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The house that I recently bought has wood chips covering the entire backyard except for the flower beds and deck. I would like to remove them and increase the flower bed size and put stones on the path. The previous owners put plastic sheeting down and then spread the wood chips all over it for about 2 inches high. My question is, what is the best way to remove and dispose of them? The main reason I want them gone is because they house a lot of insects and slugs. Some of the slugs are huge.

EDIT: Clarification, these are wood chips and not mulch. These are wood chips that chip off when you cut wood using an axe. If needed I'll post a picture tomorrow.

yasouser
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3 Answers3

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I'm not sure what the best way to remove them is but depending on the type of wood chips they could be good to mix with other green material to turn into compost for the flower beds. Using coffee grounds, grass clippings, and other plant material should give you usable compost by next spring. There's a few videos on YouTube showing how to do this.

Brian Surowiec
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When scraping up wood chips in the past from stacking wood for the winter I've used a grain/snow shovel to get most of them up by pushing it under the wood chips, then using a leaf rake to gather up what was left behind. If you don't have access to one of those you could always use a shovel that was flat. Put the wood chips in a wheelbarrow, or pickup truck, and do what you want with them.

If the previous homeowner was nice then pull up the matting, and shovel them into a wheelbarrow/pickup truck.

Wood chips will decompose over time.

What you need:

  • grain/snow shovel
  • wheelbarrow/pickup truck
  • rake?

I recently found out about Garden Giant mushrooms, what you need is:

  • garden giant spawn
  • water until established
  • 2-3 years for rich soil in that area
black thumb
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This is one of my favorite questions. GET RID OF ALL BARK AND PLASTIC period! Do you have a 'greenway'? Some au natural areas? This is the best place to dump the bark, thinly! Plastic does nothing for weeds and stops the entire cycle between atmosphere, rain/water, organics to feed the soil organisms that aerate and help plants uptake certain chemicals (NOT NUTRIENTS...plants make their own food). The only decomposed organic material I use for mulch is human poo mixed with sawdust and completely decomposed and continually tested. Gorgeous, dark taupe, fine texture, no weed seeds, no pesticide residues. Check with your closest sewer company/water company. Hope you have this available!! Call Sawdust Supply in Seattle Washington. They provide this stuff and can help you find this stuff in your area. 2" and NO WEEDS. If you get one blown in you can easily pull it up. This stuff feeds your soil and your plants. Throw that plastic away, away, away!! Sigh!!

stormy
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