How to Use Wood Chips in the Garden | DOs and DON'Ts

This week on your market garden minute: how to use wood chips in the garden.

Questions answered include: can you till wood chips into the soil, can you mulch with wood chips, do ducks eat slugs, where to use wood chips, wood chipped pathways and more.

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[rickershomesteadahobbyfarm]

I put down wood chips and everything is growing better now. I watched my 4 year old, sickly looking, scrawny trees double and triple in size in 1 summer. Best thing I’ve ever done. I put them down thick.

[glyakk]

I am glad I watched this before purchasing wood chips to use as mulch!

[scottbaruth]

I can't say enough good about woodchips on asparagus beds. You apply heavy after they get mowed off, so it's basically off-season when you're looking for something to do. It practically eliminates annual type weeds and any need to fertize....ever. The harvest window is set back a week or two because the ground stays cooler, but come August, when you have a weed free asparagus patch, you will be the talk of the neighborhood, I promise.

[rosea]

You're right about ducks. No seedling was safe and the garlic bed became their favorite place to lay eggs.

[smithyjohnathan]

We bought a chipper for towing behind our tractor and a smaller one for behind our little yard tractor for leaves/branches. I can't say enough about the weed-suppressing ability and mulching properties the chips give to our sandy soil. I generally lay down cardboard, compost, and then chips in our garden paths and around trees in our orchard. The chips are left in piles for 1-2 years and then used. The soil mixed in the pile from the stump-grinding operations helps break down the chips. Thanks for all the great tips. We never stop learning (and enjoy your humor). 😊

[dak]

Perfect timing on the topic! And it seemed like the right amount of time because my husband always says “in a minute “ and that’s about how long it takes. So, yep. You definitely nailed it. 😉

[jeshurunfarm]

Wow dude. Spot on 60 seconds! Nice.
Respect from Africa 🇿🇦

[karenr]

When it comes to shuffling through the myriad of opinions on the web, you are my go-to guy when it comes to actual tried and true knowledge.
You've done the hard work for us. Thank you for that. Currently reading your book.

[mylesfalconer]

I have a woodchip addiction. I keep finding arborists chipping near me and can't stop myself for asking them to drop them off. I use woodchips in the barn bedding, chicken yards, and mulching perennials. Barn gets cleaned out twice a year and composted, which provides a rough mulch compost that works great with transplanted crops.

[gingerlily]

I’ve been using wood chips in my garden for about 13 years. They are particularly good for shrubs and trees. I mostly like how they function in the veggie/flower gardens as well. But they do, absolutely, take a few growing seasons to really break down and benefit the soil. You also need to pull back the chips anytime you add compost/amendments or plants/seeds of any kind. Direct seeding is more challenging as well, and crops like carrots are better off in a chip-free bed for this reason. New chips need to be added every 2 years to refresh and keep the weeds down. In the spring, wood chipped areas take longer to thaw for early planting and it can be tough to scrape away the frozen chips when needed. And as much as I dreamed about them keeping my asparagus patch nice, they seemed to immediately invite asparagus beetles and after battling them for several seasons I ended up needing to totally refresh that bed as a result. But the benefits still outweighs the negatives for my small property. I love having mud-free paths and gardens that create amazing conditions for microbial activity and worms. I love the reduction in watering needed in the summer season. I love the reduced weed pressure when the chips are at the right depth. I love that wood chips are easy to come by, sometimes free. Overall they are worthwhile for smaller gardens. Mine is about 1/3 acre, but I wouldn’t want to manage chips on anything bigger. I also don’t care for using them in raised beds or smart pots.

[pd]

The grandfather of woodchips in America is Paul Gauche his orchard is over forty years old. But everyone that watched the Back to Eden documentary gets it completely wrong even to this day. Only the orchard is just woodchips. His vegetable garden is completely different. Paul buys woodchips and green garden waste that went through a tub grinder to make small pieces. Then those are piled into huge piles and composted! Only the composted woodchips go on Pauls vegetable garden after being screened to remove larger pieces. Paul also raises chickens and feeds his chickens all the garden waste. Paul then collects the chicken manure and composted yard waste and screens that material to get a top dressing. He top dresses his composted woodchip vegetable garden with about an inch to inch and half of composted and screened chicken organic manure. It took him many years of this until he noticed he needed less and less amounts of both composted woodchips and composted chicken manure to keep his gardens as productive as compared to the first years when he started. This is what he actually gardens in not what I have seen others on YouTube do and fail and then blame his method for. I’ve seen YouTubers throw down nothing but raw sawdust to just raw woodchips and expect to grow vegetables in them like Paul does. His raw tree trimming service company woodchips only go on his orchard. Watch the documentary again and you will see to completely different colored ground coverings on the orchard versus what is on his vegetable garden. Orchard is light colored and rough large chip pieces texture. Vegetable garden is dark smoother texture.

[MynewTennesseeHome]

I love wood chips and use pretty much every way you mentioned. Yeah, my Grandkids love them too, they call it the mulch mountain😊

[fouroakfarm]

Haha so glad you mentioned the child entertainment value. We have "mulch mountain", a 150ft windrow at our place and its always a hit with the kids and their friends. They make paths in it, carve out chairs and stairs, find mushrooms.

[daigledj]

Woodchip mulching tomatoes works great. Helps regulate moisture and keeps dirt from splashing up on the leaves

[AlsanPine]

chickens, turkeys, and all birds really love wood chip piles. i age my huge chip mountains for 3yrs before using them for mixing my own potting soil. they are also outstanding for keeping the orchard floor weed free and eliminate most watering in the orchard if you lay a foot or more of the 2yr chips. do not touch tree trunk... i use old metal roofing made into a barrier around the trunk to keep chips away and allow good airflow for the trees.

[TheJesusloves]

I love how you always point to this video here, and then the video link is on the opposite side thanks for the info!

[PartTimePermies]

We use them as mulch around our fruit trees as well. Don't know about definitely a minute, but "nailed it" is right, lol

[View-farmer]

I’ve found a wood chip piles ability to occupy small children is absolutely priceless!

[dalewagnerWEW]

Thanks for another great shortie!!! And thank you for getting my book to me just in time for our bio nutrient food association book club meeting!!!
Dale

[audreybarnes]

Beautiful, everything you needed to know but was too afraid to ask ❤️