Another Chip Drop

We have a wonderful service in our area called Chip Drop. Here is how it works - you sign up at the website to receive a huge load of wood chips from local arborists dumped in your driveway (or wherever you want it dumped).  The service is beneficial to both gardeners and arborists and is an overall good thing. However, there are some disadvantages although I don't think they outweigh the advantages. 

Here are some things to know:

Although the service is considered "free", you can donate any amount you choose. I always donate $20 (which is suggested). However, one time I did not donate and I waited forever to get my delivery. It could have been a coincidence (I have also waited long periods for orders that I paid for) but I do think donating gets you faster service. If you are paying, you are not charged until your chips are delivered.

Another disadvantage, if you want to call it that, is that you do not know when you will get the delivery. I have waited as little as 3 days (which is how long it took this current order)  and as long as two months. They do not give you a time frame but they do notify you the day you get the delivery - usually at the spur of the moment. I think your location has a lot to do with this. I know people who live out in rural areas have had less success with the program.

Here is another tip that I think gives you faster delivery - You have an option of getting logs mixed in with your wood chips. I always choose this option and really, the logs are not that large. In fact, the only log I saw in this current delivery (granted, I haven't gotten to the bottom of the pile yet) is one short log about 2 feet long. You can always use them somewhere in the garden, either as focal points or for wildlife.

Some gardeners have told me that they don't like the way the mulch looks. True, this isn't the dark mulch like you get at nurseries. It is very light in color and has a good amount of needles from fir trees mixed in. I try to mulch twice a year - in later winter/early spring and fall. In the fall, I am putting the garden to sleep and not too concerned with what the mulch looks like. In the spring I will cover the areas of high visibility, like along the street and in the front garden, with a thin layer of the more attractive mulch from the nursery to cover the arborist chips. 

One last thing to consider is if you have room for it. It is a lot of mulch! Fortunately, we have a large driveway but even then, we have to get part of it cleared away asap in order to get our cars out of the garage. I've seen where people have it dumped on the street. This is very common in Portland. I've never seen it dumped in the street here in Vancouver and I don't know if there might be an ordinance or a problem with the city about that. 

Aside from those considerations, mulching is a valuable gardening practice and studies have shown (do you follow the Garden Professors blog?) that wood chips from arborists are the most beneficial. They will break down and enrich your soil. Happy mulching!

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy