Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: NettleBed on September 25, 2017, 13:16
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My soil is pretty much clay so is heavy when wet. I have a lot of wood chips (conifer), would it be possible to use it to break up the clay?
I realise it would be ok as a mulch, but what about digging it in? From what I've seen so far I would need to add extra nitrogen as decomposition uses N.
I could just leave it in a heap and use it once it has broken down?
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I could just leave it in a heap and use it once it has broken down?
IMO opinion, this is the best option - I think you'll be surprised at how long it takes to start rotting
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The best thing of all if you can locate a source is horse bedding/horse-muck mixture where the bedding is wood shavings. Worked wonders on our clay soil. You just barrow it on to the soil in autumn and dig it in the following year. We are OK as it's our own animals but you need to make sure that the animals haven't been fed any dangerous veterinary medicines
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The best thing of all if you can locate a source is horse bedding/horse-muck mixture where the bedding is wood shavings. Worked wonders on our clay soil. You just barrow it on to the soil in autumn and dig it in the following year. We are OK as it's our own animals but you need to make sure that the animals haven't been fed any dangerous veterinary medicines
Totally agree apart from "barrow it" - should be "barrow it, barrow it, barrow it etc." it needs a lot but does work wonders in lightening up the soil as well as raising the bed so that it drains better.
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I agree with the others - best not to use as soil conditioner. I also think conifers may be a little acidic, so might affect soil pH??
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Whenever a bed is empty, cover with home made compost and or manure laid down first then wet paper or cardboard then a good few inches of woodchips. and leave for a few months
That's what i do now. I have stopped digging and my heavy clay garden has slowly improved.
But, it is a slow process and a lot of gardeners expect instant results so allow a couple of years to get the soil back in balance.
There are lots of UK gardeners using the woodchip or Back to Eden method so a quick u-tube search will be beneficial.
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Thanks for all the replies, especially the heads up about the Eden Method.
I laid some woodchip paths last year on membrane, I was surprised today to see how much had rotted down.
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Thanks for all the replies, especially the heads up about the Eden Method.
I laid some woodchip paths last year on membrane, I was surprised today to see how much had rotted down.
In that case you could use the rotted chips on your borders & put the fresh on your paths 😊
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As above fresh on paths then I usually move them to compost heap once they start rotting or straight onto beds if they are really rotted.
Mushroom compost was great on my clay soil, as was carbdoard as mulch covered in grass clippings.
Also seaweed, home made compost and lots of muck.
We also get leaves delivered by the council in the autumn that rot down really well.
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Could it be you are actually based in Nettlebed? Cheers, Tony.
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Ha ha didn't realise there was a place called nettlebed. Chose that name because the veg patch was one before I started.
I'm actually from north wilts too.
Regards Derek