What to Do with Wood Chipper Chips

For contractors and tree surgeons running through multiple jobs a day, having a clear answer to “where does this go?” before arriving on site keeps the operation moving and avoids the cost of unnecessary journeys at the end of it.

Woodchip is useful material with real demand for it. Here are the most practical routes for professional operators in Scotland, from professional wood chipper suppliers.

Leave the chips with the customer

Asking the customer whether they want the chips is worth doing on every job.

Garden owners and smallholders will often take them, particularly for mulching beds or covering paths, and leaving the load on site saves you from finding use of it too.

For residential tree surgery work, leaving chips on site has become standard practice for a lot of arborist crews.

You can build it into the job quote so both parties are clear before you start.

Garden mulch

Spread 3 to 4 inches deep around trees, shrubs, and borders, woodchip mulch holds moisture in the soil, suppresses weeds, and keeps soil temperature stable through the seasons.

Garden owners with ornamental beds or bare soil around established planting will often take a load without much persuasion.

Fresh chips work for most mulching applications.

When fresh chips decompose in direct contact with soil, they can draw nitrogen out of the top layer temporarily.

For vegetable gardens or beds with more sensitive plants, the wood chips should age a few weeks first. Make sure to keep them a couple of inches back from plant stems.

Garden paths

Chips make a serviceable path surface.

They’re free-draining, softer underfoot than gravel, and decompose gradually over a couple of seasons rather than needing to be removed.

For a proper finish, mark the path area, lay landscape fabric to suppress weeds, then tip a 3 to 4-inch layer of chips on top.

Fresh chips hold up better than aged material under foot traffic because the larger pieces break down more slowly.

Composting

Chips work well as a carbon layer in a compost heap, balancing out nitrogen-rich materials like grass clippings and kitchen waste. The open texture of chip material also helps keep the heap aerated, and better airflow speeds decomposition.

Wood from most species composts without special treatment.

Walnut produces juglone, a compound that inhibits growth in certain plants, so chips from walnut are worth keeping away from compost destined for vegetable beds or ornamental borders.

Soil amendment

Chips that have been sitting for six months to a year can be worked into soil as an amendment.

Clay-heavy ground benefits from the drainage and aeration the material provides as it breaks down.

Sandier soils gain organic matter and better moisture retention over time.

Biomass and energy

Contracts to supply chips to biomass heating systems or estate boiler installations do exist across Scotland, and some contractors supply chips this way on a regular basis.

Operators generally need consistent volumes and material that meets moisture content and species specifications.

Estate properties and farms across Scotland that run biomass heating are the most accessible buyers for contractors with consistent commercial volumes.

What not to chip and what not to spread

Treated and preserved timber

Treated timber, including old fencing, railway sleepers, pressure-treated decking, and any wood that has been painted or chemically preserved, should not be chipped and spread on land.

Under SEPA regulations in Scotland, spreading contaminated woodchip on agricultural or garden ground can constitute illegal waste disposal. Always make sure that treated material goes to a licensed waste facility.

On jobs where treated timber is coming down alongside natural wood, separate the streams from the start.

Sorting mixed loads afterwards is slow and you’ll miss pieces.

Species to be careful with

Yew is toxic to animals and to people.

Chips from yew should not be spread where livestock or children can reach them.

Ash dieback is now widespread across Scotland, and infected material can still be chipped and composted.

Scottish Forestry recommends processing arisings on site where possible, and covering loads if transporting material off site. Most other species chip and compost without any special precautions.

When chip volume is telling you something

If chip volumes are regularly creating a logistics problem despite having multiple outlets, the machine may be working harder than the workload requires.

That’s where ILH Groundcare comes in to help. We supply wood chippers in a wide range of configurations, including both towed, tracked, and towable-tracked.

If you want to talk through whether a larger machine changes the numbers for your operation, call us on 0141 775 9288 or get in touch online.

We’ve been selling and servicing chippers since 2007 and you can trust our team to always give you a straight answer.