Garden thread

[ChocolateMouse]

So I wouldn't put fresh wood chips into a garden unless you had a foot or two of soil on top of it.
Fresh wood chips are mostly carbon, which makes them great for if you have excess nitrogen you want to capture such as when composting. But that also means they'll suck the nitrogen right out of your soil.
You still use them as a bed amendment though. When I am making a new garden bed I tend to dig about a foot deep, then mix wood chips into that bottom layer which is mostly clay. Then I flip the lawn soil upside down on top of it so the green top is where the wood chips are. Then I start working in compost and leaf humus and sand and anything else the bed needs to be a real garden bed not just lawn dirt. When all is said and done the wood chips are about 15" down and the garden bed is about 3" tall above ground level.
The wood chips that deep are for a several reasons. One it breaks up the clay dramatically improving drainage. For two, it's a nitrogen catch. The carbon traps the nitrogen that might otherwise just wash away into ground water. It also creates locomotion between the top soil layer and the wood chips layer with bugs, fungi etc, helping aerate and fertilize the entire 15" of soil instead of just the top 6" that were worked with soil amendments. Lastly eventually it breaks down into its own nutrient dense layer. Doing all this improves the soil and makes the space there a healthier garden bed for life.

But this only works because of how much space there is between the top of the bed and the wood chips. If you throw fresh wood chips into the beds they just suck up all the nitrogen and take a long time to break down still.

I will 100% use aged wood chips on top of my soil as a mulch, though. Especially if they've been in my chicken pen for several months not just sitting out. Aged wood chips make a perfect mulch!

Oh, and be careful about species. Like black walnut wood chips will just straight up kill your other plants.

 

[Farmdog267]

[/QUOTE]

Corn gluten meal is what your talking about. It also provides a slow release of nitrogen. I use it in my asparagus beds.

It works fairly well as long as you don't get crazy high amounts of rain.

 

[Nay]

Nitrogen depletion can happen with laying of woodchips if they are dug in. If you use it as a mulch it seems to be the best application https://agrilife.org/etg/fresh-wood-chips-for-mulch-harmful-or-good/

On the other hand, the hugelcultur movement involves using whole trees or branches that break down slowly in the soil https://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/manmany-benefits-hugelkultur

I've heard a lot of back and forth on this issue, and it doesn't seem like a lot of consensus on the best use/application.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I have seen where whole logs (with bark) are used along edges of garden beds. The benefit is said to be in the decomposition helping microbes and insect life.
I have not tried it. I simply have no access to decent sized, disease and chemical free logs.

I do mix in composted pine shavings and chicken manure. I compost it at least 2 years so the wood is very broken down.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Nay, the difference with hugelkulture and "digging it in" is the depth. With Hugelkulture you are basically using the wood like a floor to what is otherwise a raised bed, but that "floor" eventually breaks down into additional high quality soil. It's perfect for use in areas where soil quality is low or topsoil is shallow.

That's actually why I use the method I do. By digging just a foot deep where I live I hit solid red clay. That's where the wood chips go. No plant roots are going to work into that, no bugs or fungus live there, nitrogen just washes away from it. By putting in a thick layer of wood chips and then flipping the dirt over on top of it you essentially are creating the same effect as a hugelkulture bed but in addition you are jump starting it because the wood is chipped, not whole logs, and you're throwing the top layers of soil with all their green plant material, fungi and bugs right in with them.

If you dig them in, it's just gotta be super deep. That way the nitrogen depletion is localized.

 

[PioneerChicks]

Hey guys,

what do you all think about putting wood chips in the garden?

I've had wood chips in my garden. They are mostly decomposed now, but while they existed they did well to keep the moisture in.
Now whenever I get ash from my fireplace I scatter it in the garden, at least in the winter. I can't remember if I did that in the spring and summer.

 

[Farmdog267]

I've had wood chips in my garden. They are mostly decomposed now, but while they existed they did well to keep the moisture in.
Now whenever I get ash from my fireplace I scatter it in the garden, at least in the winter. I can't remember if I did that in the spring and summer.

I was told by a few people to be careful about using wood ash in the garden. Nitrogen and other nutrient issues being the largest reasons why if I remember correctly.

 

[PioneerChicks]

I was told by a few people to be careful about using wood ash in the garden. Nitrogen and other nutrient issues being the largest reasons why if I remember correctly.

Hmmm, I'll keep that in mind and do a little more research on it. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

We have baby leeks and baby green onions!

 

[Farmdog267]

Just got my scallion seeds planted sunday along with some other herbs. Now I wait to see how I did! Did you start yours inside or outside?

We have baby leeks and baby green onions!