Woodchip decomposing for path mulch, and why you can use conifer wood

[@suepowlesland8541]

Excellent info, thank you Charles! I really wanted wood chip paths, but in my area chip is very expensive. With your help I was able to triple my compost production last year. So I looked at my large piles of lumpy, chunky, twiggy compost and thought, why not sift that? Put the sieved stuff on the beds and the rest on the paths? And it worked beautifully! I have weed-free and cost-free paths😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Excellent! Thanks for sharing Sue

[@elizabethwilson9126]

@@suepowlesland8541 that's a great ides

[@elizabethwilson9126]

I live in a 100 year old house in Lithgow Australia . I have a conifer at the back.of my lot that must be the same age. The soil underneath the fallen needles is soft, rich, a dark colour. I started using it in my veg garden with other soil and compost. Its been wonderful. No acidic problems at all.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Lovely to hear Elizabeth. That's a good age for a conifer

[@wakeupwith_morgan]

The cat on top of the mulch pile I love it

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

💚 🐈

[@yvonnejackson1696]

It was a cameo appearance

[@carlgustavsen2143]

Should always a Cat in the garden with you

[@elizabethwilson9126]

@@wakeupwith_morgan cats do Love the warmth

[@Ann-z6b]

Minty is a star! She's adopted you. And thanks, of course, for all the lovely, informative videos.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

You are very welcome Ann 🐈

[@gardstunbuhunds]

Thank you Charles! Trying to find time over Winter to watch more of your videos. We've been gardening with compost and mulch for 20+ yrs but this was our first yr No Dig. Wow!! Everything did better than expected especially parsnips and onions. I've done a little with woodchips but am looking forward to using them more thanks to this useful video! And, I absolutely LOVE seeing Minty! Of course she was Queen of the Mountain of woodchips😹 Your place is beautiful. Thank you for making these videos.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Lovely to see this, enjoy the videos! No Minty in the older ones, she adopted me two years ago.

[@martincooper9982]

I think a lot of the bits of wood that get on my beds from the paths come from birds grubbing in it and throwing it around! Wood chip makes a lovely path across the garden - I got a load from a tree chopped down on my street, and it goes a beautiful colour in autumn.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice to hear Martin

[@delta250a]

For my paths I have never used old stuff. As soon as it's delivered to our site and it gets put on. Always get the best stuff growing at the edges.

[@eloisewiggins8198]

HI Charles, it's just a joy to learn from you, I'm a new beginner in gardening, but I'm ready to learn and I'm in western New York USA.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Wonderful! Thanks Eloise

[@tinad6812]

I have been loving my wood chips in my paths and I also use it as a brown in my compost. I loved seeing Minty in the video. So sweet 😊

[@carlgustavsen2143]

Should always a Cat in the garden with you

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Great and thanks Tina

[@weirdowilab1726]

I just got my first woodchips from a tree cutting and was thinking of what im gonna do with it. Very timely this video of yours 😊. You always know what gardeners need, thanks for this video charles youre a saint.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Wonderful! This video was not planned or scripted, just felt right to make :)

[@Everywhere2]

He's so charming - even when throwing things at the cat.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

‼️ thanks

[@jsbadger]

Thankfully, we are a bit "nerdy" about it too, Charles. Always a joy to see a perspective on these things and the options available. Thank you much.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Great to hear and you are welcome 🙂

[@azamshakoor3098]

Minty was enjoying the woodchips falling through the sieve 😁😺 cute 🐈😺 she was having more fun watching you sieve the woodchips and preparing the path ways ,,always fun and inspiring to watch your videos sirji 👍🙏🇮🇳

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks Azam, glad you like her!

[@manuelrojas4483]

Esos pasillos de astillas de madera van muy bien con la humedad y lluvias de tu zona.Es como caminar sobre una alfombra.Es impresionante el orden y la estética de tu magnífico huerto.Saludos desde Tenerife!!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Muchas gracias, tienes razón, supongo que contigo la madera no se descompondría tanto.

[@markglidden8766]

Sometimes I dig up my well composted pathways and use it as compost for the garden. I then replace the removed compost with wood chips. It is an easy way to find compost for your garden.

[@gmorgan894]

Exactly what i do , scrape out top 2 inches from chicken run every year ( 30 ft x 12 ft ) and add it to my compost heap . Results have been great last 2 years.

[@aname5267]

I spent three hours today mulching my allotment with well rotted cow and chicken manure. It’s hard work barreling it over and my muscles are stiff but I can’t wait to go back tomorrow and rake it all flat. ❤

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Sounds promising!

[@wordwalkermomma4]

Think of how much money you didn’t spend at the gym.😄 Turmeric (as food or supplement) can help with the Inflammation that causes soreness, or arnica oil for a muscle rub. Hope you feel better fast.

[@mattmerrick9672]

My senses are highly tuned for detecting the sound of chainsaws and woodchippers. It's my superpower, and also knowing your neighbours

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

There are a few videos I make where somebody is not using motor powered tools! Hedge trimmers is a big one around here

[@alanemaltese]

So much knowledge given to us freely!! 🎉❤😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Cheers Alan

[@dale3696]

Great video Charles, thanks for sharing and dispelling some myths about woodchip. I get the Council Forest Litter, by the cubic metre here in Australia, every year, and i use it to add to my compost bins & paths and whatever else i need, its great stuff. It is so good to see your happy smiling face getting so passionate about Your garden, paths, woodchip, etc... You inspire me Charles and for that I Thank You !!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks Dale, lovely to hear. The forest litter sounds a nice deal

[@RFranks]

I usually use it fresh for pathways but sieve the 1 year old stuff into compost. This and leaf mulch made a big difference to my compost by bulking it out more and making it less soggy.

[@dorotaguziak8838]

Kupiłam Pana kalendarz siewu i nie mogę się doczekać kiedy do mnie dotrze. Jestem z Polski. To będzie wyzwanie bo słabo znam angielski ale nie mogłam się powstrzymać. Myślę że będę miała podwójną korzyść 😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Miło to słyszeć Dorota

[@outcastrc8052]

Thanks for this Charles! I too have been utilizing wood chips on my pathways and have not had any adverse results when using coniferous bark chips! Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad to help and that is good news 👍

[@jimchristensen965]

Greetings from central Iowa, USA. I enjoy your wood chip episodes a lot. I don't think anybody else could make them as interesting as you do Our soil is starting to freeze up now and sometime after the new year as the catalogs arrive I will do some planning and make some revisions to last years garden. Seasons Greetings!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Lovely to hear Jim, and thanks. I can imagine that your state soil is a little bare now with the corn and soybean harvest's gone, I hope your garden will be good next spring.

[@andyc972]

Thanks Charles, simple practical and to the point, just the sort of advice I need ! Nothing leaves our garden, leaves are collected & composted, pruning are shredded and used as mulch and larger limbs are kept for burning - our garden is now 6" higher than all our 6 immediate neighbours as a result !

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice to hear Andy!

[@GARDENER42]

Every year, I add about 5cm of year old finely chipped prunings mixed with the sawdust & planings out of my woodworking dust collector to my interbed paths & 9 months later, they've pretty much gone. Right now, my paths are literally covered in fungal fruiting bodies. Like compost, it takes a degree of dedication to ensure I have enough.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That sounds healthy path soil, worth the effort

[@catherineperry9513]

Having fun and dancing in the garden - just some of the great advice from this generous soul.

[@pascalxus]

that's such a good point about not putting too much woodchip in pathways and definately not on the beds.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Cheers Pascal

[@Marzena-b6z]

Thank you Cherles for the knowladge you share with us, very well explained.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

You are welcome

[@RobertKillington-t3k]

Timely advice, thank you. The tree surgeon will be taking down three sycamore trees in the New Year and I’m keeping the wood chip. No idea where I’m going to store it, but some will go down straight away on the paths around the flower beds.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

👍

[@sarahamernik4819]

I love the cat's sweet companion!

[@carlgustavsen2143]

Should always a Cat in the garden with you

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

She arrived here two years ago :) and was wild!

[@ohio_gardener]

I love the free wood chips that I am able to get. Every fall I get several large loads of free chips from a local tree trimmer, which I push into a large pile and let them set or a year. At the end of their year everything except for the out 6" to 10" has composted and ready to use. I remove the outer portion to use as the base for the new pile to start breaking down.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

💚 super!

[@peggyhelblingsgardenwhatyo7920]

Greetings Charles, from Windermere, Florida zone 9b. I've put Crape Myrtle branches and Moringa branches for Mulch because I have those trees to prune. Take care and Merry Christmas ❤Peggy❤

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Such a different wood-choice! Thanks Peggy, and I wish you a happy Christmas-time as well, some nice weather to hang out in the garden

[@iainb1577]

Guineapig bedding does a good job.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Good tip!

[@TimeaLehoczki]

That woodshaving is so pretty on your pathways Charles. Also it must smell really lovely. Timea x

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks Timea x. Yes on both counts!

[@TopinambourDeSouffre]

You're a crack. Thank you for sharing and editing your content to make it accessible to anyone. Bless you! ❤

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice comment thanks

[@Agui007]

I love wood chip as I used it in my greenhouse for the path. I realise from you it can, be use as light addition for composting ☺ You have competition I see 🐈😂

[@bigbadthesailor5173]

very helpful to see this - I have 4 vast conifers (thuja and similar) to fell and chip before I can create my new veg garden ... I can confirm the fine growth and foliage, if wet, does decompose. I mixed it with grass clipping this year which helped. 2 still to go ...

[@GrandmomZoo]

Hello my calming friend Charles❤

[@jaynekennedy8469]

I’ve been re mulching my pathways with wood chip today. Still have some more left to do but I love keeping my plot tidy.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Valuable uplift in mood!

[@barrypetejr5655]

Have you ever...in the fall shoveled out the path material onto the bed every couple years......I've experimented....seems to work well......but be sure there's material to refill the path😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I get it but never did because I'm happy for the path soil to become more fertile

[@NnekaOchonogor]

It’s on my to-do for late winter/early spring as soon as I have confirmation of a free load of woodchips. I have 4 years worth of woodchips in my paths and it’s begging to be replaced with fresh chips. It’s all broken down and I suspect I may deal with weed seeds on my paths soon if I don’t sort it out this winter/next spring. It’s going to be hard work but I’ll have 2 years worth of compost afterwards. Win-win.

[@paullittle5200]

I found that this acted as a good weed suppresant when spread around my onion sets as a thin mulch in early spring.

[@RawLondonGardener]

i love woodchip, has so many uses. top video!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad you enjoyed it 🙂

[@TheNewMediaoftheDawn]

Paths are really underrated as soil fertility, agreed. My guess is one could generate all the fertility needed just from the paths with no compost, especially if they were really wide, say 2-3 times yours. Now obviously this would only work for certain folks with lots of space, but possible I’m guessing , cheers

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

And a lot of woodchip!

[@rnupnorthbrrrsm6123]

I live in northern Minnesota so I have very short seasons before things freeze up, very hard to keep a hot compost. To help a woodchip pile, leaf pile or any pile of compost, I pee in a bucket and pour it on the pile, breaks it down so much faster !!!

[@GoustiFruit]

It seems Charles had a good day. :-)

[@RobertKillington-t3k]

But Minty not so much…

[@repalures5876]

Thanks good tips!greetings from finland

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Welcome! I lived in Kauttua summer of 1977 :) but do not speak Finnish!

[@repalures5876]

​@@CharlesDowding1nodignice!i live about same area

[@stevendowden2579]

enjoyable video charles

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad you enjoyed it Steven

[@anniecochrane3359]

I always love how you grow the healthiest veges with the minimum of complication. Have you ever had to use organic fertiliser? On new beds perhaps?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks Annie, and no. This winter, though I'm adding basalt rock dust to many beds for its mineral and paramagnetic qualities.

[@richardroadcap7957]

I use shredded cypress mulch on paths, but cover with cardboard strips for 6-8 weeks in the summer to kill weeds

[@ArtFlowersBeeze8815]

I change up my garden orientation every 3 years. In the meantime, I bomb a 6 to 8 inch wood chip path. After that 3 years its all broken down and shovel it onto the new beds. Bugs aren't a problem here. I have large hedgerows with flowers on the edges to attract beneficials such as birds, insects, occasional snakes and larger predators. I never worry about the soil under a path. I use them quite often . If the roots want to go into a path, sure, but its more like air pruning. I also use spent mushroom blocks under that wood chip. That mycelium breaks down the wood chip. Sometimes I get morels!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Busy, and morels, amazing

[@sinkintostillness]

I think I've maybe laid my a bit high. I figure I'll flatten down over the winter. Maybe I'll skim some off the top in the spring, it can stay for now I think.

[@davidclayton4712]

@9:21 why not turn the seive 90 degress so that the stuff that doesn't go though remains in the pile? An why not put a plastic sheet underneath the seive so you can easily scoop it up into the wheelbarrow?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

It's better for my back to be in front of the sieve, that at 90° to it, and the plastic shovel makes it easy to scoop up those small chips

[@ThatBritishHomestead]

This is the mission for the winter months

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

💚

I'm thinking about turning my pathways into a "feeding trough" as per the Razum bed and fill it with wood cuttings because I might get a better access to those cuttings than to woodchips (which are a bit too expensive to buy here). It should also help me to reduce the weed pressure as the woodchips on the pathways compost way too fast and weeds keep coming back relentlessly.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Good luck with that

[@martindelbel]

Hello Charles!

[@OfftoShambala]

I like to use 1+ year old wood mulch in growing containers at the bottom as a filler … it gets better year after year but I think the big thing is that it contributes to the overall health of the soil above which is also developed from the top with adding other types or organic matter and minerals… leaving the roots in from the previous succession of plants and such … usually when I make a new bed I like to use those expensive biotic products and I add biochar… but then I try to keep the soil alive in all the other usual ways and such… but I do think pathways are a great use for wood chips and I put them around trees in the landscape and kill Bermuda lawn with sheet mulching.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks for sharing

[@JayByrdJ]

No -Diggity No - Doubt? Thanks for sharing friend. Could we see more weeds ?? Nice work

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks

[@franksinatra1070]

Funny I'm watch your video on woodchips today since it was just several days ago I picked up a couple of truckloads of woodchips at our township building to spread between my raised beds. I try not to spread too thick either but for a diferent reason. Since I have mostly raised beds I don't want the woodchips to rot my boxes so I try and keep it more in the cnter of the walkways and not too thick. I have to load my truck but the chips are free so I can't complain.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That sounds a good deal, and your set up is certainly different to mine!

[@franksinatra1070]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig I can't find that sieve over here in the states. I searched just as you instructed but it does not come up.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Ah shame. You can use an old metal bed frame!

[@nobodykayaks1041]

I used pine needles in my pathways

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice 🌲

[@richstone2627]

Thank you.

[@Neenerella333]

I live in a piñon forest with western bark beetles. I would love to chip our dead trees and branches for our paths, but the larvae can still pop up and spread the lil buggers.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Oh maddening

[@paulc7460]

Hi Charles I've used rotted wood chip for earthing up my potatoes this year as I didn't have enough compost and it seems to work but I'd probably use compost as I see yours didn't do that well we're the tubers you planted laying in the wood chip

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice job, and I planted the tubers in soil under the woodchip, so I thought that would work fine, but clearly they were affected by the woodchip above

[@marklloyd6433]

Charles, I have Charles, I have a method for fast decomposition of a large amount of woodchip in one growing season: it should be about 40cm deep and then cover with a layer of ordinary soil, say 10cm. Then sow a diverse mix of different families so things like grasses/ legumes/ brassicas/ borages (cereal rye, vetch, clovers, mustard, fodder and tillage raddish, phacelia etc.) Alone they wouldn't do well but together the root systems are able to thrive in the woodchip and break it down. The energy from photosynthesis must be facilitating it. In the end result you can still see the woodchip but it crumbles in your fingers and holds a tremendous amount of moisture. It does need a good growing spot not behind the shed or under a tree, obviously. Would love it if you tried it!

[@marklloyd6433]

my keyboard went a bit bezerk at the beginning there 😂

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you, Mark, that is a great method and I am curious to try it. My concern would be, for want of a better word, weed seeds, such as in the soil, and from plants' seeding. I don't want to add work of weeding from new seeds, but it sounds more like this is to create compost. We shall do somet

[@marklloyd6433]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig Yes it may not be the cleanest product, nevertheless still excellent stuff . Dare I say it I don't have zero tolerance for weeds. The self seeded plants tend to have one flush and are easily terminated, and do not persist in my experience. You could turn the whole thing and make compost out of it and get it up to temperature if you are concerned. The principle is just to allow the roots of the plants and the microbial community they support to help break the woody stuff down. You may have noticed around the Ivy roots that creep into the woodchip pile, it is a lot more broken down (if you ignore the fibrous roots holding it together)

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Good to hear Mark

[@johnman559]

6.03 cat moves in for a stroke😂

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

She enjoys video-making!

[@BlackJesus8463]

yup!

[@erikadr5710]

Ich lege das Kompostgitter gleich auf die Scheitruhe, und die groben Teile fallen gleich wieder auf den neuen Komposthaufen, damit erspare ich mir das Umschaufeln. 😊 😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice tip thanks

[@James-oh7kb]

I live in the Desert mulch is the trump card to growing here. Every square inch of my yard is mulched.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

So good!

[@marinamarcolini9114]

Charles can you post a video learning how to make a mulch with wood for pathways? Hier woodchip is very expensive (25 euro 45 liter) and is only conifer. I don’t find may other. Can I use straw or leaves or my compost to mulch pathways ? Thank you very much for your wonderful youtube channel!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Actually there’s nothing wrong with conifer wood and I use a lot of it. Making your own involves complicated and expensive machinery. I know from experience! Yes, you could use rough compost but it might be no cheaper. Straw and tree leaves might encourage slugs, I used straw in the 1980s, but never do now. Too many slugs.

[@mariechristine4104]

Thank you for this video. Seems like someone is going to spend her Sunday removing woodchips from the beds. Could you share the brand of the shoes you are wearing? They seem so comfy.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Oh wow! They are Muckboots RHS Muckster

[@johnrimmer7426]

I have kept the wooden sides to my beds because otherwise, being on a slope, the soil gradually moves down hill!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

😮

[@pguk83]

Royalty on a woodchip pile - Minty 🙂

[@racheltree7533]

My first ' No Dig' this year but it is a small urban garden plot. In The Thames valley so it's real slug city here too. Thinking ahead - I have an idea to make a border of gravel (like a gravel moat) around the whole of the plot or would that be very pointless?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I would definitely not do that because gravel very quickly is covered on top by casts of earthworms,, old leaves etc and soon loses the sharpness you desire to deter slugs. Then it's difficult to keep weed free, not comfortable for fingers and adding no fertility. Sorry I cannot help

[@marinamarcolini9114]

I have not woodchip. What can I use for pathways? There are many slugs. Thank you for your answer!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Any kind of rough compost with woody bits, if you can source that

[@lindsayheyes925]

I love your videos. I've got three compost/mulch problems to solve in 2025: A. Garden compost that got flooded 3 ft deep in 2020; B. Pelletised biomass ash which looks like soil after a year (unburnt biomass gives it a surprisingly good texture); C. A 4 year old pile of woodchip plus leaf-mould which looks just like soil. Together, it'd fill a couple of skips, I'm running out if space for composting, and I don't want to send it to waste. I don't grow vegetables. What would you do with it?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

What you describe sounds lovely, more assets than problems. I wish you could grow some vegetables or otherwise there must be neighbours who would enjoy helping themselves? Or you could grow amazing flowers, and mulch trees, hedges...

[@lindsayheyes925]

@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you so much. I think a give-away to neighbours sounds good too, but I'd been worriedcabout that. I'll be sowing wild flowers on the bare land left by the heaps.

[@MotosAllotmentGarden]

😊

[@TheBarefootedGardener]

If you know there’s poison ivy in wood chips, will it be persistent?

[@Neenerella333]

I suppose you'd have to know what plant parts are in there. Nodes and bits with enough genetic material could sprout, but I wouldn't mess with it at all. You could do an experiment with an isolated compost pile, to see if it comes back. Good luck.

[@robynearl]

I have chipped poison ivy that was attached to trees and brush that I was chipping up. I let it sit for 2 years in a pile before using and had no issues with poison ivy growing. Hope this helps.

[@alhelicon]

Thanks for your content Charles! I have a question, is it fine to use bark wood instead of wood chips for pathways in vegetable gardens?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Yes you can, but in small pieces, because slugs can live happily under larger slabs of bark

[@tedbastwock3810]

Minty fresh wood chip pile .. even better .. mmmm .. meow

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

😊

[@barbaranewerla]

Thank you! We just did it 2 weeks ago :-) and I love it. I was a bit worried about the conifer material and so good to hear that this won't be a problem. We are in the Black Forest in Germany and all woodchips you can get here for a reasonable price are conifer. But what I wonder is, if it would be o.k. to use it as browns in a compost? Not because of the acidity but the other components that might inhibit growth of bacteria. Do you use conifer woodchips in compostmaking? As it is quite difficult to get enough browns here which are not conifer wood, I would be interested to konw.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice to hear Barbara and yes I do use old conifer wood in compost heaps. Not exclusively but in your situation I see no reason that would be a problem.

[@mireladarau7563]

Thank you for the interesting video. I have been shredding the Christmas tree over the last years and adding it to my woodchip path mulch/compost pile (the green part) and did not see any problem with that, but it was interesting (and relieving!) to hear that soil acidity is not changed easily. What about walnut chips? I have 3 big walnuts in my yard and have so far been reluctant to shred and use the trimmings from them: what do you think? what would you do?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad it was helpful. Walnuts are famous for discouraging growth close to the trees, but that's the living roots more than soil changing quality. I would use the woodchip, but as I mentioned here, I would pre-compost it first, because it's slow to decompose, say for one year in a damp heap

[@mireladarau7563]

Thank you very much! I did not know it holds mostly for the living roots, and that is good to know😊!

[@suttonsplash14]

What is your shovel made of? Seem like the right tool for the job

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Plastic! see 01:53 in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHKvlqaCZr6gj8U

[@lesflint1929]

I have a big conifer hedge and a hot bin could I use this material chopped up quit fine and compost it to use as a brown. As your feed your path SOIL I noticed you use it

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Yes you can, mixed with greens as usual in your hotline

[@garydenner6253]

How often would you cover crop a bed, charles?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I have no rule on that because it's not making a huge difference, maybe every 3 to 4 years

[@dougtheslug6435]

Very good, I'm big on wood chips too for my paths, always end up with a bunch of brush to chip up in the fall for the next season. I like the stuff deeper down that's been there for years and recycle it into the beds as new chips go down. Is that a plastic scooping shovel? It's certainly had a lot of good use if so, the ones available here are pretty cheap but I keep my eyes open all the time for a good one. Cheers Charles.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Good stuff Doug, and yes it's plastic 8 years old, see 01:53 kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHKvlqaCZr6gj8U

[@dougtheslug6435]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig That's good, you did a whole episode on tools, 8 years for that shovel, you got to like that. I have a love/hate relationship with all my tools. I've found myself modifying the ones I hate so as not to feel like the loser in the deal, sometimes shortening the handles or reshaping the blade/edge for use in my raised planters sometimes works. Thanks

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Cheers Doug

[@chiquibarlow12]

awww poor Minty😂❤

[@raynierllewis2827]

Dont wood lice helps with the composting process? do they eat the plants as well.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Yes, they do a great job in decomposing woody material, but I find that if there are too many on beds, they also graze on ground level leaves

[@aname5267]

Charles I’ve struck (black) gold on an area of my allotment that has been hidden by tree prunings. There’s about a ton of compost there. It has been sitting for likely a couple of years. Will it be washed of nutrients do you think? It hasn’t been covered - only by lots of nettles in the summer!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That is a valuable find, and no worries about nutrients because they do not wash out, that's one of many myths, people think it's like fertiliser! What it will have probably is loads of weed seeds, so watch out for that and even use it as the base of new beds perhaps, where it's underneath other compost with few weed seeds

[@fb2659]

Thank you for this Video. QUESTION: I purchased a truckload of what I thought was natural double shredded hardwood mulch. The lady at the desk didn't seem to have any knowledge. The mulch was much darker than I was used to. I wasn't sure if it was natural but by that time it was too late. After all was spread and done in my paths, I checked their website and I believe I bought walnut chocolate colored mulch :( I'm curious, what would you do in this situation?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Oh dear, that does not sound ideal and I would find out if you can what is used to colour the walnut wood. Something natural, I hope because it would be a huge job to scrape it up

[@TheDhammaHub]

Hey Charles! Is it normal that the weed pressure on pathways is so much higher than in the beds? Last year I implemented pretty much the method you presented but in the end, weeds have gotten worse there. It feels like air-bound seeds get stuck in the pathways and germinate there as its still pretty fertile there

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I'm sorry to hear that. I do remove quite a few small weeds from paths here because that's a lot easier than removing big ones, so it helps the paths to stay weed free. I would take it as a good sign that they're growing strongly, and weeding is worth it unless have so many that cardboard is needed

[@NannaCarlstedt2]

Hi Charles, a Q on paths: After materials u put on earlier have been composted, do u shovel it up and use it on the beds, or do u just add new layers on top? - It seems like the paths I have at my allotment work well as a compost!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I never do that Nanna, it's an extra job and can lead to more weeds growing from the disturbed compost and soil. My beds have no sides and therefore plants in them can root into the path soil, with its composting woodchip on top.

[@Daisy_b]

Attrezzi che io utilizzo per setacciare: carriola, piccola pedana, cassetta di plastica con griglie diverse a seconda delle dimensioni che desidero ottenere, paletta. Appoggio la pedana sulla carriola, i piedi la bloccheranno, sopra metto la cassetta che riempio di materiale con la paletta, faccio scorrere la cassetta avanti e indietro il materiale setacciato cade nella carriola, nella cassetta rimane la parte che verrà scartata per altri usi, tolgo cassetta e pedana, e con la carriola piena di materiale setacciato mi dirigo verso la sua destinazione.🐈

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Ottimo, grazie per la condivisione

[@teatimetraveller]

Do you think mulching woody perennials with coniferous chips is ok? Its generally very hard to get woodchip where we live but there are a few sources of chips from companies making pellets for biomas stoves, only coniferous though.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Yes fine, I would use them for that

[@thevegplot]

I sieve the larger pieces of chip out because it attracts slugs that love to lay eggs there. 👍

[@jimmyfaulkner5746]

What an easy life you must have, God bless ya

[@thevegplot]

@jimmyfaulkner5746 thanks I love my allotment and it's surroundings. 👍

[@jimmyfaulkner5746]

@thevegplot I love mine too hopefully it won't to too long before I can start to worry about sieving my woodchips . I live in hope . Merry Christmas

[@thevegplot]

@@jimmyfaulkner5746 nice one Jimmy👍

[@СергейРич]

Hi! What if someone added some nitrogen fertilizers (urea, etc.) to the patch with the wood chip or wood dust mulch? This nitrogen will not go to the beds much, but will help the mulch to be quicker and easily digested by fungi/bacteria? Not to wait for years, but to be fully digested during one season?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nitrogen fertilisers are water soluble and much would be washed through in any rain. It would make more sense to add something like that to a large heap, but I don't see the need, there's no rush. With every passing year, the older chip below is turning into valuable humus.

[@СергейРич]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig nitrogen still is needed even for such slow digestion... wouldn't it suck the nitrogen from the soil below the paths?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That can only work when wood is in contact with soil particles, and very little of it is, in addition to which nitrogen being water-soluble does not hang around near the surface!

[@Im-just-Stardust]

6:35 🤣🤣

[@Neenerella333]

😼

[@stephaniehanuman-dale6279]

Love wood chip mulch❤ Do you grow mushrooms?🍄🌲

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks stephanie, and we have tried with mixed success because this spring, slugs at the King Stropharia! See @myco_ad

[@sabinabarreveld1435]

I am curious, but what brand boots do you have? They look very comfy.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

They are Sabina! Muck Books RHS Muckster muckbootcompany.co.uk/products/mens-rhs-muckster-ii-ankle-boots-moss?variant=34717945790617&country=GB&currency=GBP&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAACRyYguuP99aTzt3hVgiGDZF9iPpl&gclid=CjwKCAiAmfq6BhAsEiwAX1jsZ8pp331vryOjR6PXSH_4wP19OKo-4xTFH_KEN7HAjotmmOwVCbSonRoCe10QAvD_BwE

[@thehillsidegardener3961]

I think the "acid" thing is a catch-all term people use to mean it's allelopathic, like walnut, and I think there MIGHT be some truth to that when it's fresh, but I use it and it all rots down in the end, wouldn't use it for annuals anyway, like you say. To me woodchip is primarily for perennials, at least when undecomposed.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I do not remember, saying that coniferous wood is bad for annuals. Rather I would not use any fresh wood, too close to them, and I don't agree that it's allelopathic, just for the record!

[@SimonNoDigNeale]

Last year I put woodchip on all my paths. We got a lot of rain and our soil is Herefordshire clay. As winter went on the woodchip ended up being trodden into the clay revealing some of the clay followed quickly by weeds in the spring. Any ideas? Do I just have to keep piling on the woodchip?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

The problem is Simon if you put more wood chip on, the path level becomes higher than beds. It would be worth putting on 5 cm cheap green waste compost, because often it's quite woody, and it makes weeding easier, above clay

[@bettinaripperger4159]

Charles always looks like he had a nip of drink 🥤

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Bacilli vacca microbes 😊

[@rubyquinonez5966]

mintie solo quiere ayudar.. regalamela mister charly.. me ayudara hacer composta tiene mucha experiencia

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

¡Jaja sí! ¡Ha visto mucho!