[Madame Cholet]

I've just found a company who will delivery me 5 ton bags of woodchip for £100 how far will that go on 2' wide paths anyone know from experince. Can't get free stuff all the tree surgeons have too much demade already.

[ilan]

That sounds to me to be rather a lot Best to check with the supplier but if you think that a cubic meter is about a ton then you are talking a lorry load  lots and lots of paths 

[Madame Cholet]

That sounds to me to be rather a lot Best to check with the supplier but if you think that a cubic meter is about a ton then you are talking a lorry load  lots and lots of paths

thanks

[DD.]

These guys work on 350 kg per m³.

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/general-chat/892-weight-wood-chip.html

Call that a tonne to  3m³.

That's then 15m³ - one heck of a lot!

[Madame Cholet]

i've got approx 4 x 30m paths at 60cm wide at 10cm deep = 7.2 cubic m is that correct?

100ft allotment with 4 x 2' paths at 4" deep approx

[yaxley]

Think thats a lot of woodchips plenty to do your paths dont matter if it,s too much you can always store for topping up when needed ...

[DD.]

Meanwhile... back at the math!

I make you spot on.

You're burying 72 m² of ground - something a lot would kill for to use for growing!

[Madame Cholet]

 It will stop the mess I had last year the paths are full of weeds and grass, spent hours cutting the grass and the twitch keeps creeping over the beds. They deliver it in builders bags so it wont take up much room till I can spread it.

[Madame Cholet]

Meanwhile... back at the math!

I make you spot on.

You're burying 72 m² of ground - something a lot would kill for to use for growing!

back to rows v beds systems

are you loosing the paths or gaining the space between rows.

[DD.]

I've got 2 beds.

Both about 300 m². Why should planting distances be different because my beds are larger?

[Madame Cholet]

Not sure how you grow personally but growing in traditional rows means you allow space between the rows to walk hoe ect.

In 4' beds I have no rows or spaces between crops ie I broad cast my carrots over the whole bed. Brassicas, leeks ect are planted alternately at equal distance appart. All weeding ect is done from the paths the soil is not compacted and doesn't need digging.

It is believed that the area lost by the paths is gained by not having the space between rows.

[carlrmj]

I got some wood chips last week .I don't know the weight ,bit it was approx 1.5m x 2m x 3m .

 It covered 4x38ft +7x30ft +4x15ft  x 2ft wide paths to a depth of 4 inches.   

[compostqueen]

The wood chips work for a while but unless you put heavy duty woven sheet mulch under it the weeds will be through quite quickly.   You also get weed growth where they blow in but they are easily hoiked out if you ctch em quick.   I have just a small area of path under bark but the strawbs have found their way into it and I now have a strawberry bed instead of a bark path. So it's not a complete solution.  Nothing rarely is 

[surbie100]

Please let us know how you get on - I am woodchipping my paths this year, when the ground is dry enough for the lorry to get in and out of our site....

I need raised beds to help with drainage, and I'm hoping the woodchip will soak up some of the excess around my 2 stagnant beds. (plus double digging the beds, sowing green manure and carting in as much manure/compost as I can lay my hands on!)

Murphy's Law states that at that point I will move house/we will have long dry summers....

[Ivor Backache]

A building site was cleared of small trees and hedges and shredded. I was able to help myself. I used the wood chip on my paths to a depth of 2".
That was two years ago.
Today you wouldn't know I had done it.
In my view it's a continuous process, clear the weeds add another layer of wood chip each year.