Mulch

T

treesofga

We usually spread the mulch we get from the trees to people that want it for free. Is there a bunch of money I'm missing here or it more trouble than it's worth to get into the mulch business? Thanks for any advice!
 
I sell it for 20/yd delivered, when I can. I have a few customers. I'm negotiating a deal with a local materials supplier who needs to provide "arborist chips" something he can't make. That will be my fall back.
 
Yeah, I agree completely about how they don't look so much like mulch without some color. Thanks for the responses, definitely will take into consideration.
 
Let your clients know that if they don't pay their bill you'll deliver a 'free' load of wood chips, right against their garage door, back to them as 'payment' in lieu of damp fees!
 
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Grind it and color it and you have something to sell. To me chips from chipper, un colored, look free and is not what I consider "mulch".

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Brain washed! its the exact opposite of what you say.
Organic matter in the chippings/mulch is of more value than the coloured stuff.

Wrapping on the present or the gift itself.
A skiff of colour or the chipping/organic matter.
 
If we take parts of the tree away causing net OM loss, arent't we

breaking the nutrient cycle and damaging

the trees we are supposed to be managing?
 
Funny that chip pile combustion should come up. I've heard that this can happen and until this week I've had no first hand experience with this. A client called me in a bit of a panic about a load of chips that was recently dumped which was on fire. So it really can happen.

I totally agree with you Guy. Removing biomass will not sustain a healthy landscape. Leaving as much of that biomass on the property from which it came will reduce artificial inputs required to maintain plant health.

I also think that dyed mulch is UGLY and worthless. "Arborist Chips" are all I have ever used and what I encourage my clients to use.

Close the loop and keep it closed.
 
I know that wood chip piles at a local mill have caught on fire by they store enormous piles (100,000 tons and more). We had dumped a steamy pile at a public planting project and someone called the fire department because they thought it was on fire. Steam and smoke look similar to some people.

Our chips have more value than we think. Mulch is still undervaluing them. When burned for heat they hold far more value than you can get from mulch.

V
 
Chips do tend to 'shed' water away from the area. And leaves in the chips are a good component for the root zone area. I can't imagine charging to deliver unless they are specialty stuff. I.e. cedar, witch hazel.
 
I agree with Ropeshield and treegazer. Our wood chips are a more valuable mulch than the colored, reground stuff. However, we do have some issues: irregular chip size, occasional branches, etc.

I think that arborist chips that have simply been screened to only allow 2" diameter and smaller would be the bomb! You could certainly sell those.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Grind it and color it and you have something to sell. To me chips from chipper, un colored, look free and is not what I consider "mulch".

[/ QUOTE ]

Brain washed! its the exact opposite of what you say.
Organic matter in the chippings/mulch is of more value than the coloured stuff.

Wrapping on the present or the gift itself.
A skiff of colour or the chipping/organic matter.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't know that it is "more" valuable, sounds like a pretty hard sell to me. The colored grindings are what people like here and when it is all said and "done", they compose just like chips and return nutrients to the earth. I agree it is about looks but there is also a little function in that choice as well.
One advantage about the grinding is that it stays in place. Because of the longer shape and fibrous structure the pieces bind together and don't move around much in the rain or wind. The chips float away and move everywhere. Don't even try to put chips on a hill.
The wood processor that I took my debris to had a huge mountain of grindings that would be in various modes of decomposition as they sold it for potting soil. It always had a smoldering fire going somewhere. In reality decomposing is a fire, just a real slow burn right?

The other popular cover here is pine straw. They like the looks but I imagine it adds to the acidity of the soil. In Oregon where I grew up it was bark dust.

P.S. There is a small portable grinder/color-er that is available, I forgot who sells it, very costly but I would imagine with the right operation you could set that up and sell your stuff.

Also, you want to see "brain washed" go to Harods department store on London and watch women buy shoes and purses. Good luck telling them a purse from Target is "just as good".
 
Here the more highly priced and coveted is bark mulch-hemlock,pine,cedar because of th richer colour.
Bark is very low in lignin and is mostly air.
People wonder why they have to redo it every year or wonder why it blows away.
Chipping/mulch of pruning or removals can be the perfect blend of high organic matter/buds,leaves etc and wood.
My humblest apologies with regards to use of the term brain washed it is really more about retailers ignoring science and focusing on profit.

Just need to make the point that the mulch you produce is the best any tree can get because it is made of all the best parts of the tree, not just bark.

I top dress my jobs with pine, hemlock or cedar when ever i can because it looks and smells awesome but really we should be muclhing like on like or wait for it to be thoroughly seasoned/ a few rains should do it.

CAREFUl of the mold spores very dangerous wear a mask
 
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