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What to do with all the wood and sticks I prune off annually?

elderberryelderberry Posts: 114
in Problem solving
Usually I take what I need, like twiggy pea sticks and other things, and burn the rest on the bonfire. This seems a bit of a waste though, so I'm looking for a different way to dispose/use it all. There's always a large amount because the garden is fairly large. I would turn it into woodchip but don't really want the expense of buying or hiring a chipper.
Any suggestions welcome.
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Posts

  • Dave HumbyDave Humby Posts: 1,142
    Lots of discussion and ideas on this recent thread

    https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1010823/garden-waste-how-do-you-deal-with-yours/p1
  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    Pile it up in a secluded corner for wildlife?
  • elderberryelderberry Posts: 114
    Dave Humby said:
    Lots of discussion and ideas on this recent thread

    https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1010823/garden-waste-how-do-you-deal-with-yours/p1


    Thanks, but there's not much about woody stuff there.
  • elderberryelderberry Posts: 114
    DampGardenMan said:
    Pile it up in a secluded corner for wildlife?
    It's already piled up, but it's so big that I want to do something to reduce the level.
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 26,974
    After you've used all you can there's burn it, bin it, shred it, pile it up or take it to the council tip for them to recycle


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • FireFire Posts: 17,116
    Maybe get an electric saw and cut it down and leave it to compost over the years.

    Chippers seem to be coming down in price. Maybe it's time to bite the bullet and/or share one with a neighbour / friend.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 11,158
    OH is building a bug hotel incorporating stuff pruned from a neighbour's tree amongst other things.
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    Round here, the usual method is to wait for a lovely sunny day, pile a lot of damp stuff on it and a bit of plastic and then set it alight. We used to bag it up and go to the dump but now we have a shredder.
  • WaysideWayside Posts: 807
    Does anyone have any tips for the best location to break down woody items?  How can you attract fungus that will strip it down?  I have woody items cut as small as possible, but they don't break down that fast.
  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    They need to be damp. Dry wood doesn't break nearly as fast as wet wood. Making them smaller can also help (greater surface area for spores to settle on). I used to tip shredded wood in among piled-up wood to speed things up.
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