{"id":4076,"date":"2018-09-07T11:39:13","date_gmt":"2018-09-07T18:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/?p=4076"},"modified":"2020-09-09T16:06:20","modified_gmt":"2020-09-09T23:06:20","slug":"using-wood-chips-as-mulch-for-fruit-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/using-wood-chips-as-mulch-for-fruit-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"Using wood chips as mulch for fruit trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost any mulch under a fruit tree is better than no mulch, but there are many ways in which wood chips are the best of mulches. <\/span><\/p>\n

Wood chips are what comes out of a chipper machine when a tree trimmer puts branches through it. Wood chips are bits of leaves, twigs, bark, and wood. It\u2019s all parts of a tree (or shrub) ground up.<\/span><\/p>\n

This amalgamation is better as a mulch than just bits of one part. For example, an advantage that wood chips have over just leaves is that wood chips don\u2019t blow away. One way that wood chips are better than just bark is that wood chips stick together and don\u2019t slide down slopes as much (especially as fungi and bacteria grow on them and bind them together as seen in the photo above). And what I like about wood chips compared to compost is that wood chips don\u2019t compact as much and wood chips are also more receptive to water (in the form of rain or irrigation) since the particles of wood chips are bigger, chunkier.<\/span><\/p>\n

But again, leaves, bark, compost as mulch under fruit trees are good. It\u2019s just that I find wood chips to be even better.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, you get your hands on some wood chips and it\u2019s time to spread them under your fruit tree. How to go about that?<\/span><\/p>\n

How much wood chips to add as mulch under a fruit tree?<\/b><\/p>\n

Dump the chips beside the tree. <\/span><\/p>\n

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One, or two, or three or more loads. <\/span><\/p>\n

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I prefer to add enough for a layer at least three inches thick, as the chips will settle and break down quickly. I\u2019ve added as much as a foot at one time. Even a layer of one inch is useful, but in terms of efficiency and maximum benefits, it\u2019s usually best to make a new layer of around six to eight inches.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under this tree I added about seven inches. In a month or two, I know from experience, it will shrink down to nearly half that depth.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Oops, buried my sandal.<\/p><\/div>\n

Where to place the wood chips as mulch under a fruit tree?<\/b><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no benefit — but there is risk of crown diseases — in placing the mulch up against the trunk. So spread the chips from a couple inches from the trunk out to the canopy edge, or a little farther. I always try to go at least a few inches farther.<\/span><\/p>\n

Basically, the mulch should be covering the soil where most of the tree\u2019s roots are. This is obvious if we remember why we\u2019re putting mulch under the tree.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are the benefits of wood chips as mulch under a fruit tree?<\/b><\/p>\n

The benefits of this wood-chip mulch are many. The wood chips suppress weeds, conserve soil moisture, reduce rain and irrigation runoff, feed the worms and microorganisms in the soil below thereby adding fertility, keep the soil cooler in summer, reduce compaction, and suppress some disease-causing microorganisms. <\/span><\/p>\n

(Read more about the benefits of wood chips as mulch in this paper by Linda Chalker-Scott of Washington State University.<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen most of these benefits with my own eyes on my own trees and those I\u2019ve visited.<\/span><\/p>\n

But most of these benefits can only occur if the wood chips are placed over the soil where the tree\u2019s roots are. How do we know where the tree\u2019s roots are? You don\u2019t have to dig. Follow the water. Roots only proliferate where there is moisture in the soil, so place the bulk of the wood chips over the soil that is wetted by your irrigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

This tree of mine, a SpiceZee nectaplum, is watered with a mini-sprinkler out near its canopy edge, so that\u2019s where I put the chips.<\/span><\/p>\n

By the way, if you\u2019re using a dripline to irrigate your tree, the dripline can stay under the mulch or above. Either way works perfectly fine. It\u2019s an aesthetic decision that\u2019s up to you.<\/span><\/p>\n

And by the way, since wood chips keep the soil under them moist for longer, you can water the tree less often than if it weren\u2019t mulched.<\/span><\/p>\n

When to add wood chips as mulch under a fruit tree?<\/b><\/p>\n

Is there a best time of year to add wood chips as mulch under a fruit tree? I end up adding wood chips under my trees whenever I have the time and the wood chips, but if I have the luxury of scheduling it, my favorite time of year to add them is in winter because moving and spreading them is a less dusty operation and the rains will soak the chips for free. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s now late summer as I\u2019m adding these wood chips to this little SpiceZee nectaplum tree so I have to soak them myself. I could do this by running my mini-sprinkler or by hand watering. But if I don\u2019t soak the chips, then my next normal irrigation won\u2019t get much water down to the roots below because the chips will soak it up. <\/span><\/p>\n

OK, that\u2019s it. Job done. Now my tree is going to grow and fruit like crazy and it will never have weeds under it, I\u2019ll barely have to water it, and it will never get a disease. If only. <\/span><\/p>\n

Wood chips as mulch under fruit trees are the best option that I know of but they aren\u2019t magical and they don\u2019t last forever. I\u2019ve found the need to add new wood chips under my trees approximately once a year. That task will never end. Yet, after many years of adding chips, a layer of dark, rich soil forms between the chips and the native soil. It\u2019s like the layer of humus you find if you scratch back the duff on the ground in a forest. Pretty cool that we can artificially create such a healthy root environment for our trees.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Rich soil formed under a layer of wood chips after five years. (Lamb avocado tree)<\/p><\/div>\n