what to do with tree bark

Ive got a giant pile of tree bark and need to find a good way to use it. the pile has been getting higher and higher as I split my firewood to be stacked up for next winter. a lot of it is from red and chestnut oak and up to an inch thick by 14 to 18 inches long. by the time I get all 9 ICB totes filled and the woodshed filled with split stacked firewood im guessing there will be close to a cord of bark that has fallen off or I removed from logs.

We use ours to make paths through the garden.

Endorse the path suggestion, and add using as mulch.  Otherwise if you know any textile folk, they may like to try using it as a dye - but that won't make a dent in your supply.  Same applies for those artisans who like to make bark pictures (bark made into small pieces, then assembled into a picture by selecting the various tones/colours and gluing in place)

We burn thick tree bark in the woodstove, just like we do regular wood. Depending on the variety of wood, there are a lot of BTU's in there.

I like chunks of Fir bark as a path material also, though I have noticed that where there is Quack Grass or Crab Grass growing adjacent or under, its rhizomes thrive on the undersides of said bark.   I'm not sure about oak bark as much.
Though I deal with this by adding woodchips or other mulch-materials on top and easily pulling the grasses that pop up.
Also I use bark as a sort of kindling in the fireplace.  And for craft purposes. .

I sometimes sell black locust bark on eBay. It's useful in various crafts like making natural looking bird houses. It is excellent for growing mounted orchids as the rough surface is perfect for their roots to hold on to, and it lasts or years.  When I cut a big tree I run the saw lengthwise, just through the bark before chunking it up. By time it seasons good, the bark easily removes in a solid piece. Other types of bark just get composted, used in paths or burned.  

Im using all the oak bark i have as mulch underneath my fruit trees. With time i will move to living mulch (plants). And i think i will just relocate the bark to other trees if it is not needed anymore. I do not grind it down, the big chuncks will last many years as mulch here.

When I had the donkey I would pick up bags of free bark-chips from the timber yard and pour them in a heap at the back of her stable.

She would have a lovely time pulling them down onto the floor, pounding them to dust with her dear little hooves, and pooping on the dust and pounding that in too. It made the most awesome mulch!

bruce Fine wrote:Ive got a giant pile of tree bark and need to find a good way to use it. the pile has been getting higher and higher as I split my firewood to be stacked up for next winter. a lot of it is from red and chestnut oak and up to an inch thick by 14 to 18 inches long. by the time I get all 9 ICB totes filled and the woodshed filled with split stacked firewood im guessing there will be close to a cord of bark that has fallen off or I removed from logs.

That are decent pieces we use as mulch cover around our trees in the chicken paddocks.
If you have a problem with your chicks cleaning the mulch around trees then pile the bark two layers around your trees and use sticks rammed in the soil to hold the pieces in place.
We have beside Brahmas (upto 10lbs) and Plymouth Barred Rocks (upto 8 lbs) also some fighting cocks* from our worker who easy dig the roots of a young tree bare.

* We are not into chicken fights but surrounded by rice farms
Kukris Snakes, Rat Snakes, Coperhead racers, Vipers and Cobras are a common sight but all learned the hard way that a snake is no match for a fighting cock which goes fully aggro.  

Here is bark mixed with old branches 2 month in place and not scratched away.
Beside a good slow release fertilizer it also protects the root area from the heat here in Thailand.

Most of the tree bark I'm dealing with is coming from conifer. So I'm a little cautious about using it around deciduous trees or any of my garden.. but I do have a lot of pine trees in the desert that get a little too hot and need good mulch so I kind of just layer them around the base of the tree as a mulch that provides shade and collects condensation that keeps t the soil moist

Kye Goods wrote:Most of the tree bark I'm dealing with is coming from conifer. So I'm a little cautious about using it around deciduous trees or any of my garden.. but I do have a lot of pine trees in the desert that get a little too hot and need good mulch so I kind of just layer them around the base of the tree as a mulch that provides shade and collects condensation that keeps t the soil moist

Its an old lasting myth that conifer are poisonous to other plants.
It alters the PH level very little and the only thing is that it decomposes slower, hence it releases less fertilizer in the same time like other mulch would do.

The Blueberry farms in Germany prefer conifer/pine mulch so the soil stays within the PH ranges as it has been prepared for blueberries.

See Hes wrote:

Kye Goods wrote:Most of the tree bark I'm dealing with is coming from conifer. So I'm a little cautious about using it around deciduous trees or any of my garden.. but I do have a lot of pine trees in the desert that get a little too hot and need good mulch so I kind of just layer them around the base of the tree as a mulch that provides shade and collects condensation that keeps t the soil moist

Its an old lasting myth that conifer are poisonous to other plants.
It alters the PH level very little and the only thing is that it decomposes slower, hence it releases less fertilizer in the same time like other mulch would do.

The Blueberry farms in Germany prefer conifer/pine mulch so the soil stays within the PH ranges as it has been prepared for blueberries.

Pine needles and bark contain compounds that can act as inhibitors to the growth of some other plants and tress, a phenomenon known as
allelopathy. While there is a common myth that pine needles destroy plants by making the soil highly acidic, studies indicate that the primary cause of sparse vegetation under pine trees is actually these allelopathic chemicals