4 Ways To Recycle Trees And Foliage After Clearing A Home Site On A Bush Block

22 March 2018
 Categories: , Blog


For Australians looking for a change from city life, building a home on a bush block is a dream come true. It's a way to slow down the hectic pace of life, enjoy more simple pleasures and relax in a more natural and harmonious environment. However, before you can begin the construction of your new home, you'll need to have space cleared on the land to create a suitable site for your new dwelling.

Clearing land is a necessary process, but it can also be quite confronting and counter-intuitive to see beautiful trees and shrubs being torn down. This negative aspect can be mitigated somewhat by using the cleared plants and trees as elements in your new home and garden. Here are four ways that your cleared vegetation can be recycled and valued.

1. Firewood

If you have a large number of mature trees that will need to be removed, then you can use them as firewood to fuel your fireplace, wood burning stove or outdoor BBQ once your home is constructed. Most native hardwood and softwood species are suitable for use as firewood, provided that they're dried out, or seasoned, for an adequate period of time beforehand.

2. Construction timber

Using the trees you've had to remove from your land to form part of your new home is a fitting and meaningful way to recycle them. Pine varieties, which are tall and straight, are great for use as poles or attractive exposed beams. You can also have your trees transformed into planks by a local sawmill which can then be used for cladding or internal features such as cabinetry.

3. Woodchips

Small trees and branches of larger trees can be used to make wood chips by feeding them through a specialised wood chipping machine. The wood chips can then be used for lining paths, as a protective cover for your garden beds or as tinder for starting a fire. Your land clearing contractor may have a machine to do this for you, or you can hire a portable wood chipper if you want to do it yourself.

4. Mulch

Green waste in the form of leaves, shrubs and other foliage can be recycled by feeding it through a mulcher. A mulcher is very similar to a wood chipper, but it makes a finer product that can be used as an organic mulch in garden beds or in a vegetable patch. Mulch adds nutrients and minerals to the soil which can be highly beneficial for any soil type, particularly sandy, rocky or clayey bush soils that aren't designed for supporting domestic plants and crops.


Share