Mulch House

        CITY FORESTERS
  1033 S Director Street - Seattle, WA 98108 - (206) 767-5165 - Fax (206) 767-5167

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Welcome to the Mulch House!

From our chippers to your garden. The best, most widely used by-product of our pruning and removal operations - tree chips!

Tree chips make the best mulch. If you're stuck on the "look" of beauty bark, remember that it does not work as well as tree chips. Many public agencies have simply discontinued use of beauty bark in favor of raw tree chips for mulching and other uses.


Mulch with tree chips to:

  • control weeds
  • retain moisture
  • add back organic nutrients

Other uses, both residential and commercial, include:

  • pathways, trails
  • dog-runs, kennels
  • recreational areas

Builders use tree chips for:

  • mud control for wet sites, seasonal or otherwise
  • dust control for dry sites
  • protection over tree roots, preventing soil compaction

The Rules

Designate an area for delivery:

  • driveway
  • parking area
  • planting (curb) lane
  • yard
  • alley

Make sure the dump site lies on solid ground, free of underground utilities (water, sewer, septic) that truck weight might damage. Also, make sure the site is free of low overhead lines, structures, and tree limbs. Otherwise, our dump box may snag and break them.

We dump at our convenience, no cost to you in most cases. In some cases, we may charge for delivery.

Most tree chip loads contain a mixture of wood chips and shredded stems and foliage. During the dormant season, we produce more leaf-free wood chip loads. Please do not misconstrue our tree chips for playground-style wood chips.

A note on chip mulch and retained mature trees on recently cleared development sites:

Think twice about lawn or garden installation beneath and around mature, forest-grown trees. You now have a beautiful home on a wooded site that once comprised an undisturbed forest. (click to the Root Zone) The trees left standing grew up and established themselves in an environment of leaf and wood litter. Now you want a lawn like a golf course and a rose garden to boot.

Consider that the trees grew in an acid soil with tons of decaying organic matter blanketing their roots. Your lawn and roses want an alkaline soil, and you don't want leaf litter covering the lawn and flowers. Put them somewhere else, and leave the ground about the trees alone.

Where the ground has been scraped or graded, use plenty of tree chips around the trees and consult with an experienced ISA or ASCA arborist on the best way to incorporate your dream garden and manicured lawn into your new yard without damaging mature, forest-grown trees.

 
 

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