[adri123]

Just been given loads of free mulch.  It's tree branches that have been through a shredder.

Looks like about 20 wheelbarrow loads and I'm looking for suggestions for uses.  One thought was to lay a load round the young fruit trees we have in the garden but unsure as to the benefit of this.

Will it compost well?

TIA

Adri

[Nobbie]

We had a load delivered to our site and I've used it on paths as then tend to get very muddy. Works well as the water can drain away easily and keeps the weeds down. I think it would be fine as mulch around trees

[JayG]

Shredded wood should be regarded as a 'brown' (high carbon) ingredient for composting purposes, although unlike cardboard or paper it is also very dense and will take much longer to rot down.

No problem using it as a mulch, but if you dig it in you will cause a temporary shortage of soil nitrogen until it finally breaks down (you can overcome that by adding nitrogenous fertilisers, but that's probably a complication you can do without.)

[adri123]

I think I might save it and put it on the paths around the new outside raised beds when I get round to making them.

Thanks for the advice.

[Goosegirl]

I would go with JayG's advice re- mulching round your trees, just don't dig it in (you probably can't anyway). It won't take a lot of the shreddings to do that then use the rest for your paths.

[Yorkie]

If you do mulch round your trees, don't let the mulch come into contact with the bark.

[3759allen]

i thought fresh chippings were frowned up as it reduces nitrogen (as said before).

if you can get a regular (yearly supply) then i would lay as a path for a year then mulch around fruit tree's.

[Swing Swang]

I'd use it on the paths, then after a couple of years rake it into the beds and renew with fresh, or just leave it on the paths.

We get quite a lot of laylandii chippings, and it's my observation that virtually nothing grows on the paths until they have well and truly rotted down. Most of the OBs just add more as they rot down and keep them on the paths.