Are Woodchips Harming Your Soil and Plants?

So much misinformation about woodchips - let's set the record straight on acidity, robbing nitrogen, composting, aging, pathogens, colors and more.

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Myths About Woodchips in the Garden

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[ArthurDentZaphodBeeb]

I'm spreading truckloads of chips every year - place 4-6 inches deep. Great weed preventative and keeps soil moisture.

[russellsmith]

That is bark and thought this might be better than I thought it would be.
Awhile later I had a pile of about 2 yards sitting next to my driveway ready to be used when I cut a tendon in my hand that slowed down my yard work.
One day as I walked by that pile of wood chips I noticed that some volunteer sweet potatoes had started growing on the wood chips.
I just left them to it and we ended up harvesting some very nice and tasty red sweet potatoes from that pile if wood chips.
I never put any soil or fertilizer on them, they seemed to be living off the fungus that was living off the wood chips.
It was quite the surprise.
Needless to say, I am very happy to use wood chips where ever I can.
Enjoy watching your very informative videos, see you next time.

[PMcC]

For years I used bagged Cedar Mulch to top dress my garden. It's great at preventing weeds. Then I received a free load of wood chips and was amazed at how helpful they are. They prevent weeds, look great as a mulch and only need to be topped up every 2 to 3 years. Much cheaper and more practical than buying cedar mulch. I top dress with them and I don't find they they sink into the soil. When I need to add more soil, I move the woods chips out of the way, apply soil/compoast and sweep the chips back into place. They sure cut out a lot of work!

[TheFrogfeeder]

I have a compost pile that is just wood chips and chicken manure. I bought a 3point chipper for my tractor just for this. My land is very sandy and not a lot of actual nutrient soil, and it’s acidic because it’s oak scrub land. If I turn every 2 weeks, I can compost the chips and manure down in just a few months, and boy does it make a nice fluffy tilth… the straight chicken manure really cooks the wood chips down and provides more than enough nitrogen to eat the chips away… then I mix this compost with regular compost and I’ve been building my fields and pastures back up this way…

[wantedforthreeacts]

I feel like you are passing down to me the wisdom my grandparents couldn’t pass down to me. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[TheSolarpunkFarmer]

Wood chip compost may take years to make but it's excellent quality and extremely fungal dominant. I use it in potting mixes and as a soil amendment for fruit trees with great results.

[bobboersema]

One thing about sawdust from the shop. Some MDFs and other manufactured sheet goods still contain formaldehyde and other contaminates. Yes, these contaminates do oxidize fairly quickly but still, not in my garden!

[jakimpepin]

I'm happy you shed light on this matter. We need more experienced and knowing people like you on Youtube. Thanks for your insights!

[jhelmer]

Thanks to Dr. LInda Chalker Scott for her many years of research on the topic of wood chip mulch . You are communicating her findings very well.

[richardm]

Use arborist wood chips and ypu get the greens and browns along with all the nutrients plants need.

[swdw]

I get free woodchips. Mostly juniper and pine because of where I live. Most of the chips are less than 2 weeks old early in the year. They've NEVER caused a growth issue in my garden. Just subscribed.

[michaellacaria]

“It boggles my mind where they get all this nonsense…” love that. Great informative video, sometimes you have to make a judgment call on whom to believe and you’re my man!

[alexandrevaliquette]

Now we need a video about woodchips mixed with grass cutting!

[OffGridHawaii]

Sounds like you may have seen our video about our mulch urinal. You are right about the rain washing it through, during the rainy season here we prepare it in our green house so the rain doesn’t get to it. It definitely works great for us and is so simple and free! Congratulations on 100k

[rickthelian]

Congratulations on the 100k Subscribers 😊

[daniellebissonnette]

I have been using woodchips and dried leaves a lot around the garden, because I have an abundance of both these resources. They make great mulch and are easy to remove and put back in place when weeding.
When I started gardening, I first had to bring in a truckload of soil, because there was none to speak of, just lots of rocks mixed in with either clay or sand. So I did start my first patch with imported soil, but when I decided to expand the garden further I decided I just incorporated a lot of dried leaves into the clay and wait. After one year, the soil was much lighter, but still hard to weed or till. The leaves were s ill not fully broken down and as I expected, I could not harvest much from this area, just a few small potatoes - and lots of weeds, but I had low expectations and not much to lose but a few leftover seeds. In year two though, I ended up with a rich black soil. I can't wait to plant in this bed this year.

[stephenremo]

I find that woodchips and grass clippings are perfect together. Keep adding grass to your woodchip compost as you cut over the summer

[handinhandfarm]

I use sawdust in my walkways where I don't want anything to grow. The fact that they pack down and don't admit water is a good thing. It also takes a long time to break down so I don't have to reapply. One of the few gripes I have about wood chips is that they break down so well and are so good at growing plants that I've found they are miserable in walkways, I'm constantly weeding them and having to apply a new layer.

[williamwaters]

I tilled too much wood chips into my garden and my crops were horrible. I had to wait another year for the nitrogen level to return to normal. I learned from that mistake.

[MalenyFieldsForever]

Sawdust is great for walkways and paths between garden rows. It eventually breaks down and can then be added to your soil.