Wood Chips to Black Fertile Soil

One year of breaking down has turned piles of wood chips into black fertile garden soil.
Watch as I show you the stages of this natural process that you can use in your garden as well!!!
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Musician: Jeff Kaale)
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[@ManOnaMissionAZ]

Pretty awesome thumbnail on that mulch and why I need it video!

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

I agree...Friend of mine made that for me!

[@denniskeyes7713]

Bought the lot next door 80’ x 125’ and immediately started covering it with arborist chips. Halfway through my second layer. 23 varieties of fruit trees, incredible collards, etc. Hugelkultur raised beds in my backyard. Same principle. I never fertilize.

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

Yes sir!!! Best move you can make for production for sure! If people only knew what it does and all the benefits... Where abouts are you?

[@DifferentWorles]

This was exactly what i needed to hear. I had some trees cut down back in Aug 2023 and I told the guys just to spread it across my back yard. I didnt know ANYTHING about what I was doing. I just didnt want them to haul it away though. Im a genius!!! 😂..Now I'm planning to plant into it for my fall garden. Im totally new to all of this and super excited. Thank you for sharing this!! Subscribed

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

You are definitely a genius!!! So many have all of that beautiful future soil hauled away so great move on your part! I am so glad the video helped and thank you for subscribing and sharing your experience. What are you planning on planting this fall?

[@DifferentWorles]

@@TheMarkhamGardens I'm thinking of doing rutabaga, beets, collards, squash, and sweet potatoes so far. I'm still learning what crops grow well in what season. I don't know if you've covered this topic already. I came across your channel today looking for an answer about the wood chips. Now that I see how your wood chips are spread out, I'm thinking I can use it to grow some grass and stop erosion. I have areas of nothing but rocky red clay in my yard. I think the wood chips will help me play the long game in cultivating a beautiful lawn.

[@thefishfin-atic7106]

what I've been doing is digging trenches in between where I want my rows of vegetables to grow. I use the clay I take out of the trenches to pile up the plot, then I fill the trenches with wood chips. By accident, I started adding coffee grounds to the chips (Starbucks freebee) thinking it would make it less hospitable to slugs and rodents. I didn't realize it at the time, but that mixes browns and greens right in between the garden plants, and composts like crazy. I did this in spring, and by mid summer, I could hardly tell where the rows of wood chips were, because lush weeds were growing in them, and the chips had turned to dark black loam. I noticed my plants (garlic) planted closer to those wood chips were much larger and lusher than the ones away from them! This stuff is amazing, and the coffee grounds make all the difference in breaking it down so fast!

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

Organic material is definitly key to garden success!

[@mikeross4]

Good evening from Southern England. We have a system here where local Councils own land which is divided into small areas and rented on an annual basis to residents of the area so that they can grow vegetables and fruit for their own consumption. They are called allotments. We get free deliveries of woodchips, both hardwood and coniferous, from local tree surgeons (arborists) and for the past couple of years I have composted these in plastic compost bins. where and when I can I mix the woodchips with grass or leaves and these speed up the decomposition process. Provided it is kept wet I can make good useable compost to spread on my heavy clay soil in about a year to fifteen months.

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

I think that's great that the ability to have access to a lot to grow your own food is available. Grass and leaves (especially still green) definitely contain more nitrogen so it would only stand to reason that the breakdown of the woodchips would be quickened with the addition of them. There is something so awesome about being able to make your own soil and being more self-sufficient. Kudos to you fellow gardener! 👊😎👍 What is your favorite thing to grow in your garden?

[@ManOnaMissionAZ]

Very awesome

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

Thanks!

[@tammyohlsson7966]

Wonderful! I got three loads today. Hubby is not happy! I want more but he says NO. Couch potato and no interest in our land. The struggle is real. Blessings on your journey!

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

Happy for you and your woodchips/future soil. Sorry you don't have a partner in the things you love! That can be tough...Happy Gardening!!!

[@swdw973]

Our county has free wood chip mulch you can pick up starting April of every year. I have 2 ft raised beds. On my 5th year of using the mulch. 3 inches of wood chips turns into about 1/2 inch of black soil. One extra point. If you go to put them on the garden, add some green stuff to them if you don't have chickens or some kind of manure to mix in with it. This will be our first year doing back yard chickens. There will be 4 inches of mulch in the run and in the coop. That will make some amazing compost this fall or next spring. And BTW, most of the mulch here in Colorado is pine. Works perfectly fine if you let it sit over the winter and mulch the garden with it the next spring. I use the Back to Eden method on the beds. Only have to water once every 4 or so days and our humidity is very low. July to August is mostly 90 degree temps with little rainfall. Friends cannot believe how big our plants get. peppers that are supposed to grow 2 ft tall hit 3- 4 ft. I get 10 lbs of San Marzano tomatoes per plant that I limit to about 7 ft of height. And other plants have grown huge with nice production.

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

What county are you in Colorado?

[@swdw973]

@@TheMarkhamGardens Douglas county- Castle Rock.

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

Guessing this is high desert where you are?

[@swdw973]

@@TheMarkhamGardens Sure is. But at 6300 ft I also have a short growing season between frost dates. (May 20- Sep 27)

[@rickrhoduscarolefrazier-rh565]

Are you using the Black Forest Slash/Mulch program? Helped Ruth Ann Steele who got that going, she's sadly passed, and we moved away, but after that horrific fire in 2016? That program was vital. So many dead trees. I'm now in Ohio, got road crew to give me hardwood chips when they cleared roadside easement. I'm going to try & compost it, but have much smaller property now - had 20 acres in Black forest. I've probably got about 10 yards of wood chips, so I'm going to try the Johnson-Su no turn (static) aerobic composting method. They say it takes a year - but they want chips smaller than what I've got, so it may take longer. I'll use some of wood chips on my garden pathways to keep weeds down, and not walk in mud. Right now, I just have a HUGE pile in my back driveway that's gotta get moved - uggh!

[@sharonhoffer3599]

Yep wood chips are gold! I have rock hard clay with barely any top soil, here in Australia 🇦🇺 and I was lucky enough to get a big load of wood chips awhile ago. I’ve let the pile sit for a while to compost and cool down, as when you first get it, it will be hot. But now I use it to make garden beds. I just put a pile of it in a row, and make a hole in the pile and plant into that. I add some compost to the bottom of the hole I make, plant the plant, and away it goes. ☺️🌱👍🏼

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

Seems like you have a good system going that works well for you! Most don't know how nutrient dense clay is and even more don't know that adding organic material on its surface is the ultimate answer to unlocking those dense nutrients. Thanks for sharing!

[@kennethflynn2469]

Looks good, but it seems to break down better when it's 12-18 inches deep instead of giant piles that may take years to break down

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

You are correct...I just obtained so much mulch that I couldn't spread it that thin. 🤷😆 Although, some of the piles started at 6ft tall and are now around 3ft tall.

[@mkandtk56]

Been using wood chips for several years now. What a difference it makes on your garden. Keep spreading the word brother.

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

Thank you!

[@sarahburchette8402]

😊

[@dougmarkham1919]

Great practical advise and explanations to help anyone get their soil where it needs to be to become successful gardeners.

[@MsLisa1114]

This is interesting! I never knew about the black soil. Thank you for the information! ❤❤

[@richprich]

We have had a tree services in the area for over a year. We have gotten 22 Xtra giant loads of wood

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

That's great! Any plans for it?

[@yLeprechaun]

That is a really impressive set of whiskers!

[@timothywood5808]

I love your beard

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

Thank you! I grew it here at The Markham Gardens!!!😆

[@joedukes9760]

Have you tried introducing worms to any of your piles? Done properly they can supercharge the composting of all that material.

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

I actually have not had to introduce worms. They have introduced themselves to the bottoms of the piles! 😁 If you provide the food, they will come.

[@MsLisa1114]

Will pinestraw work too?

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

Yes pinestraw will work also but is more acidic than other mulch so may require application of lime to raise the pH depending where your starting soil pH is.

[@MsLisa1114]

@@TheMarkhamGardens ok, I was just wondering. We have alot of pinestraw. 🤣

[@justinrobertsendoftheage]

thank you brother in Jesus i have also just applied woodchip to the top layer of veg garden. just waiting to see results. its already composting well in the pile that was left here, maybe because uu have alot of rain in UK. whats your email?

[@TheMarkhamGardens]

Awesome! Rain definitely speeds up the process. Our email is [e-mail]