[BobE]

Metric or imperial 

[Sparkyrog]

Don't be pedantic 

[devonbarmygardener]

We're lucky our site is surrounded by trees and the council is responsible for looking after them and removing unsafe ones etc.
They now leave any they shred on site for us.

I haven't gone the whole hog but i've mulched the courgettes with bark chips.
Its much drier where they are in the film than here so it makes more sense to try that method there 

[finleyfreyaseth]

ive read and watched the video of this and have decided im goin to do a few beds and see what results are,i did first bed today had turnips/swedes in dug it all over picked out bits weeds then covered with 6in of chippins and thinner layer off rottin manure ,have covered to let it sweat and compst down,be interesting to see results

[BobE]

Get before after pics please

[RJR_38]

I have tried so many places to get hold of chips. Most places sell them to power companies round here and those who don't were selling them for a fortune   

[Trillium]

I spread bark chips in all my gardens and around my trees last fall and it's the best move I ever made. I love the Back to Eden method and wouldn't go back to the others.

My town does regular tree maintenance on the 100 year old acers throughout and when I hear the chainsaws humming  I rush over and ask if I can have the load of chips. They're glad not to have to haul them to either the town garage or dump. In late July I got another free trailer load but it's still not enough 

The earthworms love the composting chips and the toads hide among them. I spread about 2" of manure down first then the chips and my veg garden this year is like a jungle. I mean, who else has 6 ft high plum tomato plants, and 3ft tall chard. My blackeyed peas have gone crazy and are over 6 ft tall now and the cuke plants are covered in flowers. Hope all my neighbours like cucumbers  Have finally got enough wood chips to mulch all the raspberries so next year should be a great haul because we first spread old chicken manure around the plants and then the chips.

Mostly, I love that the weeds can't take over. I get the odd weed and can easily pull it out. What a huge time saver that alone has been. I mulched all the orchard trees last fall and this year is the best harvest ever. The pile I got 2 years ago has already rotted right down so it'll go down on a shady flower patch first and then any chips/bark I have left will go on top.

[Goosegirl]

A few years ago I got a shredder for all the prunings big and small - works brilliantly. I then made two containers out of those white builder's canvas-type bags with handles that were left here, held up by four bits of wood. Autumn shredding went into one until full, then started on the other in spring. Emptied the first one the following autumn on the garden, then re-filled it with the stuff from the other container to  mix it. Works really well and the smell is divine!  Electricity board finally managed to get round and chop down a rather overgrown sycamore tree that was potentially going to interfere with our electricity supply pole. They were more than happy to put the chippings onto a spare area near it, and it has reduced in bulk over the last year so, come autumn, will be spread on the garden. Weeds are so easy to tweak out too. Didn't know about the Eden method until I saw this post. Any mulch will help to conserve water and keep the weeds down.

[surbie100]

Any links to more info about this Back to Eden method?

Is it this: http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/play/11883/Back-to-Eden?

[mumofstig]

It was linked and discussed here recently
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=108571.msg1221754#msg1221754


As Aunty said, If anyone objects the link will be removed..................

[surbie100]

Thanks, hadn't seen that and was confuddled!

It looks an interesting technique from the film so far. We have free woodchip on our site.

[dim]

I'm a full time gardener/landscaper and am always trying to learn new things ...

I've looked very closely at this method, and have read many threads on several forums about this technique ....

however, if you watch the documentary, he does use horse and chicken manure (you actually see him composting the stuff).... the same method has not worked well in other areas of the world

my advice, is that if you want something that always works wonders, research 'High Brix Gardening'

 

[dim]

and here is a good article explaining using wood chips in greater detail (read all 3 pages)

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/wood-mulch-z10m0hun.aspx#axzz2bmI2ykWx

[Sparkyrog]

Just a thought would it work with conifer chippings or not ?

[Trillium]

Conifer chips are iffy if any cedar has been included. Cedar is almost resilient to composting (check the many cedar rail fences still intact after 150 years) and you want the chips to compost. I have some in my pile but they're mixed with hardwood chips which are the most ideal. A small amount is fine as it will still provide a long term cover and shade the roots.

Yes, some compost and manure is added if you watch the whole film, and Paul does apply a thin layer every spring before adding another layer of chips. The only thing I didn't do was lay down newspaper first on the veg garden because the soil was already cleared, but on the flower gardens I did lay down newspaper to kill off the grass and weeds.

It's a bit of work to start the whole Eden garden but a lot less work than many other garden methods I've tried, and once established, the upkeep is minimal.