Can I Use Chipped Pine for Mulch Around Fruit Trees?

Q. Our neighbor's pine trees are going to be cut down soon. I would like to use the wood chips from the tree as mulch for our recently planted fruit trees. I remember you recommend 4 inches deep. What are your thoughts on fresh mulch as this?
A. Nothing wrong with fresh pine chippings. We provide an assortment of wood chips, fresh, at the orchard for the public. You will have no problems with it. As it is decomposing make sure you give the soil some extra nitrogen amongst the bark and soil. Collectively we call this "Green Waste". It would normally be taken to landfills where it is a waste of a natural resource.

Community mulch pile at the Orchard in North Las Vegas. The mulch is supplied by local tree services like First Choice Tree Service. We exclude palm and mesquite from the mix due to hazards from thorns and poor breakdown of wood like palm with very thick fibrous wood.

            Keep any wood mulch away from the trunks of new plants about a foot for the first few years until the bark on the trunk gets woody. If they grind out the stump of the tree with a stump grinder, those are some of the best wood chips. Good luck!