Question
I have just had two pin oaks removed that were growing too close to my house.  Grinding out the stumps resulted in huge piles of debris that the arborist did not remove.  My front yard is dominated by three large pine trees that allow very little light to shine through, so little if any grass grows under them.  Consequently, the yard, though flat, has suffered from erosion and thereby exposing the tree roots.  I want to spread the wood chips from the two tree stumps in the front yard.  However, I was told that the wood is acidic and requires "heavy" lime application to balance the pH, but I don't know to what concentration.  I also considered having top soil delivered and mixing the wood chips with the dirt and then spreading it, but again I don't know what additives will be needed or in what quantity.  Can you advise me?

Thank you,
BC Freeman

Answer
use the old pin oak tree wood chips on top of the ground as a weed preventer. lay 2-3 layers of newspaper(overlapped) before putting the chips on top of the ground. make the chips 2-3" thick. they will spend the next 2-3 years taking nitrogen from the soil and then they will start to degrade into a good organic nutrient source. that's why they use shredded hardwood(like oak) as a mulch. add some decorative new shredded hardwood mulch(1/2" to 1" thick) over your tree chips to make it look better. you can do this under the pine trees. pine trees like acidic soil. oak chips are acidic as are pine needles. don't worry about adding turf lime to the mulched bed areas.
if you like  spread a lite layer(1") of top soil over the lawn. add turf lime in lawn areas only(40lb bag per 1000 SF). fertilize w/scotts turf builder(no weed control). over seed w/shade tolerant grass seed. keep moist on sunny days w/temps over 65 degrees until you see new grass emerging. back off on the watering and start to treat it like a regular lawn after a nice stand of grass develops.
good luck
rick
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