Mulching With Nitrolized Arbor Chip Compost vs Wood Chips
westes Zone 9b California SF Bay
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Many of you favor the use of wood chips as a mulch layer. Many of the wholesale vendors in this area sell a product they either call Nitrolized Arbor Sawdust or Nitrolized Arbor Compost. Basically they just shred arborist waste and add nitrogen, in case the product ends up being used as a soil amendment. Some claim to compost the material but that might just be piles of it sitting in their lot for sale for many months. I have been using the product as a mulch both for shrubs and on top of raised bed soils. and I like it. It does a great job of holding water and keeping the layer of soil below it lightly moist. Is there any reason to favor wood chips as a mulch layer?
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westes Zone 9b California SF Bay
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BAck to Eden/wood chips vs no mulch experiment results
Comments (13)Elisa, the premise of BTE is that tilling destroys the soil structure and bio life. Tilling removes the covering; the soil rapidly dries out and top soil erodes. The "magic" in the wood chips is it is a covering that first retains moisture, and secondly feeds the plants as they decompose. It's why a mulch of smaller nutrient rich branches with needles and leaves is necessary and not just chipped trunks or bark chips only. The fungi that develop in the wood chip mulch help feed the plants. The mulch develops a helper system of organisms and other plant life that assists your fruits and veggies. In turn, your plants feed them. If you till composted organic material into your main garden, I'd suggest another experiment. Set aside a small section of your MG (maybe as small as 5x10 feet) for no-till. Still don't use wood chips, but layer your organics on the top (composted manure, yard waste, etc). Paul is very specific that if you don't have wood chips, just use whatever organic materials you have. (You can even use rocks) The most important part is to create a covering and not mix it in. Layer on top. When I tilled, I had virtually no earthworm population. Now, by not tilling, I can't dig a 4 " planting hole anywhere without killing several earthworms. And my soil (mostly red clay) is always damp and soft I destroyed a small tiller in two seasons trying to break up the clay. I then rented bigger tillers that beat me up for 6-8 hours trying to a 12x40 garden in which one half barely produced b/c of the rock hard clay. And it was back just as hard in the fall as it was in the spring. So it wasn't getting easier with time. Now with the wood chips, that area stays moist and soft. Everything grows there and I save the expense of renting, tilling, and fighting the soil every season. The fact that you got 25% more production is huge. You can get that in your MG using BTE principles but without adding wood chips. Paul no longer adds wood chips to his main garden b/c of his difficulty in walking. He uses them everywhere else. But in his MG he uses compost from his chicken pen as the covering....See Moresquash bugs, straw vs wood chips
Comments (2)I've had nothing but trouble with bugs in my veggies whenever I've used any kind of mulch: it provides them with too good a living environment and especially a good haven in the winter. A friend of mine who owns a CSA organic farm says he's done with mulch for the same reason. I've used both straw and wood chips. I would do whatever is easiest to remove the straw. Tilling it in would be OK, but that sounds like more work than removing and composting it....See MoreClay with 4-5 inches of wood chips on top
Comments (12)I have been in your shoes (and garden) before. Don't hate me but I would love to have more clay in my soil here in AL, it's so sandy and always seems parched. Anyway, years ago I bought a house (in OH) and wanted half the back yard to be a garden. As usual in a housing development, the top soil was gone, the "dirt" was pure clay. I had a professional spray everything on 1 side to kill it, then had a whole dumptruck of mulch delivered, it made a layer about 6" thick. I started planting flowers and a few veggies right away, amending the holes I dug with compost. That first year most things grew well. The next year when I would move the mulch back to dig a hole, there was an amazing difference, and tons of worms had appeared. I'm a firm believer that good drainage can be mostly attributed to worms. The following year, the mulch was mostly decomposed and more was needed, the soil was much more crumbly and dark, sooo much more well-drained. It just takes time, and you've already waited, so I also say go for it! If it were my $50, I would spend it all on compost to amend individual holes or rows. No need to try to mix it in, just backfill your holes with it, or put along your rows. I agree with your use of the manure/straw on top, don't try to mix it in. Naturally, that stuff would be on top of the soil anyway. The worms, microbes, and rain will redistribute these materials in nature's intended ways. I think most types of raw manure have too much something (nitrogen?) to be helpful below the surface. It sounds like you have a rural-type yard where I would imagine you have plenty of room to make a nice BIG compost pile. If you can make enough of your own, that should solve your clay/drainage problem over time. Also wanted to say that since you've got too much moisture, you might do better at least this year with little hills instead of furrows. This fall, put all of your leaves on your beds. When I lived in OH, I would put up to 15" of leaves on beds and they would be gone by spring. Most of the time I didn't have as much leaves as I wanted from my own yard, but so many people gather this valuable resource from their yard and bag it up for you for free, and even set it by the curb for easy pick-up....See MoreFreshly mulched/chipped branches question
Comments (10)Wood has no place in a compost pile---it does not break down easily. To test---pick a few minor twigs--1/8" wide....and bury in your compost pile. They'll still be there next spring. Whether new produced chips from fresh wood can be used as a mulch...how long must a wood mulch age before it can be used. I suppose new is no different than old. Wood, next to soil, does remove somewhat the nitrogen from the soil to effect breakdown. Same goes for material in the compost. Grass clippings make a great addition to compost--it heats up fast, and provides nitrogen. Hardwoods should not be used as mulch. Willow, hickory...et al, take forever to break down and do not make for good mulch. Black Walnut has in it, pathogens that make it undesirable for use in the garden. There are only a few plants that can be grown in surrounding areas of a black walnut tree....See More
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