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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[@braukorpshomebrew6039]

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!

[@stixglass8442]

I love woodchips! But have never thought of that. Brilliant application idea, cheers!

[@lesliekendall5668]

I read that my wood ashes are good for traction in the winter.

[@catherinesyme901]

That’s an excellent tip!

[@robertmatthews8302]

Best investment I ever made for my garden was a 15horsepower wood chipper. I can make chippings whenever I want to or alternatively add to my dead hedging. Admittedly the chipper has an internal combustion engine to power it but used minimally does not pollute excessively. More pros than cons I think.

[@tripudium17]

Great tip! I am in an area where the sidewalks can be health hazards.

[@oneirosailing5572]

You hit the nail on the head! Fungus is the way to go and if you really want things to get going, mix in very small amounts of river sand. Fungus has the ability to dissolve the sand and transfer the minerals to your plants in exchange for sugar….

[@mourlyvold64]

Yes!

[@myrhanda5191]

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!

[@sushipsychose]

Awesome, I wish I had access to so much organic material. Though I'm already scheming to take a handcart through my neighborhood and steal vast quantities of lindon leaves from under the communally-planted trees 😈

[@VanderlyndenJengold]

I've used it a lot. Then I got honey fungus. I use it very carefully now.

[@stixglass8442]

I wish you were closer, I'd love to trade you my clay for your sand, lol. My garden is like growing on the side of a terracotta pot.

[@janellebyrne1549]

I also garden on sand and have recently started using wood chips in my garden. I was amazed at the increase in worms in a very short period of time in the areas mulched with wood chip.

[@robinanderson6206]

I too am in Canada - Saskatchewan to be exact and I'm a huge fan of mulch just for water retention.

[@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.

[@darinbennett3638]

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!

[@UWish0430]

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!

[@judifarrington9461]

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!

[@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.

[@lindaelert1796]

Thank you so much, Huw! Your videos inspire me, and help resolve my gardening issues, questions and challenges. You are an absolute gem!!💎

[@trockodile]

This is like listening to my own internal thoughts of late Huw! We've been coppicing multiple sub-species of willow from our homestead, using some to plant new trees, the thinner branches for chips for compost pathways and the thicker branches as small logs for hugelkultur type material in 2 foot high homemade raised beds to rot slowly and bulk out the bases. Neighbours are just cutting back problem trees and we've had our first batch of trees to chip today. One person's waste product is another's free pathways, moisture and fertility store or compost for growing great food! Thank you for your work on this excellent topic, it's great to see. Off out now to fire up the wood chipper and make some more pathway material for almost zero cost. 👍

[@compticny888]

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

[@lindasands1433]

Wow! For free! Not in New Zealand. You have to buy them & they're not cheap

[@franziskani]

@@lindasands1433 In urban areas (with lots of people with conventional "clean" gardens) ask landscape gardeners. Or electricity companies or muncipalities. They often have to remove trees, and in many countries the companies dealing with the trees chip them as to save space and transportation and deposit costs. May not be like that in NZ - but even it the wood is burned in heat plants (to produce electricity and warm water) the landscapers have to transport the stuff to the plant - or the plants have to pick up the stuff. Our local plant (I am in Austria) picks up felled trees, home owners can call them, they prefer it that the wood had a bit of time to dry though). In the U.S. it seems to be very common that the landscapers, muncipalites or power plants etc chip the wood and likely they have to pay for depositing it nontheless. So there they are more than glad to let citizens pick up the chipped wood or they even will drop it off at your place.

[@lindasands1433]

@@franziskani I'll keep that in mind

[@neil4171]

I've always been a bit hesitant about using wood chip on raised beds. Now I'm convinced. Thanks for the video.

[@alfonsomunoz4424]

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.

[@matthewgardiner6793]

Hi Huw,greetings from New Zealand…Ive been using wood chip for composting for many years and found it wonderful,I use wood shavings in the horse boxes/ stables too and mixed with the horse manure is great,breaks down within 12 months..wood chip as a mulch in my woodland area is wonderful too,along with the leaf matter it breaks down and mixes beautifully..love your videos Huw,thanks for sharing😃

[@russellharris5314]

this year I have been eating a lot of wild mushrooms and any excess or insect damaged ones I have spread into my woodchip paths so they are easy access for next year. Glad you mentioned this at the end as its a great idea to make the most of the space. Not sure that they will grow though as a lot of the woodland fungi will only grow wild near specific trees. Because of this I have inoculated with; wood blewit, wood hedgehog, bay bolete, penny bun, slippery jack, butter bolete, shaggy inkcap, safron milkcap, the prince and honey fungus. If anything grows ill be happy

[@joybeum7177]

Wood chip paths that create compost and connect beds. That whole concept is brilliant. All areas of the garden are working for you! Brilliant!

[@sultanbev]

I've been using ramial woodchip for years without realising it was called that, but I combine your chop'n'drop by cutting fallen branches by hand with saceteurs (well sharpened!) - takes a while but no FF are burned. Getting wood chip round here (Lancashire) is quite difficult, and as I use it on paths and on my beds, I can go through a lot of it. Mulches are so important, and I don't think it is emphasised enough - it's not just a soil food, but it's a water management system. In the 2018 drought my mulched beds stayed damp for 6 weeks after the nearby uncovered beds had dried out. Currently we are getting too rain, but mulches slow down the rain and prevents the soil being washed away.

[@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!

[@dinahscarlett307]

Been using RCW for several years in our Australian sub-tropical garden. Prune and chip in Autumn, apply around the veges and trees in spring with enormous success. Now on a new place and will be using RCW extensively to build the Permaculture beds as we have a mass of prunings on 5 acres.

[@nanatrish7771]

Thank you for this Huw. The woodchips from my pruning is the is the easiest available mulch for me using our small domestic chipper.. I have used it regularly as in the last two year to no seeming ill effect. Some gets held back until additional mulch is needed on my sandy soil in the dry NZ summer . Plenty of worms in it by then too. I am constantly being told not to put it on the garden until it is two years old because it depletes the nitrogen, but these are mostly people who till their garden after each crop, unlike no dig me. No dig gets rubbished as well despite my harvests being as good, if not better than theirs.

[@artsyhonkerful]

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

[@karenbradley8077]

Thanks for a great video. I have a small forest master that I use in my gardening business and I just love it. I also use the wood chips as path ways at my allotment I find them easier to walk on and also the benefits if the in the future. Great video 😊👍

[@dawnpearse4960]

Great information, I always worried about nitrogen robbery but in desperation this summer I used wood chip to conserve moisture on the beds, happy to discover it’s ok. Makes total sense when you see how well it breaks down over the years.

[@julie-annepineau4022]

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.

[@slomo1716]

fascinating info about wood chips usage in the gardens. I have always used a wood chip mulch in the fall and my garden thrives on it.

[@credenza1]

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.

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

Cover your entire garden with it. One year covered in woodchips will fix that water repellent problem for multiple years. I'm all in containers now, but my garden used to be the same. Dead, hot sand. I mulched with about 6in of chips about 10 years ago, the first time. I put down a little less than that 2 more times, and haven't touched it in 4 years. It's still black gold under there, and my asparagus (the only thing still in the old garden) is mind boggling.

[@Fragrantbeard]

My paths on my miserable compacted clay were better than my incredibly expensive and very very good brought in topsoil that was amended with gorgeous mature compost. The healthier now crumbley clay had so much more life! Was what sold me on no dig. The biology just blew me away.

[@pastorpfp1]

You always have a nice presentation. Thank you!

[@samosterloh4254]

I mix my wood chips with lawn clippings and mulch with it. It has been great and really helps moisture retentions in the boarders and veg patch.

[@oakmaiden2133]

Heavy mulching of paths around my garden and entire yard has been so beneficial. Weed suppression and rain water retention to start. Less run off erosion, I’m on a slope. I’m seeing fungus strands interlocking the chips. My compost worms travel thru it. When I can find another load, it’s going into my chicken coop.

[@leeangell8889]

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.

[@californiamountainmaidu207]

Thank you for your great explanation...I've been utilizing and mimicking nature in my gardens the same way my parents taught me...since I started trials to see which systems are the best...it's definitely nature's way...funny how nature knows how to grow plants so abundantly... Thanks again for the video..

[@thekiwinest]

Very timely video as I also just learned about ramial chipped wood use in organic orchards. I love your regenerative garden approach and get excited thinking about new ways to re-envision the potential around us. I moved into a new space this year and I’ve been considering living pathway ideas. What a great idea with the mushrooms and wood chips. In terms of the favouring carbon, have you looked into making or using bio charcoal in the garden?

[@GardenKatt]

Been looking into purchasing a small wood chipper because we dont get many large tree branches just a few that may gall off neighbors trees (urban area). But we do get the newer trees growing from seeds and side branches that we cut off and i would like to chip down into a usable mulch for the garden. Thanks for the gardening ideas.

[@seedless_sweetie4413]

I get all excited about your newest videos❤😊

[@honestlee4532]

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.

[@amandar7719]

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!

[@nicholasayres3265]

Excellent video. From my experience with wood chip and sawdust, the extra carbon in the soil really helps in all ways - surface organic matter, carbon sequestration, moisture control, plant health. I tend to just throw them over the ornamental area of the garden; around fruit in great thick layers and as a cover on plant pots. Chairman Moa Special (ie urine) on wood chip piles helps break it down, and I use both sawdust and wood chip in the worm bins that I have in the garden. May I suggest looking at using wood chip as part of Hugelkultur? This is buried wood under soil mounds where waste wood rots down under the soil providing nutrients and humus as it does so.

[@ohiogardener4019]

I never knew there was a name associated with chipped branches. Every fall when I prune the fruit trees I run all of the branches through the chipper and use them to mulch the very trees the pruned branches came from. Now I know those trees are mulched with RCW. 🙂

[@lpmoron6258]

Ok I missed something. What is RCW?!

[@ohiogardener4019]

@@lpmoron6258 Ramial Chipped Wood - mulch made from shredded green wood branches.

[@krisbaker9427]

YES! OhioGardener, fruit trees definitely benefit from RCW over “normal” wood chips. Recommend under your fruit trees.

[@krisbaker9427]

@@lpmoron6258 watch the video that you are commenting on. Do try to keep up, please.

[@Garricher5958]

Very good video Huw. In the SE US where I am we have a product for potting soil/soil bed, sometimes called 'Pine Fines' or Pine bark soil conditioner. Basically it is pine bark ground up into very small particles, and composted for a period of time. It even has some fine dust particles. It's use is as a component in potting mixes, and will also improve the soil without robbing the soil of nitrogen, but not as a mulch. In the west of the US they grind up fir bark and use it basically in the same way. Bark, I believe takes even longer to break down than does wood chips if used as mulch. Trees are great!!! Not just for what they supply while they are alive but also afterward as well... and they even regenerate(sorry Doctor Who), along the root system... unbelievable.

[@sushipsychose]

I can imagine that works great!

[@GLG_YT]

I love your films and there pack with information

[@funkybillie2006]

I do garden maintenance and the best seedlings are always in the broken down woodchip!

[@graememartin4454]

Great video, inspired, thank you. Ordered the electric chipper and spare blades.

[@niallwildwoode7373]

I grow willow all around my smallholding on a 2-5 year rotation, for building with and woodstove fuel. I end up with so much woodchip, which goes on my paths, and in my polytunnel. It also gets mixed with bracken off the fells and grass mowings for superb no-dig compost toppings. My orchard's ramial growth gets spread in situ, as does that of my woodland. Dumpy bags of my chips grow oyster mushrooms naturally, so it's a constant win! BTW, Forest Master are a great brand...I work my little chipper hard in Winter, and it never lets me down. I need an upgrade though 😅

[@danielarichter2453]

Thank you for doing this video! Nice Idea the rcw heaps and pathways! I‘ve made the experience that slugs love hiding underneath the fresh cut rcw mulch. Unfortunately they left any damage at my crops.

[@HAYAOLEONE]

You can use small 'coals' in lines along something you don't want slugs to cross.

[@HAYAOLEONE]

If you live close to a wild zone, leaving gaps in your fencing will help hedgehogs visiting your garden. They eat slugs I think.

[@marylouisebreau7229]

I added a bunch of wood chips mixed with horse manure to all my raised beds this week. I hope it will help retain water in the sandy soil and hopefully break down quickly because it only has half a year... fingers crossed!

[@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.

[@SpaceLifeSelfSufficiency]

We love having woodchip paths, we even add the spores of oyster mushrooms so if we are lucky they will provide food for us aswell!

[@pascalxus]

this is something i need to get better at doing. So far, I've put woodchips in ALL my paths and everywhere around it and even on top of some of my beds. Unfortunately, i've had wood lice eating all my seedlings now. So, be careful!

[@rowanwhite3520]

Another awesome video from you! Thanks

[@marijke686]

Learning so much, thank you!

[@HuwRichards]

My pleasure!!

[@user-oi8pq6bu4c]

I learned alot from this video 🙏☺️ thank you

[@RevRedmondFarrier]

Apparently I have been using RCW and didn't even know it. I have a small electric chipper that cannot handle the larger stuff and only use it when the weather cools off so I can handle being outside more than five minutes before the heat and humidity gets to me. This past season is the first time I used the chips from it and is also the first time plants have actually survived my attempts to keep them alive. Before the season started I put a layer of cardboard down where I wanted to plant and put a few inches of chips on top of it. This was the first year I did it, so it hadn't even had a chance to augment the soil yet. I hope to have even better crops in the years to come as the chips break down get worked into the soil!

[@antiowarr9467]

This is a very good Documentary Back to Eden Gardening with Master gardener Paul Gautschi. I followed him years ago, amazing.

[@GreenSideUp]

Interesting Huw, I have never heard of RCW in any format...Steve...🙂

[@DrCorvid]

If one wants to read 35 years on the use of wood chips on farm and forest, McGill University courses using "ramial wood" OR "bois rameal fragmente" and some of it's in French too :) The course goes into the effect GREEN hardwood chips and even conifer tips like hedging rot down real fast and don't acidify. There are ways to improve no-till as well, and spoiler alert, it's by mixing somewhat when adding and turning the beds every 5 years to avoid compaction.

[@FreeRadicalslifestyle]

As someone who gets around in my garden barefoot I substituted wood chip for sawdust as its easier to walk on and has the benefit of breaking down quicker and is easier to shovel.

[@HAYAOLEONE]

Woodchip + manure + kitchen waste + cut lawn + dead leaves + big 'potatoes' of earth + a bit of forest soil picked nearby + water + pee = 👍

[@skl5017]

I got a huge delivery of wood chips from a local arborist and started distributing it to all my beds, all the paths of my veg garden. With so much left over after all that I thought “oh no, what have I done”. Well, I’ve learned to trust in the process because a year later and nature did it’s thing and the wood chips in the pile, in the paths, in the compost, in the garden beds, it’s all broken down into the most lovely consistency. I have in-ground, clay soil veg beds that I’ve double dug and added manure and wood chips. A year after these amendments and that soil is so amazing compared to the surrounding yard. I believe the wood chips, despite their reputation for throwing off nitrogen levels in soil, also improve drainage and invited worms and other decomposers into the soil where it was just solid clay before. Would recommend if you are facing that scenario too.

[@franziskani]

The manure is a source of nitrogen, so that speeded up the process of decomposition. You provided almost ideal conditions for the fungi processing the wood. I am assuming there was enough humidity (rain or watering). Ideal apart from temperature which you cannot influence. People growing in Florida say for instance that their woodchip mulch lasts only one year. The intense sun, the warmth (even in winter), and there is enough rain year round. So the bioreactors hum along. I read that with every 10 degrees more temperature the biological activity doubles or even tripples. That is in the range of 0 - 50 degrees. Celsius, if you think in Fahrenheit - Zero degree Celsius is freezing point of fresh water). At 4 - 5 degrees Celsius (just above freezing point - 4 degrees is when water has its highest density) soil organisms more or less stop their activities. Of course the subtropical and tropical regions have much faster cycles.

[@scottishtomte]

I've tried layering shredded bush/tree branches in with grass clippings or scarification waste for extra nitrogen, and that produced a fine dark compost after about two years without turning. I've also noticed a few of the well-known Norwegian and Swedish garden vloggers on here using "Guldkannan" for adding their own nitrogen!

[@franziskani]

so Guldkannan is a "watering" can that is stable enough to be used as a sit-on "toilet" (for urin), can be closed, and has an extra long outlet to put the diluted urin on the soil and not the leaves. Smart design ! btw you can put undiluted urin on piles of woodchips or the paths, and a bucket with lid will be O.K. for the job. It does not stink if the urin is fresh and the fungi have readily available nitrogen to work with. Moreover urin also contains other minerals, notably also phosphorus. Which humankind should treat like gold, there are not many deposits on the planet where it is concentrated enough to be mined economically. We can replace fossil fuels and we could have a civilization without gold, but phosphor is one crucial element for fertility. (and it has other uses too. For ammunition, for detergents, ...)

[@lono9416]

Who knew wood chip could be so interesting? Thank you so much for this!

[@HuwRichards]

Glad you liked it! :)

[@trishgibbons8726]

Thank you Hugh xx

[@HuwRichards]

You are welcome!

[@cristinabaroni4475]

Great video!! Greetings from Italy

[@joshuawolf9320]

I learn so much from you.Thank u n God bless you.

[@PIESvcs]

Two years ago, we pollarded 150 metres of our 6m wide shelter belt. Branches were chipped and dumped for adding to paths and 'lasagne' beds of cardboard soil and grass clippings. Grass clippings were added to retain moisture and contribute nitrogen to the woodchip. The piles were filled with mycelium growth and funghi. A big project to make about 60 cubic metres of woodchip. But the logs were split for fitewood sale & distribution. Some of the wood at the bottom of piles has rotted, so under some new beds it went for hugel culture or to the bottom of compost. This material is excellent for our sandy coastal NZ soil providing moisture retention when covered with grass clippings or buried. Avocado prunings from ~15 months ago were mulched in a heap giving us soil today with a lot of sticks left for biochar. I'm amazed by the effects of the carbon content as long as we can keep the soil covered. Great videos, thanks!

[@kirkwilson10]

We're in South Carolina, USA. High heat, high humidity. I tried the Back to Eden garden method using wood chips and experienced mixed results. In the area that was exposed to hot sun, we got amazing results, especially with tomatoes & peppers. In the area that got some shade in the afternoon, the pill bugs riddled everything. They were using the chips as a hotel, it seems.

[@simoncoe3187]

Created four beds last Feb/March 10 metres by 2 metres from wood chip that had been horse bedding then kept in tonne builders bags for two years. Most productive year I have ever had.

[@angelaelisearndt5979]

Lovely radishes!

[@jameslin1478]

I’m a ground gardener and I dig around my garden as irrigation and put wood chips in as compost and path.

[@libbyholt3863]

This is one of the most helpful garden videos I've seen!! Thank you, HUW!! I'm sure my CC (closed caption) got it wrong, so at 11:51, what are "short rotation compasses"? Lol. I think it means growing & trimming hedge rows as a perpetual source of ramial material, yes?

[@HuwRichards]

Short rotation coppice😊 So glad you've found it helpful!

[@libbyholt3863]

@@HuwRichards Oh! Thank you!! I learned a new word today. This is where you get to assume I'm American. 🥴🤣😉

[@lesliekendall5668]

I don't know about mushrooms in the path but I might try them in the chip compost pile you talked about.

[@RoyHolder]

Thanks Huw, RCW looks very interesting!

[@HuwRichards]

You're welcome :)

[@w4447]

There has been some research on the benefits of wood chips containing new growth and the new tips of limbs. It seems they are great for mulch and better to use for fertilizer.From what I have read and understand anyway.

[@David-xh9cw]

I've access to pretty much unlimited wood chip at the allotment and have decided to adapt James Prigioni's style of gardening. I've put down maybe a 6" layer on my entire allotment bar the no dig beds themselves. Absolutely delighted with the amount and variety of mushrooms popping up and the mycelia just beneath the surface this year. I can see the roots of my crops extending right into the fresh chippings too plus the amount of water they're holding I think it's a game changer for me. It's breaking up my clay soil too I presume. Looking forward to digging down next year to see. Throw in the fact its controlling weeds and I really can't recommend it enough. Doesn't seem to be harbouring slugs though I'm being sure to apply it all before winter so it has time to be well compacted by spring as I think last year it maybe harboured a few as it was freshly applied and had plenty of damp air gaps for them to hide in. Going up tomorrow to fill and apply another 2-3 half tonne bags of chips to the last uncovered area.

[@HAYAOLEONE]

For me lots of wood chips = proliferation of all sorts of herbs/weeds.. Very rich clay soil, temperate climate. ..?.. 'Piles' of wood chips seem EXCELLENT for insects. (maybe bad in different regions..) A good layer of wood chips in a calm and well watered corner of our garden = huge worms right below the surface. 😀 Funny stuff.

[@David-xh9cw]

I haven't had a problem with weeds yet anyway and I'm in N.Ireland, very rich soil and temperate. Would love lots of worms but we've a serious problem with NZ flatworms. I kill as many as I can find but the allotments beside me don't give a sh*t and create so many habitats for them, angers me. They've decimated our earthworm population.

[@HAYAOLEONE]

@@David-xh9cw 🙁 well good luck man. At least next time you enjoy a garden with tons of earthworms you'll be happy! I never cared that much about gardens in the past, but now lifting a rock and seeing a huge earthworm makes me happy lol +

[@HAYAOLEONE]

@@David-xh9cw Just checked what a NZ flatworm is. Who is bringing all those destroyers?! Makes me so mad.. Even our earthworms can't be left alone! I'm sick of it all. Here it's our rivers that have been depopulated to a very depressing level. And invaded of course. Tons of people don't care.. Continental Western Europe. You gotta wonder what all the money used by the US-EuropeanUnion for 'Nature & Agriculture' is used for.. Have a nice weekend man! Enjoy your garden! +

[@idkwhodos2840]

I watch James too - love his tomato trees!😅 Started using woodchip as I couldn't get compost during lockdown and the worms LOVE it!😁

[@kirstypollock6811]

As someone with a lot of trees and hedges to trim, this is awesome info. I did paths between rows of one potato bed with my wood chips made in my own chipper from small branches with leaves (even lots of leylandii and fir!). They did MUCH better than the other bed where I did not, even preferring to grow into the paths! You have to use this kind of chippings right away, I found else it all goes mouldy...

[@robertvastine5564]

I turn all of my yard waste that is too big for the compost pile into biochar. You think wood chips are awesome wait until you learn the benefits of char!

[@kirstypollock6811]

@@robertvastine5564 in my area in Germany we are only allowed to burn garden waste/anything in April and September. I guess the fire hazard to the cropland is too great. Of course I have wood heating stoves (which are always allowed) so maybe I still could.

[@franziskani]

I used mouldy chipped material (small branches, plants, leaves) anyway. (I put on a mask when spreading it out and was careful not to move it more than absolutely necessary, as to not inhale the spores). The mould disappeared once the mulch layer on top of some carton sheets had contact with air (and it got warmer and dryer). The mulch layer was not very thick, 1.5 - 2 inches. it is still fine. Mould did not come back, not even in rainy (cool) September. The plants do not mind that kind of mould. Not sure if tiny seedlings could be damaged, but everything else is fine. I dared spreading the mouldy mulch because I had experience with mould and plants - I had prepared liquid nettle manure for the first time a few weeks before. I did not know that you are supposed to stir the nettle brew at least once a day. The bucket stood in a very shady area but within 2 weeks I had a white film on the surface. Having so much plant material from nettles that some of it poked out of the water surface did not help either, I tried to fit everything in one bucket. Anyway, a lid must be on it all the time because it stinks (they call it liquid manure for a reason). But an internet search resulted in the insight, that many people had used the fermented brew despite a white film. Even if it really was mould (likely in my case) the plants do not mind. So I used it as a fertilizer (1 : 10) and even more diluted to spray against pests. Once I started stirring the brew once a day * the mould disappeared and never came back, so the microorganisms that ferment the brew now completely dominate the scene and - to a degree - preserve the brew. (* more or less stirring it every day from June till end of August, in September we got cool fall weather, very early this season, so I got lazy, it is cool, nights are cold, and the brew is still useable) I still have one third of a bucket, so it keeps for months (made it in May or June, today is Oct. 21st., moderate climate zone) I will use up the rest soon, when preparing the beds for winter. It is still the same compared to July or August, same stink (no more or less) since it was ready for use. Same color, too.

[@kirstypollock6811]

@@franziskani it's usually very humid here in the "swamp" (mix of peat bog and sand "islands" in Vorpommern), and it was green mould.... I've also seen the white stuff in videos of plant "manures", I think you are right and it's harmless. You do remind me to make more nettle brew next year! The places I used it were noticeably more fertile. The best I found is where I used nettle brew, the liquid from eggshells steeped in vinegar and good old "Vitamin P" (easily available every day after I drink my morning coffee! 😜).I also drink fresh nettle tea myself - hopefully it helps with the quality of my "output".

[@nicholasayres3265]

May I add another point - I visited a smallholding based on Permaculture principles, and they used a lot of wood chip as paths. They had originally used raised beds, but found that they held a lot of snails/slugs etc in the wood crevices, while having low mounds with wood chip paths reduced the problem a lot. The one thing about wood chip paths is that they will grow weeds as well unless properly prepared.

[@dudeusmaximus6793]

I've been taking woodchip and turning it into biochar. I like the results. Also, wonder if converted to wood shavings if it'd break down faster with increased surface area.

[@keithreay]

Wonderful, thank you.

[@HuwRichards]

Glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@timgalloway6490]

I cut a fair few trees for milling or firewood, and chip the leftovers. Interestingly I cut firewood down to about 7 cm diameter, so it turns out my chippings have always been ramial. I've used them on the vege garden for yonks with nothing but great results. However, I have given up using them to mulch my small (750 plants) commercial blueberry plantation where the point is to both conserve soil moisture and suppress weeds. The moisture retention works a treat, but being ramial, the chippings break down far too rapidly, to the extent that weeds start to establish immediately, With 3200 square metres (ie a bit less than 1/3 hectare or 3/4 acre) of mulched area, it is impossible to keep on top of them without spraying... and I don't want to do that. So for a longish-term weed suppressant mulch it's gotta be from big wood, and 15-20 cm deep, ramial is just depressing after the massive job of laying it in by hand. One other thing, one of my bugbears is looking for info on youtube and having to watch or flick through 15 minutes' worth to find a minute's worth of pearls of wisdom. While the other 14 minutes can be interesting, as in your case, usually it's irrelevant drivel. Would you consider a precis at the beginning/end of your video, or doing a short summary video?

[@chantrybrewerytaprotherham3730]

Did you have a discount code link for the chipper you were promoting? Thanks for the great channel

[@tammycastleberry6184]

Thank you !

[@monicacruz4407]

If only they saw the potential of this in Spain. I chip and mulch to build soil, no organic matter leaves my garden, it all returns plus manure etc. Compost paths are genius, tried and tested this year, works great. In spring here in Valencia region we are choked by fires burning all over the countryside, I think town halls should rent out or loan chippers to olive and citrus farmers to reduce pollution, yes, a bit of petrol is used, but the results save energy in the long run. Thank you for highlighting this material, and for clarifying the nitrogen robbery question 👊😊🌱🌱🌱

[@janenewley1014]

Thank you…really interesting…and congrats on getting an article in rhs magazine😀😀😀Jinxy

[@chientaitw7377]

Hi, Huw, thanks for your wonderful sharing. I live in Taiwan, the subtropics. We have a lot of bamboo. I wonder if bamboo chips could be like ramial chiped wood (RCW) working on the soil? Where can I find more information about this?

[@mikewright3029]

i think i'm finally starting to understand the composting ratios. it made sense. as far as the chippers go, I'm scared of them... guess I watched to many horror movies from childhood. yet I do mow the lawn. XD

[@ardenthebibliophile]

Michael Phillips also talks about Ramial Chipped Wood in "The Holistic Orchard"

[@RocketPipeTV]

7:16 I like chipping branches with the leaves. I pile it up a Meter or higher and let it “cook”. I don’t fuss with it too much, just turn it once or twice a year and use it as mulch after 1-2 years. It worked out fine until now.

[@joshlovegood9392]

Do Arborists know what RCW are? How would you describe it to them when requesting it? Great video Huw. Wood Chip is so underrated.

[@saminairfan45]

I tried wood chips previously in my garden but had hard time with composting it cause our weather is so dry. I live in California and we only get little bit rain in winter😏☹️

[@HAYAOLEONE]

Manure and straw from people around? Composting/starting the decomposition in multiple barrels to control moisture perfectly? (and then using it on the ground) Cut lawn from neighbours with big lawns? Maybe your soil is very poor/half 'dead'.. Do you have bugs and slugs/snails? Can you buy fresh algae? Maybe it's a cheap-ish solution if you leave close to the ocean and algaes are exploited/collected in big quantities. Get a truck of it with your neighbours to cut the cost, layer/mix with the wood and grass and manure, cover well. Maybe add a bit of water once or twice to help start the decomposition/pockets of fermentation. Check for the chemical compatibility with an experienced gardener maybe. I can't tell you more for I don't know about details but I know farmers close to the Sea/Ocean use all sort of algae on land, fresh or dried. Maybe worth a shot. Drill a well with a neighbour/neighbours to cut the cost. Maybe water isn't too deep where you live. You never know. Don't clear tall wild bushes around your garden. Keep your fences high (towards the East/rising sun to maximize the time you keep early morning moisture). Everything helps.. What _I_ do to keep moisture close to the ground and compress the materials I add cyclicaly is simply place square concrete slabs I have in surplus on top of the piled vegetals/mixes. I move them from time to time. Things degrade quite fast under them (but I don't really lack water). They last forever compared to wood planks or other covers. Not the prettiest thing (although I got used to them) and they are heavy. Each is around 30kg/35kg. So maybe not for you.. Smaller ones work well too. Lighter and they are easier to adjust around plants. You can also break any concrete slab in smaller pieces/shapes as you wish. Easier to move and easier of the eye. You can also use a few poles with textile covers around 2 meters high or higher to create artificial shadows. It's not pretty at all in its basic form but when the sun is really mean, I suppose you gotta do what you gotta do if your plants are super thirsty and a fruit on the ground won't decompose at all in a week... Lastly you have'the 'mobile' plastic greenhouses option.. Small ones are not that ugly but yeah.. I suppose it's the best to trap moisture for good.. Looks very artificial to me. One thing I know is that everything doesn't have to be perfectly moist and protected in a garden (to a degree, fried vegetals and crusty dry earth are really bad long term). Like in Nature, some places can be more moist than others yet the 'big picture' is ok. Another thing. In hot and dry climates, people have grown stuff in pots forever cause you can control moisture very well. An adaptation to small/domestic soil culture may be to make borders of your best soil / most conveniently irrigated place with tiles placed verticaly (under the surface and over it). Would separate the unproductive dry ground from your culture soil. I do it with big concrete slabs placed verticaly in the ground. Not for extreme dryness reasons, but I can tell the difference in soil qualities. Place textile covers and/or BIG wood chips on the surface. Not pretty but moisture will be saved. I pee a lot in my garden, it's free LOL +

[@nathanstonefield4156]

I’ve had guys on site grounding down tree stumps and they’ve left me a huge pile of the material from that, it’s a finer mix of soil and tree trunk and root. Thoughts on best use for it?

[@stephenleaf3848]

We have an easement with the electric company. Had them dump 2 loads (asked for 3-4.. but they thought I was joking I assume?) of their wood chips. Easier cleanup for them, free resource for you. Had all the leaves and wood nicely minced up in it.

[@GardnSavvy]

This has me all excited cause I bought a wood chipper that does up to a thumbs width thick branches this summer. We have an invasive noxious tree here called Norway maple and it grows astoundingly fast. Been mulching it all summer and used it on my beds as mulch, in the compost as browns and even made a mushroom bed out of it with wine caps. Found it fantastic. Neat to understand better how it works from your video 🥰

[@zomerbloesem9371]

I’m wondering about the root vegetables mostly. I imagine with harvesting chips would find their way into the ground either way and with chips around it, would it hinder it’s growth and/or cause more splitting (when it hits pieces of wood)?

[@cherylhowker1792]

Have done the comp....but there were things I'd like that aren't available yet,like a wheelbarrow. So ATM the stuff on your page is either too expensive for my low budget lol.... Or not available yet. So I chose stuff that was outta my price range that I would like. Hope that's ok.

[@markfomenko8873]

Bark mulch is what we commonly find in the United States. People seem to think it needs to be dyed. Blue even! Getting hardwood mulch in bulk from a sawmill or tree service is ideal. Sawmills usually have a pile of rotting sawdust. This is great stuff.

[@patriciahogg5763]

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

[@growgirleastmidlands7321]

Thanks Huw, Q. Can I use conifer tree debris for top dressing veg beds once shredded? Not pines needles but the scales type conifers, I hear it is too acid, thoughts welcome?

[@hagenmaikel]

I like how you advocate for using wood chips in the garden. However, it’s not said that the amount of carbon in your soil can never be high enough. Forests are a good example of fungal dominated soils, but that is not necessarily the holy grail of soils that all plants want to grow (or thrive) in. Most food crops actually prefer soil which has a 50/50 balance of fungi to bacterial microbes, which basically translates to the type of ‘nutrient resource’ you’d want to enrich your soil with. Dr. Elaine Ingham’s soil food web videos are really good at explaining this principle. Definitely worth checking!

[@HAYAOLEONE]

Thanks Hagen.

[@AD.2024]

Videography is so good

[@lynnbishop9493]

I use very deep arbourist mulch in my chicken pen, and have more chickens than I need, I call them my compost markers. Besides the mulch I also feed them the tops of my weeds plants, and grow excess food like marrow and pumpkins, sunflowers, and greens. I get too many eggs, so feed the fresh eggs back to them as well and ferment their pellet food I feed them at night. Result: I within 6 months I have untold compost mulch, that I use in the gardens and around fruit trees and vines. I also put the raw wood chips under their roots at night, and change that every month or so, which is also filled with worms. So Sprinkle that around under fruit trees as well.