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How to get FREE woodchips

June 8, 2013 by Tara 27 Comments

free wood chips

 

I’ve written several times about our garden.  We converted everything over to raised beds last Spring and haven’t looked back.  We’ve thoroughly enjoyed them, but they have remained “unfinished” in between the beds which has been a pain in the patooty.  It’s really annoying weed whacking in between, and sometimes crab grass and weeds from between the beds starts to creep inside.  We’ve been wanting to put weed barrier down and cover with wood chips for several months now, but the cost for bags of mulch has been holding us back.  That’s the ugly side of frugality.  Sometimes it means projects stay on hold for a while until you can afford them or you find another option.

Another option was what we went with in this case, and it paid off big time!

A few weeks ago, our neighbor was having a tree cut down in his yard.  We were out front doing some landscaping and I asked my husband what they do with those trees once they mulch them.  He said he thought they had to pay someone to dump the mulch.  My mind began spinning, like it often does.  I thought it would be a great idea to ask if we could do each other a favor and have them dump those wood chips in our backyard.  Free dumping ground for them and free mulch for us!  Win win!

My husband loved the idea and sauntered over across the road to talk to the tree trimmer.  When he returned, we got good and bad news.  The bad news was that the wood chips he had in his truck bed weren’t a “clean” load and he didn’t recommend that we use it.  The good news was that he agreed to call us when he got a good load and he would give us woodchips at no cost.  Sweet!

Well, weeks went by and we never heard from him.  Discouragement crept in and we were pretty sure he lost our number or decided against giving us the wood chips.  We patiently waited for either another opportunity or when we would have extra funds to buy bags of mulch.

Friday, we were in the backyard filling the last two beds with dirt, newspapers, and plants when we got a call.  We were getting free mulch!!!!  Yipee!  He hadn’t forgotten about us after all.

You see we had some bad storms last weekend, which knocked our area out of power for several days.  Trees were ripped up from their roots.  Homes smashed.  Power lines down everywhere.  It was certainly a tragedy for many people.  Thankfully we just had no power for a few days and some large limbs down.

IMG_0658

This is one of our neighbor’s trees ripped up from the roots.  Yikes!

 

With the abundance of trees down, this tree removal company had been booming.  They were probably getting tired of paying places to dump the wood chips, so that’s whey they decided to call us.  Hey, we’ll take it!

The guy came and dumped this humongous load in our backyard.

IMG_0700

You can’t tell very well but that pile is almost 5 feet tall!  It will last us a LONG while. :)

IMG_0703

Umm…please ignore the pasty white legs, greasy hair, and cheesy expression. Mmmkay?  Thanks.

We spent all day filling our last two and half beds with dirt and compost, planting the rest of the summer crops, ripping out weeds in between the beds, laying weed barrier between the beds and laying down mulch.

I was so incredibly tired when we came inside from our long day of yard work, but look how nice it turned out.  I’m so excited about our low maintenance garden!  It’s been a two year process to get here, and it’s finally DONE!  Ahhhhh…it feels so good when you see a long project finally come to an end.  Such satisfaction.

 

DSC_0118

 

So, how do you get free wood chips?  Get a tree trimming service to dump some in your backyard.  Yes it will be a LOT, so beware, but you are doing them a favor and they are doing you a favor too.

 

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Filed Under: Frugality, Gardening, Troubleshooting

About Tara

Tara is a stay at home mom of two children, a wife, and follower of Jesus. Her passions lie in teaching others about real food, non-toxic living, and all things homemade, while challenging the idea of the "picture perfect" mother.

Comments

  1. Estelene Liggett says

    June 8, 2013 at 5:46 pm

    Absolutely lovely.

    Reply
  2. Rene S says

    June 12, 2013 at 1:13 pm

    LOL, I love the cheesy expression! :-) We are fortunate that our city routinely has piles of free mulch for the taking most the year. The recycling center grinds up the branches brought in and puts the chips in designated areas for the public. It is a bit messy loading the containers into my car, but it’s nothing a vacuum cleaner can’t fix, and it’s free! And it’s reusing materials too.

    Reply
    • Tara says

      June 12, 2013 at 1:34 pm

      That’s neat Rene.

      Reply
  3. Gartenholz says

    August 28, 2013 at 8:52 pm

    Great blog! Die Informationen, die Sie ist ruhig hilfreich, warum ich nicht in der Lage, es früher zu finden. Sowieso ich Ihre Feeds abonniert haben, halten Sie die gute Arbeit auf.

    Reply
  4. Mark Russell says

    December 9, 2013 at 7:17 am

    Hey Tara,

    My name is Mark. I’m a Certified Arborist. Getting rid of wood chip mulch is a constant problem for tree guys, so we built an app that allows homeowners to put in a request which is shown to all the tree services in their area. Any of your readers can see it at freemulch.abouttrees.com.

    Thanks
    Happy Mulching
    Mark

    Reply
  5. Dorothy Chalmers says

    February 5, 2014 at 8:55 am

    Our power company just sent a postcard telling us they would be trimming trees in our area, and that wood chips would be available for free. Another source!! (and it’s in the middle of a rather harsh winter here in ILL) Just discovered your site, love it!!

    Reply
    • Tara says

      February 5, 2014 at 8:56 am

      Awesome! What a blessing.

      Reply
  6. Brad Wilson says

    February 24, 2014 at 12:12 am

    That’s how we got ours last year, all 6 loads of it! Waste not, want not.

    Reply
    • Tara says

      February 24, 2014 at 8:13 am

      Wow! Six loads!

      Reply
  7. aaron says

    March 2, 2015 at 4:21 am

    Tara, my wife and have been using woodchips on our ground for two years. This will be our third. You will find down the road that your pathways may be the best place to plant. We live in an area that gets no rain from end of May or early June thru early early September with 14+ hours of sun and regular triple digits and we don’t have to water or fertilize. We never till and weeds come right up. I highly recommend using the woodchips as the garden and not just a walk way. It has been the best garden I have ever had and I am now trying to get my first full acre covered in 4-6 inches of manure and woodchips. Back to Eden method really works.

    Reply
    • Tara says

      March 2, 2015 at 4:30 pm

      We do use woodchips in our beds for mulching and just add a new layer each year, but they are more broken down than the ones we got from the tree trimmer. I felt like they were too big to go in the beds. We love the back to Eden method. It’s only gotten better every year. Wow! An acre! That’s incredible. What are you planning to do on the acre?

      Reply
  8. Toby says

    April 25, 2015 at 11:09 pm

    Hello Tara, I live in Antioch CA, how do I get free wood chips from my area?

    Reply
    • Tara says

      April 26, 2015 at 6:04 pm

      Do you have tree trimming services in Antioch? I don’t know much about the area.

      Reply
  9. Alvin Horn says

    May 11, 2015 at 11:09 am

    I’m in Tukwila Washington and have contacted all the free woodchip companies around here for 6 months and none have kept their word to deliver, yet I see their trucks all the time in my area. Do you know of a company that will deliver free woodchips?

    Reply
    • Tara says

      May 11, 2015 at 1:40 pm

      I’m sorry I don’t know any companies in your area. Good luck to you.

      Reply
  10. susan mcdonald says

    June 16, 2015 at 12:16 pm

    Iwould like to get information on getting some wood chips

    Reply
  11. karen says

    June 27, 2015 at 5:30 am

    Thats beautiful! That is exactly how I get mine, watch for tree trimmers working in the area. I have a place on my property they can easily pull in and dump, and they always seem glad to do it. I make it a point to sweeten the deal by giving the guys $20 to $25, enough to get lunch or a 6 pack or two on the way home. They always seem very appreciative and keep me in mind when they are coming to our area. I have been using the ‘Back to Eden’ method about 4 years now, cannot say enough good about it. We live in a very humid, hot area in the summer and without the wood chips, the garden would be overrun with weeds and needing daily watering.

    Reply
  12. Bryan says

    February 17, 2016 at 2:13 pm

    HAVE ANY MULCH?

    Reply
    • Tara says

      February 18, 2016 at 12:51 pm

      Not at the moment.

      Reply
  13. Priscilla says

    April 13, 2016 at 6:03 pm

    We sell wood chips for $5.00 a ton. Clean Planet Inc. 250 Port Road 23 Stockton CA

    Reply
  14. LyleFreeland says

    July 19, 2016 at 3:28 pm

    Looking for chips or mulch

    Reply
  15. Wiliam Kinley says

    June 17, 2018 at 2:47 pm

    Check Back to Eden videos on Utube for growing a garden in woodchips, you will be amazed.

    Reply
  16. Monica says

    September 11, 2018 at 1:44 pm

    Hi Tara, I am looking to some woodchips in the Edmonton area. I would use it for bedding for my horses. Thanks for your help.

    Reply
  17. Judy says

    July 31, 2016 at 7:12 pm

    Try. (chip drop.in)

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Green Thumb Gardening Tips | Girl Meets NourishmentGirl Meets Nourishment says:
    June 16, 2013 at 1:15 pm

    […] How to Get Free Wood Chips from We Got Real […]

    Reply
  2. 2014 Garden Plans - We Got Real says:
    February 14, 2014 at 9:02 am

    […] garden in a place where it’s as low maintenance as possible.  We have nine raised beds and woodchips that we scored for free in between all of the beds.  There are very little weeds with this […]

    Reply
  3. Video Tour of our Garden - We Got Real says:
    April 30, 2014 at 10:19 am

    […] How to get free woodchips […]

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