Chip Drop

Wood Chips in My Garden. 

Three years ago I decided to use wood chips in my Garden.  My goal in using wood chips was to reduce the prevalence of weeds throughout my garden; providing a protective layer of mulch.  I had noticed how a neighbor had used wood chips throughout her garden for the purpose of weed control and soil amendment. 

As I was deciding to use wood chips in my garden, I noted another neighbor had a rather large pile of wood chips that had been left on the parking strip in front of her house.  The parking strip was at the bottom of stairs that led up, way up, to her garden and her house.  I noted too that there was an alley behind her house that was level to her garden area.  In that moment I thought that she might have been wise to have had the load delivered off the alley. 

Walking by the dropped pile of chips, I noted over the tall mound that the owner was busy shoveling chips into a wheelbarrow.  I stopped and shared with her my strong sense of wood chip envy.  During our brief discussion she shared that the pile of wood chips had been acquired at no charge from ChipDrop.  While it was great to have the free wood chips, she shared that it came at some cost.  She shared some of her experience with me.  Having heard her thoughts, I went home and looked up the ChipDrop web site. 

GETCHIPDROP.COM

The company, ChipDrop, coordinates between arborist service companies and those wanting to receive the wood chips. The arborist pays a fee to Chipdrop for the referral to drop the chips.  Without a drop referral, it is likely that the arborist would have to pay a disposal fee to a processing facility that processes yard debris. If a chip drop recipient is willing to pay for their chips ($20), they are likely to receive their chip drop earlier than someone who does not wish to pay.

A chip drop recipient should expect the following when requesting a chip drop.  Per the website:

IMPORTANT!

1. You won't get any notice prior to a delivery. (I got an email indicating it was on
   the way and received another email once it was delivered)
2. Woodchips will contain lots of leaves and pine needles in them.
3. Each delivery is about 20 cubic yards. You must take the entire dump truck load.
4. If you want to cancel, you must do it on this website (getchipdrop.com) before a delivery is on the way.
5. If you request logs they will be very large. You'll need splitting tools and a chainsaw.
6. We can't move or remove material after it's delivered.

Watch this entertaining video (https://youtu.be/ilAv8SzB_Aw).  

And this one too ((https://youtu.be/jAfqZX7WNoQ)

My Chip Drop Experience. 

Thanksgiving weekend in 2017, I ordered a Chip Drop.  It was very easy to do.  I logged in and signed up for a delivery and remembered to exclude logs from my delivery.   In the notes section I asked that they deliver the chips behind my house in my driveway off the alley. If not possible, I asked that they deliver to the parking strip in front of my house.  Then I waited …  and waited … then on February 21, 2018 received an email that I would be receiving the chips right about the time I was with my father in the ER at Swedish Hospital on Cherry Hill. 

My father had a sub-dural hematoma, a rather slow brain bleed.  There were tests, pokes and prods, confusion and worry, and the frustration and annoyance that after spending all day and half the night at the hospital, I would get home knowing that I would have to deal with a misplaced pile of chips that in all likelihood was blocking traffic on my street or had buried a neighbors car in the alley. 

Much to my delight, the arborist had placed the chips perfectly in my driveway off the alley; exactly as I had hoped.  The delivery was by:

Emerald Tree Service Inc.
http://emeraldtreeservice.com/
emeraldtreeservice@comcast.net
(206) 726-0668

A year after my experience I told a friend, let’s call him 'Alan', about chip drop.  Alan set up delivery and somehow missed the opportunity to avoid having logs included.  I do not know what Alan did with the logs.  He seemed a bit annoyed, but not overly so.  He had a much swifter delivery, perhaps due to his apparent willingness to accept logs. 

Meanwhile, the chips have been distributed throughout my yard.  The weed menace has not disappeared, but they seem to be in better control than before.  The soil is healthier, there is less need for irrigation and wood chips just look cool. 

Good luck to you with your Chip Drop experience.

All the best,

Rich      

Gardener Scott YouTube Channel
“This is Why You Should Use Wood Chips”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b_ynDXqZeo

*Pro Tip: By accepting a few logs, you're more likely to get wood chips sooner.

#WoodChips #ChipDrop #EmeraldTreeService #RealEstateGardener