Wood chips are a great resource for gardening. But why spend money to get them when you don't have to? I use a lot of wood chips and I get all mine for free. In this video, I give tips and tricks for getting free wood chips from 2 different sources. The first is where you go get the free wood chips, the second is where the free wood chips come to you.

So, first, where can you get free wood chips? Here's the first trick: Your city or county government may have a Free Wood Chip Program.

Tip #1: Find out if your local government has a Free Wood Chip program and learn its details in advance of when you need the chips.
Tip #2: Scout out the wood chip pickup locations and see which one will work best for you.
Tip #3: Determine in advance what quality of wood chips you are willing to accept.
Tip #4: Keep an eye on the wood chip pile at the site that works for you. When you see something good, then go get the permit. Don't get a permit before you've sen the quality of what's available.

I'll admit that getting wood chips from your local government may be free, but you still have to do get the chips and that costs money for gas, and your time, and maybe you don't have a way to haul those wood chips around. What if you could get the wood chips delivered to you for free? Here's the second trick: There is a lot a tree trimming going on by arborists, tree trimming companies, and even local utilities like the electric utility.

Tip #5: Your county cooperative extension office may have a list of mulch and compost sources for your area. Here's one for my county. Or contact your local utilities. Or just look up tree trimming companies for your town and start calling them.
Tip #6: Get on all the lists now or as soon as possible. If you want to do a favor for your friends and family, get them signed up right away, too.

It may still take awhile for you to get any free wood chips delivered this way. So here's the third trick -- Listen for the sounds of opportunity. What is that? The sound of chainsaws and industrial sized wood chippers.

Tip #7: Make it easy for the crew to give the wood chips to you. What do I mean by that? A busy, hard-working crew wants clear and simple directions to where they should drop their wood chips. They want easy access for whatever equipment they have, whether it's a small trailer or a big boom truck. They don't want to drive over rough ground or soft ground. And they sure don't want to run into overhead wires! So have an easily accessible drop off location already figured out.

Tip #8: use a team approach to get your chips. Make sure everyone in your household who is old enough knows the drill about talking to the head of the crew and has the instructions for specifically where to drop off the wood chips. Team up with your neighbors, too, especially if any of them are home a lot and could talk to the crew, or if any of them have a space that's easier to drop off a load of chips. You can all share the free wood chips. After all, part of a pile of free wood chips is better than no wood chips at all!

I hope you can use these tips and tricks to get all the free wood chips that you can use! if you have any tips or tricks for getting free wood chips, please let me know in the comments!

My video on mulching fruit trees with wood chips and cardboard: [ Ссылка ]

My playlist on gardening topics:
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My channel: Haphazard Homestead
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Music:
"The Forest and the Trees and "Guts and Bourbon" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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