34-0-0 speeds it up.
The finer the material is chopped up, the faster it will compost.

John DeBoo wrote in message ...
Any reason why one shouldn't add the wood chips after cutting
forewood with a chainsaw to their compost pile? Chips would be
mostly Pine.

will be acid, and will contribute decent amounts of P and K. Because
they decay over two years, depending on size, they are better suited
as mulch for perennials.


Also, since I read where the smaller the scraps for composting the
better, seems it wouldn't hurt to pull the plants in the fall and
run over them with a lawn mower first. Thoughts? TIA

That is what I do, with zucchini, tomatoes, and various brassicas. But
I leave them there in the lawn, to prevent disease spread, and in the
spring I use the first grass mowing for mulch or compost.

John DeBoo wrote:

Any reason why one shouldn't add the wood chips after cutting
forewood with a chainsaw to their compost pile? Chips would be
mostly Pine.

Also, since I read where the smaller the scraps for composting the
better, seems it wouldn't hurt to pull the plants in the fall and
run over them with a lawn mower first. Thoughts? TIA

Wood chip works fine in compost piles. The finer the chip, the
faster it will break down. Ditto for plants you pull in the
fall. Just weigh the relative work involved in shredding them up
vs just letting them go. Personally, I've always gone for just
piling everything up and letting it process at it's own speed; I
don't even bother to turn the sucker. But, then, I have lots of
land and room for several LARGE compost piles. Not everyone has
that luxury. If you're looking for the pile to be compost by
spring, shredding up the plants will certainly help.

Chris Owens


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simy1 wrote:

John DeBoo wrote in message ...
Any reason why one shouldn't add the wood chips after cutting
forewood with a chainsaw to their compost pile? Chips would be
mostly Pine.

will be acid, and will contribute decent amounts of P and K. Because
they decay over two years, depending on size, they are better suited
as mulch for perennials.

They'll also be drenched with bar oil if he's maintaining the saw properly.

Be aware that wood chips will probably change the ph toward more acid.
That's especially true with evergreens.

"John DeBoo" wrote in message
...
Any reason why one shouldn't add the wood chips after cutting
forewood with a chainsaw to their compost pile? Chips would be
mostly Pine.

Also, since I read where the smaller the scraps for composting the
better, seems it wouldn't hurt to pull the plants in the fall and
run over them with a lawn mower first. Thoughts? TIA