ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS > GARDENING AROUND THE HOUSE

Hardwood wood chips for the garden.

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bwallace23350:
Has anyone used hardwood wood chips for mulch in the garden? Did they work well?

FloridaGardener:
Yes! and Yes!

Hardwood mulch turned our Florida sand into soil with terrific tilth.  The tree services were dropping chips for free, and it's best if you spread it out right away - that's when it's fluffiest, and easiest to move with shovel & wheelbarrow.

Our only hitch was when their big truck broke the edge off our driveway while backing onto the area to tilt the load. 

We also had a really great mycelium result. That's the threads that carry water to roots.  So, more water retention in topsoil = less percolation though the sand = less irrigation and loss of topsoil nutrients into the aquifers.  Or if you have clay soil, it will help aerate it.

Eventually the mulch will break down to the point that seasonal weeds will establish.  Fluffing with a "winged weeder" or "hula hoe" helps longevity as a weed barrier. 

Ultimately, to never use chemical weed suppressant,  a gardener needs to learn the seasonal weeds, and how to catch them before seed germination. Or, the kind of ground covers that will crowd out weeds can be established. Or, the soils can be made so acidic (as in under oak trees) that not much will grow, and a "forest floor" will form.

bwallace23350:
So the wood chips will turn it very acidic? Lime could help offset that

jalentour:
bwallace, I have read that fresh wood chips will take nitrogen from the soil.
Having said that, I just put three inched on my asparagus last night.  I'm curious how things work out.

jtcmedic:
I will second what the Gardner said it has worked great for us, had to add blood meal to plants because of the chips but works well. Also chickens helped

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