See how to make more of this wonderful resource. I explain the results of different approaches to aging and using a range of chips. There is a huge variability of offer, and the word “wood chip” encompasses a multitude of possibilities.

How to assess them, ways to stack them, how long to keep them before using, and ideas for how they can benefit your soil and gardening. Including to make great compost. Even we look at biochar/charcoal, the subject of a following video.

00:00 Introduction
01:19 The first heap of wood chip in my JohnsonSu Bioreactor
03:07 Adam, who works with me in my garden, explains what he has seen happening with this wood chip
03:55 The second heap of wood chip it's two piles, one older and one younger
05:06 Some info on acidity/pH
05:26 Some info on moisture
05:52 The benefit of having greenery in wood chip
06:05 Larger and undecomposed wood, and why this can be a problem in dug soil
07:23 Using a lawnmower as a mobile shredder for older wood chip great to use as a brown when making compost
08:44 A third heap in another JohnsonSu style bioreactor explanation of the pipe system
09:47 The importance when making compost of adding brown (in this case wood chip) to green why they make a good combination
10:37 The effect of adding chicken manure to the heap
11:24 Showing compost from the bigger JohnsonSu that was in the same place the previous year
12:03 Explanation of how this structure was made, including materials used
12:23 Back to look at the wood chip from the first JohnsonSu comparing the moist inner part with the dryer outer part
14:58 A look at the fourth heap of wood chip an open heap without green, same material as in the tall JohnsonSu
16:30 Photos of samples from both heaps looked at through a microscope
16:50 A look at the fifth and final pile of wood chip another open pile, of birch with more green
18:11 The benefit of having small pieces of undecomposed wood, when using as a surface mulch
18:46 The four main uses of wood chip pathways, compost heaps, filling a bed, burning it
19:17 Using a kiln to burn wood chip more on this in forthcoming video!
19:34 Using it for pathways
21:34 Adding it to compost
22:07 The result of adding wood chip to a bed as a main ingredient as opposed to surface mulch
22:40 (A potential problem when using larger bits of wood on pathways)
23:26 Weak growth in the bed with wood chip in the rooting zone the reasons why
24:44 Some final points

For more on compost making, and balancing green and brown, check out this YT video:
   • Compost Making, balancing green & bro...  

For the ultimate in ways to use woodchip / brushwood, see the amazing work of Jean and Ida Pain https://docer.tips/anotherkindofga.... He sadly dies of bladder cancer in 1981 aged 52: otherwise his work would be more known.

My online course No Dig Gardening teaches more about soil, compost and fertility, and the importance of pathways: https://charlesdowding.co.uk/product/...

The course modules can also be bought separately.

Module 3 Plot Layout, beds and paths includes Lesson 8: Paths how they feed your plants and how to look after them: https://charlesdowding.co.uk/product/...

Module 5 Soil, compost, fertility, includes Lesson 13: Make your own compost: https://charlesdowding.co.uk/product/...

This course can also be purchased as a book: https://charlesdowding.co.uk/product/...

Filmed 26th February at Homeaces SW UK by Alessandro Vitale of @SpicyMoustache    / spicymoustache  

Further info on woodchips in growing from the "Back to Eden" video    • Back to Eden Gardening  Interview & ...  
And from "The Woodchip Handbook" 2022 by Ben Raskin, pub. Chelsea Green https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/...

You can join this channel by paying a monthly fee, to support our work with helping gardeners grow better, and to receive monthly videos made only for members:
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To buy my collections of super informative video garden guides with an encyclopaedic search function, visit Retrieve with whom we partner https://charlesdowding.retrieve.com/s...