Why Gardeners Need to Take Woodchip More Seriously

This is just the beginning in terms of exploring this fascinating but often misunderstood resource on this channel. In this video I mention how woodchip can be a way to make huge amounts of compost in the medium-term, a kind of woodchip that is very exciting for annual production potential, and also an interesting benefit of using woodchip as a path material. I hope you enjoy and don't forget to enter our contest, info a little further down :)

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[honestlee]

Wood chips have transformed my formerly dry and hard clay soil. Now I have worms in soil that was previously too dry and hard for them to move around in. In zone 9, I would be using a LOT more water if I wasn't using wood chips everywhere in my garden.

[braukorpshomebrew]

Woodchip paths also help for traction in winter! It's better to use wood chips instead of salt on side walks, too. As the snow and ice melt, the chips stay. If there is refreezing, the chips float to the top, still providing traction!

[alfonsomunoz]

I live in a desert city. Months ago I got a large dump of woodchips from an arborist and I'm so glad. I have some of it composting, some of it is ground cover, some mulch. The soil is improving already. I'm ready for another load.

[myrhanda]

I'm across the pond in Canada, and have been using a very thick layer of wood chips on my gardens. Works amazingly well for retaining water, considering my garden is essentially on a sand bank (there's very little clay in the soil). The other things I've noticed are the worms and life underneath are very healthy.
I've just recently expanded my garden by 2, 000sq/ft and dropped about a meter of the mulch on it that's been sitting for 3 years in the back forty. The breakdown of the chips already is amazing!

[artsyhonkerful]

I've had good results from inoculating woodchip paths with wine cap mushrooms.

[Soilfoodwebwarrior]

I am a soil food web consultant with Dr Elaine Ingham's group. We use woodchips in our compost piles for sure. Dr Ingham recommends at least 5 percent of brown material used be woodchips. It helps keep piles aerated due to its shape. With our method, which is similar to Berkley method, it is done after 30 days.

[SN-szkw]

In our new (to us) garden, I’m attempting to create something of a closed circle in terms of soil, water, and propagation. Not there yet, esp with water, but after only one year, I’ve made great progress. Part of it is channelling all healthy green/brown waste back into the beds. Most recently, I’m creating paths for better access from cardboard and wood chip. We have a large herbaceous hedge surrounding our garden, so it made sense to buy a modest chipper. I love it.

[patriciahogg]

I asked for wood chipper for my birthday gift!! 👏👏👏

[credenza]

My soil is "water repellent dead sand". I have made woodchip paths between raised beds, and now the paths are better than the beds. I drop weeds from the raised beds onto the paths. Rather than pull out weeds growing in the paths, I slice them off with a sharpened spade to retain the roots in the soil. It is very quick and effective. Larger chunks of mulched wood are heaped around the base of fruit trees.

[compticny]

We get a couple of loads of wood chips from Chip-drop (free) a year and pile them up for use throughout the year. Wood chip is used in our paths between the beds. The paths are trenched, the removed soil is added to the compost piles, and the trenches are filled with wood chips and grass clippings. Walking on them speeds up the breakdown (mechanical) as well as adding fresh grass clippings and kitchen scraps then covering them with additional wood chips. Good video

[darinbennett]

Huw, another great video on a topic that we all need to continue learning about. I watch a lot of no-dig gardening videos as well as regenerative farming videos and it's encouraging to see/hear the same message being said and demonstrated for each practice (gardening and farming). Nature was made to create balance and with the ability to 'heal' itself. I read comments below about the concern of loss of nitrogen when applying wood chips; which you addressed in your video, because of what we once heard someone say. I would just encourage people to not only learn by what you hear but learn by what you actually see happening by trying different methods to your garden or farm. Thank you for sharing insights from your trial gardens and for allowing us to learn alongside you. As I have said before, I feel like I get a Master Gardener's lesson from 'Professor Richards' each time I watch a video. Kudos to you, Huw for what you are learning and teaching!

[julie-annepineau]

We just had a major hurricane move thru so an abundance of ramial wood to make into chips. Thinking I will rent a chipper for the weekend and get to cleaning up! Might even offer to take branches from the neighbors if they want to deliver.

[HennoS]

In your walkway you might prefer bigger chunks. They break down slower, that way you don't have to refill as often. whenever you walk on it you're pressing it in the soil. Maybe some cardboard underneath, or at least be mindful of what's directly underneath. You want a thick layer in the pathway, preferred with cardboard underneath for a mean weed suppressing combo. Walking on the woodchips makes them break down faster as well, even more with RCW. In the beds it's mostly just a slow breaking down mulch. the layer is very thin for it to do some serious breaking down in one season, hence the preference for the smaller RCW chucks in that area.
It basically is a step up from leaf compost or leaf mulch, it's slower and bulkier. Very well broken-down woodchips makes a good seeding soil, much like leaf compost does.

[Heather_At_The_Ridge]

Thank you so much for this. We are building our homestead now and have been chipping tons to help tidy the forest paths and clean up deadfall from the edges of fields and I’ve seen so much contradictory information! I will continue chipping to my hearts content!

[dwoodbury]

Thanks for the helpful insight. I have used wood chips on my flower and garden beds and around my fruit trees for the past few years and have seen my soil fertility sky rocket and soil texture transform from complicated clay to a beautiful dark consistency.

[zettavilla]

One problem that i noticed while putting weeds on the path ways is that if they have seeds in them they don't decompose and new weeds spring up.. Probably we need to keep a eye to put weeds before they seed.

[leeangell]

I chip all of my hedge clippings and they go on my veg beds as a mulch throughout the summer along with all of my grass clippings, never composted either of them.
Weeds/veg peelings/wood shavings from the chickens etc are semi composted and added at the end of the season.

[amandar]

My own experiments with new woodchips have proved as excellent asparagus bed mulch. No weeds. Clean spears. Also a permanent potato bed. Never had blight. Fruit cage. Never fertilised or watered, or needed to weed. However, during late summer, fall and most of winter I put the chickens in to dig up berry mite grubs. By the end of winter the chickens have fertilised and cleared the cage and most woodchips turned to soil. I simply remove chickens and recover with another 4-6” layer of woodchips for the growing season.

I have mixture of grass and woodchip paths.

I only mulch annual beds with semi-composted chips after transplanting starts/seedlings if I’m short on other mulch. Although it’s a pain for follow-on annual transplants for me. It’s difficult to scrape away larger woody material before transplanting/sowing. The chips fall into the transplant holes exactly where the roots are.

This year was particularly difficult due to lack of grass (drought) clippings so had to mulch more than I’d prefer with 2 year old wood chipping compost. Chicken coop provides exceptional quality compost on woodchips. They get fresh bucket loads every week from the pile that are jam packed with centipedes and wood lice. Loads of worms work their way up from below so the chips are well scratched about. Best to have a foot high skirt around the coop run to keep the chips inside!

[UWish]

Really appreciate this video, Huw. Just had a delivery of wood chip to my house and now it's time to get to work with it!

[judifarrington]

Great video! I woodchip all my pathways but never thought of planting mushrooms. I enjoyed watching you work as you talked to us. I learn so much from you. Thanks!