Wood chips as mulch

[Rafael]

In my grass free yard i have decided to add wood chips as mulch.

Lets see if it works.

Meanwhile i like the visual effect

Any feed-back about this kind of mulch option?

[Kostas]

Wood chips are fine as mulch. They breakdown slower than other materials and are nice and airy enough to be able to touch the palm bases in a thin layer without problems

In my opinion,the best mulch is a mixed mulch of everything your plants throw,palm leafs,flowers,tree leafs,branches,everything! Makes for a nice forest bottom look! Of course till things grow enough to produce their own mulch in sufficient quantities,its best that we supply them with some kind of organic mulch to build their soil and keep it nice and moist with lots of soil organisms to work on our plants's favor!

[Hammer]

One drawback to wood chips is they tend to strip nitrogen from the soil as they breakdown. You may want to pay attention to this and add some nitrogen. Blood meal is a good option that won't burn leaves.

[Kostas]

I dont think you will notice any N deficiency from the wood chips,only their portion that is in conduct with the soil will steal a minute amount from the very top of it while the rest of the woodchip's surface will get its N directly from the atmosphere to start the rotting process. As they start rotting,lots of N is released and they supply their own nitrogen for their breakdown plus more and lots of other nutrients while building the soil with partially decomposed parts of them!

Only if mixing the woodchips with the soil you would have initial N deficiencies and need to supply more N in the start as they would be in conduct with a lot of soil and not have access to atmosperic N. When using them as mulch,the N they take from the soil is minimal. Maybe add a little more fertilizer than usual when the rains start this year and once they get going,they only give things to the soil,not take

[www.dadluvsu.com]

http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/play/11883/Back-to-Eden

[richnorm]

Wood is good in my damp climate as everything breaks down really fast. I just ordered 5m3 of fence post peelings. These hold together well so are good for slopes. Great space you have there Rafael.

[_Keith]

From a nitrogen perspective, the wood chips will have no negative effect so long as they are on top of the soil and opposed to being mixed into the soil...

[DoomsDave]

YOUR HONOR!

We agree that wood chips are the mulch of the gods.

Your garden looks like mine. A home away from home.

[Walter John]

Me, I would have different mulch around the actual plants, some sugar cane mulch for example, the chips will end up in the soil for sure, it would have a striking effect too, some light shades around the palms with the wood chips over the walking zones (which are getting less I see , haha).

That's me.

[_Keith]

  On 8/25/2013 at 11:16 PM, _Wal said:

Me, I would have different mulch around the actual plants, some sugar cane mulch for example, the chips will end up in the soil for sure, it would have a striking effect too, some light shades around the palms with the wood chips over the walking zones (which are getting less I see , haha).

That's me.

Me, I see your point(s)

[Peter Pacific]

Hello Rafael, I get tons of wood chips from a local carpenter and use it all over my garden. They are all natural woods from the coast and nothing is pressure treated. Works well for me and have noticed a remarkable change in the mulch loving palms.

Peter

[Hammer]

I'm not suggesting you don't use the wood chips, just to be clear. My experience is the chips do get buried in the dirt which does deplete nitrogen, perhaps not a ton. Unless the wood has been composted. A little blood meal will mitigate any downside. The composted wood is fantastic. Many benefits as cited in this thread. A couple of bucks and 30 seconds of throwing it (blood meal) around. Worth it if you ask me.

[DoomsDave]

Hammer:

You do raise a point, though I've not found it to be a problem. I've got chips all over and most of my plants grow like crazy with no fertilizers. I can't ever recall a plant suffering from Nitrogen deficiency in clay.

Now, it might be very different in sandy soil, where nutrients are much more limited, or, on top of the Florida Stone of Doom . . .

[Phoenikakias]

What about if this part of your garden is the lowest part of your property on a slope and receives all rainwater that flows downwards from the rest garden, and so nutrients get washed off more quickly,even though soil is clay based?

Edited August 26, 2013 by Phoenikakias

[Kostas]

The lowest part of a property on slope would have more nutrients,not less. Whatever gets washed off the upper parts ends up at the lower parts,building up a nutrient reserve or at the very least,replenishing what gets lost of the lowest parts from the extra rain. Just like rivers have nutrient rich sediment in them.

[Hammer]

  On 8/26/2013 at 11:02 PM, DoomsDave said:

Hammer:

You do raise a point, though I've not found it to be a problem. I've got chips all over and most of my plants grow like crazy with no fertilizers. I can't ever recall a plant suffering from Nitrogen deficiency in clay.

Now, it might be very different in sandy soil, where nutrients are much more limited, or, on top of the Florida Stone of Doom . . .

Good points DD. I tend to err on the side of caution. I've gotta get you over here one of these days to check out some of the progress. Not there yet but taking a few steps forward.

[Phoenikakias]

  On 8/27/2013 at 12:24 AM, Kostas said:

The lowest part of a property on slope would have more nutrients,not less. Whatever gets washed off the upper parts ends up at the lower parts,building up a nutrient reserve or at the very least,replenishing what gets lost of the lowest parts from the extra rain. Just like rivers have nutrient rich sediment in them.

This would be true in a natural remained slope, but not in a landscaped property with horizontal multi-levels, whereas the lowest part (horizontal level) resembles also a huge raised bed compared to surrounding natural remained landscape. In this case all rain water from home's roof and an all other higher lying stone paved parts of the property ends up by flow to the lowest part, and from there drains through drainage holes on the supporting wall further down, after having previously soaked the first 50 cm of soil. I can not see how rain water from roof top or other stone paved parts can be rich in any nutrient...

[Kostas]

Well,thats not a slopped property then,its a terraced one and with drainage installations that alter the natural nutrient flow(could be for good or for worse). If the water just flows on rock before flooding the lowest level,then it would leach it out some in heavy rains. If it drains through the soil of the higher level's though,the higher levels are the ones getting leached. Leaching is not necessarily bad though,irrigation(and fertilizer if used excessively) continually add salts to the soil,many of which are not used by the plants in the quantities present and its only healthy to be leached out by a heavy rain.

[Cedric]

  On 8/25/2013 at 10:47 PM, DoomsDave said:

YOUR HONOR!

We agree that wood chips are the mulch of the gods.

Your garden looks like mine. A home away from home.

Im tending to agree with this. However I've noticed a problem with chips I use bark chips. What I notice happens is that termites get drawn in by the millions within a few days of laying the chips. They can attack mature palm trunks tunneling under ground around the roots so just in case I scrape the chips away from the trunks.

[Tassie_Troy1971]

after seeing DooMS tm Dave's Garden choc a block full of woodchips and the way his palms were growing :greenthumb: - say no more !

[Shirleypalmpaws]

  On 8/25/2013 at 2:46 PM, PiousPalms said:

http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/play/11883/Back-to-Eden

That's an awesome info packed documentary! I loved it, thank you times infinity

[Walter John]

You've inspired me Rafael to carry out my ITM (intent to mulch). I grabbed a metre of cypress chip this morning, which I intend to lay on the areas between the plants whilst I sugar cane and fert close to the palm bases themselves. Please everyone, I do not claim this to be the right way, the better way, the only way, whatever. This is part of my way of enjoyng this wonderful hobby/habit, by trying a new spin on an old yarn. I have though understood more over the years some of the techniques that work for me, and this is something of a combination of previous successful methods/ideas. If it works for you and the plants, then do it.

The mulch as you'll see in the photographs is quite mixed in sizes of product, so all good for a mix of nutrient breakdown. The Toyota ute is perfect for this amount, and it was fairly easy to shovel onto a tarp from the tray.

I began weeding/degrassing yesterday on this garden section and sugar cane mulched with underlying fert to a half dozen palms. My ITM has begun and I will lay the cypress on the dirt areas you can see. Just thought if I write about it my motivation spirit will lift and I will finish carrying out the work and not just talk about it...

A ute of mulch parked in position to unload:

[Walter John]

A good mix of mulch this:

[Walter John]

Some of the palms mulched yesterday with sugar cane and some pellet palm fert under. The inbetween areas to be mulched with the cypress.

[Walter John]

how it looks when all to be done..

[Walter John]

And so, half of this section is complete, this mulch smells nice too, good old cypress chip. The rest will have to wait till next week now, too many things happening, tip from Wal, don't retire, it gets too busy.

See the difference with the "to do" on the left, 1 cubic metre doesn't go too far.

[Walter John]

Now with some fresh mulch out, all of a sudden the palms look great when highlighted this way. I hope you don't mind Raf, me adding my mulching event to your thread.

One of the Archo purpureas is getting that "purpo" crownshaft happening. My grandaughter calls purple "purpo", and now, so do I.

An unsung hero in this much forgotten garden is Dypsis carlsmithii on the left.

[DoomsDave]

WAL!

For just a second, I thought you'd jacked my garden . . . .

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

When I plant a palm, I first add a layer of well rotted compost, then another 3 in layer of small bark chips.

I have high PH soil and water, the bark being much lower ph tends to even things out.

This is what I've used on my DD for years and it seems to work!

Jeff

[Phoenikakias]

Jeff, you mean that you do not mix different materials with one another but you put them in layers separetely? Anyway what is the total percentage of bark chips in the total substrate and what is precisely your soil and water ph?

[_Keith]

This is an interesting and unique way of doing this. More details, please.

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

My soil ph is right around 7 and my water is about 8.0 from the tap.

I've found that plants in general really dig compost so I spread it around the base then use bark chips to hold the compost in place.

There seems to be some sort of microbiotic ( is the correct word ?)action going on as when ever I do this I notice millions of tiny roots just under the surface of the soil.

Jeff

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

I've moved away from wood chip mulch when it comes to palms. The problem I ran into is that the wood chips absorb a lot of water and keep the soil dry. That's why I switched to lava rock. The lava rock doesn't absorb any water, doesn't leach nutrients as it decomposes, warms the soil, and keeps the soil wet by retarding evaporation. It's an all around win.

I still use wood chips on my orchard, specifically my citrus orchard.

[richnorm]

  On 9/5/2013 at 10:28 PM, Axel in Santa Cruz said:

I've moved away from wood chip mulch when it comes to palms. The problem I ran into is that the wood chips absorb a lot of water and keep the soil dry. That's why I switched to lava rock. The lava rock doesn't absorb any water, doesn't leach nutrients as it decomposes, warms the soil, and keeps the soil wet by retarding evaporation. It's an all around win.

I still use wood chips on my orchard, specifically my citrus orchard.

Couldn't agree LESS! Lava rock has its uses but does nothing to feed the soil. So then you use chemical fert to compensate and its a downward spiral from there. Organic mulches are the way to go.

[_Keith]

  On 9/5/2013 at 11:45 PM, richnorm said:

  On 9/5/2013 at 10:28 PM, Axel in Santa Cruz said:

I've moved away from wood chip mulch when it comes to palms. The problem I ran into is that the wood chips absorb a lot of water and keep the soil dry. That's why I switched to lava rock. The lava rock doesn't absorb any water, doesn't leach nutrients as it decomposes, warms the soil, and keeps the soil wet by retarding evaporation. It's an all around win.

I still use wood chips on my orchard, specifically my citrus orchard.

Couldn't agree LESS! Lava rock has its uses but does nothing to feed the soil. So then you use chemical fert to compensate and its a downward spiral from there. Organic mulches are the way to go.

I kind of agree, and kind of disagree. Although Lava Rock does little for the soil food web, it does indeed leach valuable minerals, and in no way precludes using organic fertilizers.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

  On 9/5/2013 at 11:45 PM, richnorm said:

  On 9/5/2013 at 10:28 PM, Axel in Santa Cruz said:

I've moved away from wood chip mulch when it comes to palms. The problem I ran into is that the wood chips absorb a lot of water and keep the soil dry. That's why I switched to lava rock. The lava rock doesn't absorb any water, doesn't leach nutrients as it decomposes, warms the soil, and keeps the soil wet by retarding evaporation. It's an all around win.

I still use wood chips on my orchard, specifically my citrus orchard.

Couldn't agree LESS! Lava rock has its uses but does nothing to feed the soil. So then you use chemical fert to compensate and its a downward spiral from there. Organic mulches are the way to go.

Sounds more like a dogma argument at this point. Each have their benefits. Lava rock doesn't mean you have to use synthetic fertilizer. I am not saying wood chips are bad, I just prefer lava rock. For me, the downside for wood chips have been:

• Wood chips rob nitrogen from the palms as they decompose (but eventually give it back much, much later),
• Wood chips steal water from the palms,
• Wood chips attract voles that really love heart of palm. I've lost too many that way to count.

I actually use organic soil amendments and organic fertilizer along with the lava rock. But given the super fast draining soil I have, I supplement with some chemical slow release palm fertilizer. Wood chips don't actually provide much in terms of nitrogen. I get more benefit from composting my wood chips into organic mulch ready for amending the soil. They require nitrogen to break down, which is easier to add in a controlled fashion (chemical or urine, same thing) during composting, and they give it back once amended into the soil.

I don't want to get into a debate between organic and synthetic fertilizer, because I don't care to follow any sort of dogma. Suffice to say that the actual end products the plants absorb is the exact same in both cases. However, organic fertilizer has the added bonus that it enhances the soil microflora. That's the primary reason I use it. But I see no harm in chemical fertilizers as long as they are slow release and have an opportunity to either feed a plant or contribute to the breakdown of organic matter.

[Phoenikakias]

I think it is more important for a grower to check ph and macro (micro) nutrients in soil every year, provided of course there is available equipment and time.

Edited September 6, 2013 by Phoenikakias

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

I prefer natural fir bark over wood chips over lava.

To me Lava though decorative , just isn't as natural looking in the garden.

Bark chips degrade slowly and seem to attract and feed earth worm and other healthy micro organisms. Worms have no use for Lava rock.

The tannic acid released during watering seems to moderate my soil PH .

I don't have voles or Gophers which I think prefer fresh roots anyway.

Any stealing of water from wood vs Lava seams to be offset by cooler soil temps and lower evaporation .

Its very important to me for any mulch to decompose. As much as I moved plants around, my garden would looks like a lava bed , which would have to be removed when I sell my house. Lava is forever... almost.

Your mileage may vary.

Jeff

Edited September 6, 2013 by Jeff in Modesto

[Rafael]

I have been learning with these inputs. So far i am not able to share my experience, as this is a recent change.

Thanks Wal for your pics, nice visuals!

[Tassie_Troy1971]

  On 9/3/2013 at 7:38 AM, _Wal said:

And so, half of this section is complete, this mulch smells nice too, good old cypress chip. The rest will have to wait till next week now, too many things happening, tip from Wal, don't retire, it gets too busy.

DSCN6427 (800x600).jpg

DSCN6429 (800x600).jpg

DSCN6430 (800x600).jpg

DSCN6431 (800x600).jpg

See the difference with the "to do" on the left, 1 cubic metre doesn't go too far.

DSCN6428 (800x600).jpg

Wal that section of your garden looks bloody fantastic now the mulch is down . The Beccariophoenix alfredii has quadrupled in size since i was up there in Feb last year !