Increasing Strength, Vitality and Health in Trees

If you have trees on your land, you'll need to have them maintained annually by a good tree services company in your area.  Trees benefit from being pruned or lopped in order remove diseased or storm-damaged branches, and to allow for better airflow through the tree's canopy, which promotes growth and fruiting.  But what should you do with the waste that the lopping process produces?  Read on to find out more.

Garden mulch

Leftover branches and trimmings from hardwood trees can be used to make mulch for your garden.  A layer of mulch on your flower beds is great for retarding weed growth and trapping valuable moisture for your plants during the summer months.  However, mulch made from pines and conifers must be 'seasoned' for a couple of months before you add it to your garden, or the chemicals the green wood contains could kill your plants.

You could either hire a large wood-chipping machine from a specialist tool hire shop to make your mulch, or just ask the tree services guys to chip the wood waste for you.  If the branches you're dealing with are on the large side, the latter is probably the safer and cheaper option.

Mulch for play areas

Another option for your mulch is to use it as a surfacing material for areas around kiddies' play areas in your garden.  As long as the material is finely shredded so that it is soft, you can spread it beneath slides and swings to provide a soft, safe landing area.  This will also prevent heavily-used areas from becoming churned-up and muddy during spells of wet weather.

Firewood

If you have an open fire or log burner in your home, or you have an open fire pit in your garden, you might want to use any larger pieces of leftover wood from the lopping process as fuel.  However, before you burn any of this 'green' wood, it must be seasoned properly first.  Green wood produces an oily substance similar to creosote when burned.  This creosote can adhere to your chimney where a stray spark could ignite it, causing a potentially dangerous fire.  Unseasoned wood burns 'cool' too, and produces more smoke than heat.

To season wood properly, place it somewhere dry and leave it for at least six months.  To test if the wood is ready for use, take two pieces and strike them together.  If they produce a hollow, knocking sound, the wood is ready for use.  

Alternatively …

If you have no use for your leftover lopping debris, your tree services contractor will remove it for you.

In conclusion

Keep your trees healthy and in good condition by having them pruned annually by an experienced tree services contractor (such as Colourful Tree Lopping).  Rather than viewing the debris as waste, why not try putting it to good use by using the suggestions above.