My tree guy chips up so many trees that he gives away the chips (He says he chips them up fine). I have a backyard area that I want to turn into gardens, so I'm thinking this would be a good way to smother the scraggly grass and start the process of enriching the soil. As long as I keep the fresh chips away from the plants I've already put in, will this work? Any danger of burning things? Has anyone done this?
wood chips from arborist
Wood chips are great, but you may need to add some nitrogen or greens to get the pile started cooking.
You might want to put down layers of wet newspaper first. Then put your wood chips on top of that. Dean is right you also need to add more greens, like grass clippings, shredded leaves, and kitchen wastes to the pile to get it cooking. Wood breaks down very slowly, so it needs a bit of a boost.
You could put down layers of wet newspaper on the plants you have presently and use the wood chips as mulch as well. Won't hurt a thing and will effective smother many of your weeds.
Thanks for the suggestions!