Mulching over wood chips
kitasei
4 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (7)
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
4 years agokitasei thanked jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6Related Discussions
Can I use wood chips as mulch?
Comments (12)There are about a gazillion types of ants known to science and probably about two gazillion types they haven't noticed yet. But for the sake of a simple answer, I'll divide them into the three most important types: ants who love wood chips, ants who love plants, and and ants who don't care about either. The ones in the first category love wood chips and/or other dead vegetation for food and/or housing. They may be attracted by wood chips, but most ants in this category are beneficial in breaking down dead vegetation for your vegies to get the nutrients. The ones in the second category use plants for food and/or shelter. Some of these guys "farm" aphids. They may be attracted to your garden by the vegies themselves, regardless of the mulch. The third category will be there regardless of the vegies or mulch. Some of these ants are beneficial hunters of other insects. These categories overlap a bit, but are generally true. The science guys are a lot farther ahead with describing and naming insects, than they are with figuring out how they live and what they eat. If you look in a real deal scientific book on insects, they identify all those tiny red and black ants by things like what their mandibles (jaws) or antennae (feelers) look like when magnified. Just watching them gives you more practical info than going through all that to get a Latin name and no details. Wood chips near the porch may be bad for two reasons. First, the wood chips will shrink a lot as they decompose. second, I've read that they attract termites and carpenter ants, which you don't want damaging your house. My personal experience is that they are only interested in larger pieces of wood that they can create a nest in, and not chips or saw dust. It may be an old wives tale from people seeing carpenter ants in wood chips and/or saw dust where trees were removed and not realizing that they were really living in the stump or underground roots. In your area it may be different though. Ziggy...See MoreFresh Wood Chip Mulch
Comments (78)Seems to me that wood should be one of the sources of organic matter that is applied to soil. Wood is partly made of long-lasting organic molecules (lignins) that serve as food for mycorrhizal fungi. I add wood chips to my compost piles when I can, and I almost always can. How well wood chips works as a mulch and soil amendment depends upon a lot of factors. What kinds of trees were the source of the chips? How small are the chips? How much leaf and small twig is in the waste? How fresh are the chips? What is the climate where they will be used? Does the soil beneath the wood chips have lots of organic matter in it already, and what kind of OM is in the soil (decomposed wood, fresh compost, aged compost?) From what I read here, it seems like wood chips work well in hot, humid environments, almost regardless of other factors. They also seem to work well when their use is ongoing, where there has been wood mulch in place for years. Fresh, small wood chips that contains lots of twigs and fresh leaves composts very hot and seems like an ideal mulch to suppress weeds. Just like compost piles, fresh chips benefit from being in a pile where the vapors, both water and ammonia, can be reabsorbed by the pile. I'd even suggest covering the pile while it is at its hottest. Covering the pile will slow the loss of water and ammonia and speed its decomposition. I'm thinking of a four-layer method of creating new garden beds. Starting in the fall, on the bare soil, apply some of the humic shale ore like Zamzow's Huma Green. Maybe scratch it into the very top of the soil. Then lay on four inches of finished compost. Then several inches of unfinished compost, and finally a mulch of wood chips that have had a chance to decompose for a bit. I think there would be a good interaction between the unfinished compost and the wood chips. By spring the finished compost will be integrated with the topsoil, and the layers above might be a perfect mulch. Dig through it to plant your plants, perhaps keeping it away from the plant stems until the plants are established and the weather warms up. The wood chips will protect the layers underneath and eventually become part of the compost....See MoreUsing Fresh Wood Chips as Mulch Around Vegetables
Comments (8)While I do think Lee Reich knows a lot about gardening and making soils healthy I do know hwe is way off base in that article he wrote for Fine Gardening magazine. the link gardengal provided, by Linda Chalker-Scott, is much better and the link provided by feijoas has information I have written here many times over the last 25 plus years. Many times I have asked for loads of fresh wood chips that have included leaves or pine needles only to be told That I did not want that stuff because it would rob my soil of Nitrogen. The leaves or pine needles, still green, will have a lot of Nitrogen in them and I have seen piles of wood chips with green leaves mixed in spontaneously combust because of the heat generated by the bacteria that are digesting them. The newspaper will suppress "weed" growth by blocking access to light by any plants tht might try to grow under the paper. There is no need to put any kind of lime on the wood chips to "counterbalance" any "acidity" myth tells us might be present. The wood chips will not "rob" Nitrogen from the soil....See MoreWood Chip Mulch and a Wooded Lot
Comments (1)In a forest the litter accumulates on the floor year after year and no one clears it away, although it seldom accumulates to a depth of a foot. I would spread out what you have more evenly, and clear areas around the trees trunks some. Those wood chips might, depending on how dry they get, be a source of fuel if a fire were to move in, but if they are moist it would take more for them to burn. Leaves and pine needles would be of more concern. Wood chips piled up against a tree trunk can hold moisture and allow some insect pests a place to live and work on the tree under the mulch which can then cause the tree to die, eventually. However, I have seen the same thing happen when soil accumulates against a tree trunk....See Morekitasei
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoStevePA6a
4 years agomad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
4 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 years agokatob Z6ish, NE Pa
4 years ago
Related Stories
GARDENING GUIDESGarden Myths to Debunk as You Dig This Fall and Rest Over Winter
Termites hate wood mulch, don’t amend soil for trees, avoid gravel in planters — and more nuggets of garden wisdom
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESHow to Pick a Mulch — and Why Your Soil Wants It
There's more to topdressing than shredded wood. Learn about mulch types, costs and design considerations here
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESThe Art of Green Mulch
You can design a natural garden that doesn’t rely on covering your soil with wood and bark mulch
Full StoryMATERIALSMesquite: The Brawny Beauty for All Over the Home
Denser than other hardwoods and sporting beautiful coloration, mesquite makes a fine material for flooring, countertops, furniture and more
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESNew Ways to Think About All That Mulch in the Garden
Before you go making a mountain out of a mulch hill, learn the facts about what your plants and soil really want
Full StoryKITCHEN CABINETSGet the Look of Wood Cabinets for Less
No need to snub plastic laminate as wood’s inferior cousin. Today’s options are stylish and durable — not to mention money saving
Full StoryTILETop Tile Trends From the Coverings 2013 Show — the Wood Look
Get the beauty of wood while waving off potential splinters, rotting and long searches, thanks to eye-fooling ceramic and porcelain tiles
Full StoryADDITIONSHouzz Tour: A Do-Over Addition Brings in Light, Air and Views
Double-height glass solves a host of the problems that plagued the previous add-on in this Washington, D.C., bungalow
Full StoryDECORATING GUIDESLoving Color: 5 Ways to Decorate With Paint Chips
Turn those also-ran paint strips into conversation-starting art and accessories for your home
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESLowly Mulch Makes Magic in the Garden
Find out why you should be mulching your garden beds and what material is right for your site
Full Story
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5