By their nature, garden shredders make tidying up a much simpler task – instead of having to deal with lots of twigs, branches, and green material, you have a pile of much smaller pieces that can be easily loaded into the car for disposal.
There is another option for using those clippings though, and it’s even easier – those smaller pieces could also be used as mulch. Mulch is a great source of nutrients for your garden beds, as it breaks down into the soil delivering fresh nutrients. But it also has many other benefits, including:
- Moisture retention – just cover the soil with around 2 inches of wood mulch. This helps to slow down moisture evaporation keeping your soil moist, even during the hotter months (with a little help from your garden hose).
- Temperature control – The thick layer of wood mulch helps to block the sun, keeping the soil nice and cool.
- Weed suppression – The wood mulch helps to prevent weeds trying to take over your flower beds, as they have difficulties growing through the thicker layers.
Using wood chippings and any green materials, such as plant clippings and leaves, from your chipper or shredder is certainly an economical way of dealing with garden waste. It saves you from having to make trips to the local refuse site, plus you can recycle your garden waste and turn it into something beneficial for your plants.
People commonly buy bark chips to use as mulch, so making your mulch could also save you money too.
Different types of wood break down at different times (for instance, pine breaks down a lot quicker than other types of wood), but don’t despair, as this offers your soil a varied distribution of nutrients and is great for the different microorganisms within your soil. For best results, you should chip or shred your material when it is freshly cut. Once the wood has dried out it is harder to feed and chip.
At Turner Groundscare, we offer a wide range of Stihl garden chippers and shredders to suit your needs.
Petrol Shredders
The STIHL GH 370 PETROL CHIPPER can chip woody material up to a diameter of 45mm and features a cutting disc that has both chipping blades and mulching blades. On the outskirts of the cutting disc, the blades are designed to chip woody or brown material, whilst in the middle there are shredding style blades, which look a bit like a blender. These are great for greener materials such as plants, weeds and leaves. The GH 370 also features a soundproofed chute which is angled to allow for a better feed of woody material.
Electric Shredders
Electric shredders are quieter than the petrol models and are great if you have a power source within easy reach of the garden. The constant power delivery and more economical nature of electric motors offers a greener approach to shredding or chipping. The price is more economical too, so if you have a budget to stick to, then they’re the ideal choice. There are four electric shredders to choose from.
The GHE 150 version predominantly specialise in browner material, especially smaller branches up to 35mm in diameter. It has a solid chassis and transport wheels which allows it to be easily moved around the garden for added convenience. The GHE 150 also has a soundproof shoot. It is perfect for woody material but will cope with a small amount of green if needed.
For those of you that want a chipper/shredder that will cope with both woody and softer green materials, then either the GHE 250 would be just right for the job. The GHE 250 will chip branches up to 30mm in diameter, but will also process greener materials with ease thanks to the mulching blade set at the centre of the cutting wheel. The longer chute is soundproofed and your garden waste can be easily fed down towards the blade.
For all our shredders there is also the option of buying a collector bag that will collect up to 50 litres of shredded material.
CALL US NOW 01829 742146 FOR MORE PRODUCT INFO-OR VISIT US AT OUR SHOWROOM IN CHESTER.