How do decompose Cypress and Brazilian pepper trees effectively?

laurae1980

14 years ago

This is my first post to the forum. So, hopefully you guys see this and it doesnt get lost to all the other forum posters :)

I live in S Florida. My yard was full of "woods" and I was forced by code enforcement to remove it because the woods contained "Exotics" (mainly Brazilian pepper trees, aka florida holly). I had to remove roughly 1 acre of trees. I was not happy with this and now to top it off, I have LOTS of very LARGE chips of cypress and brazilian pepper trees. The yard guy I hired to do the job said hed grind up only the pepper trees into small chips. This is not chips. In some cases they are very large sticks. He also "chipped" up some dead cypress trees. Anyway my yard is a mess. Lord knows how long it will take to break this stuff down naturally and its very difficult to walk on and using it is now impossible.

Does anyone know the best and cheapest way to break down peper trees and cypress? Please help!

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Comments (3)

minitrucker
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I put alot of wood chips into my compost bin and they didnt break down much, but I dont have much nitrogen either, so to supplement the "finished" compost I use blood meal. Your chips are they in a pile or spread out?
In a pile maybe you could add nitrogen, spread out I would plant grass seed and leave the mower deck really high. Your yard may take a while to come around but it will.
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borderbarb
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
In another thread someone posted that wood chips decompose quicker when spread as mulch than when put in a compost pile. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/soil/msg1217350628836.html?25
-- http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/soil/msg1219302024008.html?13 ... that wood chips seem to break down slowly in the compost pile, but break down quickly when used as mulch.
I think that minitrucker 's thought about sowing a cover crop for a spell will help to keep things looking neater and maybe speed up the decomposition.I vote for nasturtiams. Grow like crazy and so easy to rip out and compost when they start to look ratty. BTW - I've heard that things won't grow with pepper mulch. Don't know about that, but they say the same thing about eucalyptus chips/mulch and my yard is knee deep in euc mulch. No problems so maybe its the same with pepper tree mulch.
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soilguy
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I lived in Florida (Avon Park/Okeechobee) for many years and am familiar with "Florida Holly" as compost feedstock. As finely shredded chips, the Brazilian Pepper is OK in a pile but break down more slowly than softwoods like slash pine you have there. Leaves are 'leathery' and slightly acidic, which will slow down composting somewhat due to producing an acidic leaf mold, lowering the compost pH.

Depends on what your compost end result is going to be used for. If a container potting media, keep the chips very small. If as an anamendment in sandy soil, larger chips are useful...But it takes a LONG time to compost a large amount of such material.

Mostly deep sand in S. Florida, and if that's the case where you live, recommend that you rent a 50+ hp tractor with large wheels and a strong PTO tiller and a professional driver. Land clearing company. Should not take more than 4 hours to make several passes in at least two directions on that 'almost acre' to get the majority of those chips tilled into the ground.

In my opinion, mulched chips on top of the ground decompose more slowly than wood chips IN the ground or compost pile. It's a matter of moisture. Drier chips break down more slowly because the microbes that do the 'breaking down' require a moist environment to survive/reproduce.

Point out to the tractor operator to be aware that larger stumps could be an issue for the tiller, but this 'holly' shrub is usually 'small' diameter trunk and shallow-rooted, and in sand, tilling will 'loosen' stump roots, which should also help keep the stumps from putting up more new growth - which they are prone to do. Cypress trunks are another issue - best to avoid those with the tiller. Stumps that produce strong new growth should be ground down. There are treatments for stumps to kill them - but I don't recommend that treatment if you're going to grow something new in that area.

Tilling-in the chips will help them break down faster, since underground the chips will hold more moisture. In sand, broadcasting nitrogen fertilizer (even cheap synthetic ammonium sulfate) will not be cost-effective before tilling - not just because of the large area, but because with frequent afternoon rains through that section of the penninsula, the nitrogen would be quickly leached down, beyond the wood chips, and be lost. AND, you don't want to promote vegetative growth from the understory you just had removed, by providing a nitrogen source to all those cut-down stumps.

On the other hand, planting rye grass cover is a good suggestion, to add organics into the soil, but the only rye grass I recommended for your area is CEREAL Rye (Elbon) because it is a R-K nematode 'trap crop' in addition to being a very fast-growing cover crop. Root-Knot Nematodes are common in the sandy soils of south Florida and can do considerable damage to susceptible plants.

Sounds to me like that area is a perfect place to start a veggie garden or perhaps sow pretty wildflower seed mixes.

Hope this helps,

SoilGuy
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How do decompose Cypress and Brazilian pepper trees effectively?

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minitrucker

borderbarb

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