Chip off the old block

Anton · « **on:** February 09, 2010, 10:56 »

Fellow gardeners,

We have a pile of wood chippings in our allotment from a tree that fell down last year and was put through the shredder. Can I incorporate some of this into my soil (thinking of preparing for my potatoes when it gets a bit drier) or will it use up a lot of oxygen in the soil as it continues to decompose?

Anton

penance · « **Reply #1 on:** February 09, 2010, 11:19 »

I'd leave it to rot, it will use up N while rotting.

bigben · « **Reply #2 on:** February 09, 2010, 11:21 »

It is the nitrogen it uses as it decomposes - it will deplete the soil of nitrogen if there is a lot of it. You could perhaps use it as path cover or use small amounts to provide a bit of carbon in your compost. But dont use too much in the compost or it wont rot down.

noshed · « **Reply #3 on:** February 09, 2010, 12:41 »

Use it for temporary paths, then dig them in next year. The manure we get with wood chips in takes ages to rot down.

Trillium · « **Reply #4 on:** February 09, 2010, 17:30 »

I've watched a number of French garden videos and many people use the fresh chippings, but they've also previously added a fair bit of rotted manure first, so any nitrogen the chips need won't detract from plant growth as there's an ample supply. If you're short on old manure, then best to wait until the chips have mostly rotted down first.

Togalosh · « **Reply #5 on:** February 10, 2010, 18:03 »

Keep it handy for good composting?

...erm..If I've understood the ins-n-outs of composting correctly then the chippings are (?) Carbon (dry brown stuff) & you'll need more of that than Nitrogen (wet green stuff) to produce the temperatures needed to kill off the nasties & also to speed things up
.

so.. because it'll be unlikely that you'll have the correct amounts of N & C all at once to compost efficiently through normal activities it should be a good thing to have lots of C at hand when you need it...or else put it down as pathways to cut down on the mud trail.

(please correct me if I'm wrong)

Trillium · « **Reply #6 on:** February 10, 2010, 21:50 »

The majority of gardeners seem to use the slower cool method of composting which doesn't heat up enough to kill nasties, but still gives fine compost, only taking longer. It rather depends on what the person's greater needs are - mulch to eventually become compost or compost in about a year. I had a pile of dogwood chippings that I used as mulch and less than 2 years later they were lovely compost.

solway cropper · « **Reply #7 on:** February 10, 2010, 22:33 »

After felling one tree and heavily pruning several others last year I have loads of chipped wood. Some I've used to make a new area to stand my containers on but most I'm going to mix with lawn clippings and a bit of chicken poo and just leave in big plastic bags to rot down. It might take a few years but i can wait

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Chip off the old block

Anton

Chip off the old block

penance

Re: Chip off the old block

bigben

Re: Chip off the old block

noshed

Re: Chip off the old block

Trillium

Re: Chip off the old block

Togalosh

Re: Chip off the old block

Trillium

Re: Chip off the old block

solway cropper

Re: Chip off the old block

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