We offer piles of free wood chips (mulch) for homeowners to use as landscaping material. Forestry crews infrequently replenish wood chip piles after pruning and removing trees. We do not deliver wood chips to residences. Wood chips are often taken very quickly, so forestry staff does not know which sites have wood chips and which do not. The best way for residents to make this determination is to visit the wood chip site. The wood chips we create from ash trees are safe because they are ground small enough to destroy any Emerald Ash Borer larvae. Using wood chips from diseased elm trees is safe and does not spread Dutch Elm Disease. Trees downed by storms are typically processed off-site and do not increase the amount of wood chips.

Wood Chip Availability

New removal and pruning equipment has increased the safety of MPRB arborists and improved efficiency. The new equipment has also greatly decreased the volume of wood chips that are made available to the public.  Most wood chips are used internally to mulch new trees.  The Forestry Department had planned to phase out all wood chip sites by 2017.  This plan has been revised so that the three sites on the map below will remain open.  Keeping these three sites open will allow the Forestry Department to discard wood chips when it is advantageous to do so.  It will also provide a place for private tree care companies to dispose of wood chips is a way that is mutually beneficial to the public. View Larger Map of Wood Chip Sites

 

Call 612-313-7710 or email forestry@minneapolisparks.org for additional information.