After planting, many gardeners turn to wood chip mulch to help suppress weeds and reduce water loss.
One important tip to take into account that isn't common knowledge, is if using fresh wood chips and they are fresh then the chances are your shrub will suffer severely with Nitrogen deficiency, which in turn can lead to long term stunted growth.
The bacteria that break down the wood need nitrogen for the process and if you don't balance their needs they will take it from the surrounding soil.
A good tip, dress with Growmore so the bacteria can work happily without you paying heavily for their dinner.
Of course, composting the wood chips for a while will make it safe to use. As a rule of thumb, softwood one year minimum except in cases of high sap content and two years for hardwood.
It is important too that the wood is allowed to compost with an access to humidity.
All fir chips are acidic so bear this in mind when using around your shrubs.
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