When I first met Mark, one of the first things he said to me was:
“Evan, I need my yard cleaned up, but I also have dogs. My wife is tired of dealing with the mess. I need something we can put in the garden bed that the dogs can use.”
I understood exactly what he was looking for.
He didn’t need some complicated landscape design. He wanted a clean, functional area for the dogs that would also make the yard easier to maintain.
The first material that came to mind was cedar chips.
Why We Like Cedar Chips
Cedar chips are one of my favorite bulk materials for functional areas around a property.
We use them for:
- Dog runs
- Play areas
- Garden beds
- Side yards
- Utility areas
- Low-maintenance areas
- Areas where we’ve recently cleared unwanted vegetation
They’re completely different from finer materials such as dark fine bark or medium bark.
Cedar chips are larger and chunkier. They create more of a clean, woodland look instead of the finished ornamental appearance you get from finer bark.
They’re also comfortable to walk on and useful in places where you want ground coverage without installing something as permanent and heavy as gravel.
I’ve even used wood chips around play areas at home.
That’s one reason I like the material. It’s simple and functional.
Why Cover Bare Soil?
One of the biggest mistakes homeowners make is leaving large areas of exposed soil and expecting them to stay clean.
They usually don’t.
Seeds find the soil. Existing roots come back. Leaves and organic material collect. Before long, you’re weeding the same area again.
Ground cover doesn’t eliminate maintenance, but it can make maintenance much easier.
A good layer of cedar chips covers the soil, gives the property a finished appearance, and can help suppress new weed growth.
But there’s an important step before any of that happens.
Don’t Just Dump Cedar Chips Over the Weeds
You can’t take an overgrown garden bed, dump a few inches of cedar chips over everything, and expect the problem to disappear.
That’s not how we approach these projects.
Prep work comes first.
We weed the area.
We remove unwanted vegetation.
We trim shrubs where necessary.
We rake and clean the beds.
We expose the areas we’re actually trying to cover.
Then we install the material.
If you skip the preparation and bury established weeds underneath your new material, don’t be surprised when vegetation starts finding its way back through.
Cedar chips help with weed suppression.
They are not magic.
Mark’s Project in Renton
For Mark’s property, the preparation had already been completed during a previous visit.
We later came back when the family decided they wanted a more functional long-term surface for the dogs and the side yard.
We installed approximately four cubic yards of cedar chips.
Access was straightforward.
We were able to park our truck in the driveway toward the rear of the court. From there, we loaded the material into wheelbarrows and moved it directly into the installation area.
With a larger crew and two or three wheelbarrows moving at the same time, installation went pretty quickly.
This is one of those projects where access makes a huge difference.
Four yards sitting twenty feet from the installation area is one job.
Four yards that has to travel through a narrow gate, around a house, down stairs, or across a steep property is a completely different job.
Bulk material installation is always partly about the material and partly about how you’re going to move it.
What Are Cedar Chips?
Cedar chips are a coarse wood-chip material made from cedar.
Unlike finely processed bark, the individual pieces are larger and the finished surface has more texture.
That’s part of the appeal.
You get that clean, fresh, almost woodland-style appearance.
And yes, it smells good.
Compared with gravel, cedar chips are also much lighter and easier to work with. Gravel has its place—we install plenty of it—but gravel is heavy, permanent, and can get hot in exposed areas.
Cedar chips serve a different purpose.
If I want a softer, natural surface for a side yard, dog area, play area, or informal garden space, cedar chips are one of the first materials I’ll consider.
How Long Do Cedar Chips Last?
This depends on the property.
Sun exposure, moisture, drainage, foot traffic, installation depth, and the material itself can all affect how quickly wood chips break down.
As a general field expectation, I would plan on the material gradually decomposing over the next few years rather than expecting it to look brand new indefinitely.
That’s normal.
It’s wood.
It’s supposed to break down.
The nice thing is that you don’t necessarily have to remove everything and start over. In many situations, you can clean the area and top it off with fresh material when the existing layer starts getting thin.
That’s part of what makes it a practical material for low-maintenance landscapes.
Low maintenance doesn’t mean no maintenance.
Cedar Chips vs. Arborist Chips
Another option homeowners should know about is arborist wood chips.
These are often produced as a byproduct of tree work. Branches and other woody material go through a chipper and become usable ground-cover material.
Arborist chips can work very well.
The main difference is consistency.
One load might contain larger pieces, smaller pieces, leaves, twigs, and material from different tree species. That’s not necessarily bad. It’s simply a different product.
If you’re mainly concerned about function, arborist chips can be worth considering.
If you want a more consistent appearance, commercially supplied cedar chips are generally the more finished option.
You’re paying for that consistency.
Are Cedar Chips Good for Dogs?
This is where I wouldn’t make a blanket statement for every dog and every product.
For Mark’s project, cedar chips gave the family the type of functional ground cover they were looking for.
But homeowners should still check the specific material they’re purchasing and decide whether it’s appropriate for their pets.
Dogs chew things. Dogs dig. Some dogs eat things they’re not supposed to eat. Individual animals can also have different sensitivities.
If your dog is likely to chew or consume wood chips, talk with your veterinarian before choosing a material.
No landscaping material is perfect for every property, family, or animal.
Field Notes
Here are a few things we’ve learned from installing cedar chips and other bulk materials around Seattle-area properties:
Prep matters. Don’t expect new material to fix an overgrown bed by itself. Clean the area first.
Depth matters. A thin dusting of material isn’t going to perform like a proper ground-cover layer.
Access matters. The distance between the dump truck and the installation area can dramatically change the amount of labor involved.
Wood breaks down. That’s not a product failure. It’s an organic material doing what organic material does.
Expect some maintenance. Weeds can still appear from seeds landing on top or vegetation surviving underneath. Pull them while they’re small.
Different materials solve different problems. Fine bark, medium bark, cedar chips, arborist chips, and gravel shouldn’t automatically be treated as interchangeable products.
Consistency costs more. Free or inexpensive arborist chips can be perfectly functional, but commercially supplied cedar chips generally provide a more predictable appearance.
Think about how the space will actually be used. A decorative front garden bed and a dog run don’t necessarily need the same material.
Where We Get Our Cedar Chips
For our projects, we’ve had good results sourcing cedar chips from local landscape-material suppliers, including Burien Bark.
But you don’t have to use the same supplier we use.
Call landscape-material yards near you and ask what they currently carry. Products and availability can change, and similar materials may be sold under slightly different names.
If you’re doing the project yourself, also remember that cubic yards add up quickly.
The material itself may be relatively lightweight compared with rock or soil, but moving several yards by wheelbarrow is still real work.
Would I Use Cedar Chips Again?
Absolutely.
They’re not right for every landscape, but that’s true of every material.
For the right application, cedar chips hit a nice middle ground.
They’re natural-looking.
They’re functional.
They’re relatively easy to move.
They help cover exposed soil.
They work well in informal garden and utility areas.
And when they eventually break down, you can usually clean the area and add another layer.
For Mark, we weren’t trying to build some elaborate landscape.
We were solving a simple problem:
Make the yard cleaner, give the dogs a functional area, and give the family less to maintain.
Sometimes that’s all a good landscaping project needs to do.