Help! My wood chips went everywhere!

Hello all!

My wife and I decided to put wood chips down on our bare dirt (new construction with zero landscaping) in an effort to improve the soil just before winter. Well, we live in a windy part of Montana, and our chips blew EVERYWHERE. Our neighbors are understandably upset about this, as their yards are now covered as well.

What's the best way of picking wood chips out of grass? What about gravel? I'm thinking rake for grass and leaf blower for gravel, but I need to know ASAP and don't have time to experiment.

After taking care of the neighbors, my wife is thinking 1" of compost on top of the 3" of chips followed by planting red clover. I'm open to suggestions on that too.

Woods chips are usually chunky and don't really blow around. Did you lay down wood shavings?

Oh they're certainly chips. Don't underestimate the power of Montana winds!

Travis,
You need protien on that bare soil, it will really help the chips get started and get stickier and moister.. You can read about it, but it might take a while to string together the idea that the proteins are amino acids, and the amino acids are what the the soil biodome builds its bodies out of, and that nitrogen is inherent in proteins (÷6.25 for N) as well other nutrients such as sulfer and iron. Soybean meal (near 50% protein) would really kick you up a notch. But it can inhibit small seeds so fish fertilizer or other might be best to start if you are seeding lawn. 20lbs per 1000feet, 2x a year. Organic ferts like Jobes that have endo and ectomycorhizea are a plus but have to be itched in or they die in the sun.