There are a number of things you can do with the wood chips created by your wood chipper. You don’t have to simply dump or burn them. While that might seem like the easiest way to do away with the chips, there are also a number of ways you can make those wood chips work for you that are friendly to the environment and can help you save money on other household products that you may purchase for your flowers or garden.
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1. Use Wood Chips in Your Garden
Even without any added preparation, wood chips can do wonders for your flower garden. You can use them as a ground cover by spreading them over the soil around your flowers. Essentially what the chips do is help the soil to retain moisture that is necessary to your plants. They can also help to keep weeds from growing in the area, which means that you need to focus less of your efforts on having to pull those weeds out by hand or by killing them by introducing harsh chemicals into the area.
The wood chips can also help to keep the soil warmer as well as absorb water and slow down the evaporation process. This allows your plants to get more water, keeping them healthier and stronger overall. It also means you may be able to water the plants less, as they will have an easier time getting what they need in a completely natural way.
2. Make Mulch
With the help of a wood chipper with a shredder attachment, you can also create a mulch from the wood chips along with other organic matter such as dead leaves and grass cuttings. This mulch mixture can help your plants to grow stronger and healthier without having to purchase any fertilizer or adding any chemicals into the ground. This is an excellent way to recycle the wood and other pieces of organic waste on your land.
Even something as troubling as a fallen tree can be chipped up and used to help the grass, flowers and other plants grow. It’s a great way to take an unfortunate circumstance into something that is beneficial to the rest of your land and can offer you a greater benefit than simply throwing away or burning the chips.
3. Make Compost
A chipper that also has the benefit of a shredder can also help you to create usable compost much more quickly than you would otherwise. All you have to do is shred the wood as well as other compostable materials so that they become mixed and pulverized together.
Breaking down the products can help them to decompose a little quicker, and you’ll often find that you can use the compost for your garden, flowers and other plants in as little as 14 days. This is a great way to recycle the chips so that they can still be beneficial to you and with this you won’t have to worry about finding a way to get rid of the wood or buying fertilizer for your garden.
You simply use what you have, and it can really help you to save money in the long run. Because of the ability to create compost, a wood chipper is definitely a tool worth looking into if you don’t already have one!
Be careful that your compost pile doesn’t get too hot!
4. Make Pressed Wood
Pressed wood is an incredibly useful material that can be used in the creation of a number of different products. If you often use wood pallets, then you may want to learn how to turn the chips from your wood chipper into pressed wood so that you can make those pallets yourself. It can also be useful in the creation of some of the less expensive kinds of furniture that include pressed wood rather than solid wood.
If you don’t have any interest in making things with pressed wood on your own, then it may be worth looking into places you might be able to sell your wood chips, which would be a wonderful benefit to get out of a tree falling somewhere on your land that can represent a huge hassle by itself.
5. Make Bio-Fuel
With the help of enzymes, people are able to turn wood chips into a useful fuel that represents a much more environmentally friendly option when compared to the gasoline we use today. If you happen to drive a car that requires Bio-fuel to run, then you may be able to create some ethanol that can be used in your car.
Depending on your situation and how often you have wood chips around, at the very least you may be able to make ethanol that can be used here and there so save you a little bit on purchasing the fuel. It’s not a simple process, however. Selling the wood chips might end up being an easier way to have more money in your pocket instead. It all depends on your personal preference and how much effort you’re willing to put into turning wood chips into a usable fuel to help run your car.
Conclusion
Overall, there are a number of things you can do with the wood chips from your chipper that can save you money or even help you make some money. That’s a great thing considering the effort that can go into preparing and chipping up a tree. It can be a lot of work, and can also be somewhat frustrating if the fallen tree is due to a storm or otherwise not something you intended to cause.
It’s great to know that you can use that tree for mulch or compost in order to help the other plants on your land without having to purchase fertilizer, you can use it to make useful materials like pressed wood or even Bio-fuel, or you can sell it to add some money to your pocket. Now, the next time there’s a storm that causes one of the trees on your land to fall, you can think about all the ways it will be able to benefit you.
I never thought about making fuel with wood chips, especially since my husband loves going camping. My husband and I cut a tree from our backyard down and we didn’t know how to get rid of the extra branches that were left, so we got a wood chipper, and this article was great at helping us know how to use the chips. We’ll make sure to use them as fuel next time we want to start a campfire.