Chip Truck Chips (CTC) are the woodchips that come from a chip truck of a conscientious tree company (not just any dump truck). We want to help homeowners understand why truck chips are so great for your landscape and garden projects.
Shredded Bark Mulch vs Locally Sourced Woodchips
Shredded bark mulch is a byproduct of the lumber industry. When timber companies harvest trees, they collect the bark, grind it up, stockpile it, then distribute it to landscape maintenance and supply companies. Chip Truck Chips are superior to shredded bark if you consider the effect on your soil and plants, the environmental impact, and more.
This is one full load of chip truck chips, approximately 10 - 13 yards of wood chips.
At Heartwood we have set up a system to deliver free (yup, free!) truckloads of CTC to property owners over Madison. If you’re asking yourself what the differences are between CTC and shredded bark mulch, let's start with the product, shall we?
CTC is biologically rich
CTC are woodchips from all parts of the tree, not just the outer bark. As such, this material is much more nutrient-dense than shredded bark mulch.
The chips from smaller branches, twigs, and leaves, sometimes referred to as ramial wood chips, contain roughly 75% of the nutrients and enzymes in the tree. Around 60% of our Heartwood jobs involve pruning trees, not removing them, so the ratio of small branches to logs in our raw material is very high. In contrast, shredded bark and cut-offs (edges of the logs that can’t be turned into lumber) contain virtually no small branch material.
Thin branches waiting to be chipped into small pieces and loaded into the dump truck.
CTC is renewable
Another benefit of CTC from tree pruning is that chips from pruning are essentially a renewable resource, while chipped whole trees or sawmill byproducts are “one and done.” Many of the trees we prune will last for decades, giving all the benefits live trees provide, PLUS a continual source of these lively chips.
CTC size captures moisture better
Another huge difference between the two is particle size. CTC is highly variable in size, and also chunkier. This chunk and particle variation allows CTC to let water infiltrate more easily compared to bark mulch.
In contrast, bark mulch mats down over time (because of the dust and shredded nature) and creates a hydrophobic layer that doesn’t let water through. You have to break up that layer with a hard rake periodically, otherwise the water actually sheets off.
If you’re skeptical, go out after a light or medium rain, peel back a crusted layer of shredded bark mulch to see how dry it is under there. CTC stays loose over time because of the chunks and thus lets water through.
Local woodchips minimize worms
Jumping worm laying on wet dirt.
Ever heard of jumping worms or crazy worms? Unfortunately Madison has them all over, and we see them a lot when planting trees and digging in garden beds.
The best defense against worms is to avoid importing material that has been sitting on the ground at another property. CTC comes from branches that go through a chipper, then straight into the back of a truck. Then that truck dumps them on your driveway. This is the least-contaminated wood product you could bring in to use on your garden beds. If you are concerned about worms, you should be using CTC in your yard.
Local CTC reduces your carbon footprint
Now we get to the best reason for using CTC - your carbon footprint. If you request a free load of CTC from Heartwood, chances are the truck will travel less than 10 miles to your home, requiring around 1-2 gallons of fuel to get to your door.
Imagine how many gallons of fuel it takes to get bark mulch to your driveway:
The tree is cut down in the woods (maybe Northern WI or another state entirely)
Next it is hauled to the mill for processing
Next the mulch is loaded on a semi and brought to the city
Next they load one more time to get delivered to your house
I’m not going to do the math, but you can! CTC is much cleaner. Plus Heartwood trucks are not as big as our competitors, so when we say we’ll deliver a 10-12 yard pile, that is what you are getting. Little trucks, big impact!
CTC is naturally beautiful
CTC is not as consistent of a product as bark mulch, to be sure. So if that perfectly uniform looking garden bed covered with red, brown, black or purple mulch is what you’re after, you’re better off with dyed shredded pallets. But if you appreciate the variability that nature has to offer, CTC enhances any but the most formal landscape.
Chip truck chips used to retain moisture around a front yard tree.
Drawbacks to CTC
To be frank, CTC does have a few drawbacks to consider:
CTC is a raw product so it’s going to lock up some nitrogen in the decomposition process. However, bark mulch also does this to a degree as well.
Whenever a woody material is laid down on the ground, the decomposition process will start. One of the main components of that process is nitrogen, which helps break the wood down. So decomposing wood will occupy some nitrogen that will then be unavailable to plants.
We feel that this is really on an issue in a vegetable garden. Don’t spread wood chips in the vegetable garden beds! However, we have plenty of community gardens that use CTC for the paths between beds, for flower beds areas, and on the outside of garden borders.
You’ll usually find a wheelbarrow or two of sticks in a 10-12 yard load. We can’t chip it all due to small rocks and debris on the road so we usually scoop up the last bit and shovel it into the truck off the road. That is why there are some sticks and debris in the loads.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading about Chip Truck Woodchips! We hope this has convinced you, or at least got you thinking more about using CTC in your yard next year. Heck, we can deliver year-round, so if there is no snow and you want to mulch your beds, request a load!