I have an 85 acre property, about half of which is wooded. So I have a lot of available deadfall - of course, a lot of it is converted to fuel for the wood stove and the fire pit! I collect some of the bark and chips where the logs are split into firewood, but I'd like to also convert some of the smaller branches or rotted logs into mulch. Can I just lay them into the garden? Or do I have to chop, chip, or otherwise break up first? I can do a little of this by hand with the smaller willow branches, for instance, but it can be tedious, and other woods are hard to do by hand. It seems like overkill to get a chipper, unless someone has a suggested model. Other suggestions?
I have an 85 acre property, about half of which is wooded. So I have a lot of available deadfall - of course, a lot of it is converted to fuel for the wood stove and the fire pit! I collect some of the bark and chips where the logs are split into firewood, but I'd like to also convert some of the smaller branches or rotted logs into mulch. Can I just lay them into the garden? Or do I have to chop, chip, or otherwise break up first? I can do a little of this by hand with the smaller willow branches, for instance, but it can be tedious, and other woods are hard to do by hand. It seems like overkill to get a chipper, unless someone has a suggested model. Other suggestions?