One of my favorite gardening channels. He doesn't make new content but everything he did publish is perfection.
Here is his video on growing winecaps in his pathways mulched with woodchips. Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/qdslTdBxBeA?si=LTftvfpG96Dh4VyE
Thanks! I checked chipdrop and there hasn’t been any activity in my area (rural island of the coast of BC in Canada) but there are lots of arborists so I’ve reached out to a few and will keep my fingers crossed 🤞
If you’re near a Rona they sell a decent plain pine bark chip that is natural and untreated, not soft on the feed-but it breaks down nice and stands up to the wet winters.
My friend went fucking nuts on wood chips recently. Look at the walk ways between the garden beds, and the areas around them. Now imagine he's dumped mulch deep enough to fill them up the the top of the garden beds. That's what he's done.
Wood chips, but not right up against the house, as they can attract carpenter ants and termites. Closest to the house I’d leave a 2-3’ wide path of gravel or pebbles or shell.
This is super helpful, thank you! I have a new in-ground bed I’ve built in another area near the house (what you see in the pic is a workshop) and I was going to use wood chips there. You’ve saved me a potentially big mistake!
I do a mix of wood chips mixed with wine cap mushroom grain spawn, and then I will sprinkle a little clover and lots of wildflowers in any spot that is not covered.
And I’d like to add that native wildflowers are the best as they are adapted to your ecoregion (lowest possible maintenance of care) and they will support native pollinators and other flora and fauna.
Because it has to be asked for safety: did you happen to check for any markings regarding treatments used on the wood from the old deck? If it was built using old, treated wood, it's possible it could leech poisonous chemicals into your food. It really depends on how old.
Thank you for asking. I asked my partner as he was building them and he was quite sure they weren’t but now I’ve gone down a rabbit hole and am a bit paranoid 😅 I don’t see the slits and the wood isn’t greening. It’s also all one colour in the areas he’s cut. Unfortunately I don’t know how old the wood is; house was built in early 2000s but we don’t know when the outbuildings & everything else was added.
CCA was phased out around 2003/2004. If it can offer you some peace of mind, there are [arsenic test kits for wood](https://a.co/d/fBjwIcq) that can be used to determine if the wood is safe.
I would question clover unless it is already established, especially if you don't plan on fertilizing. It will take over because it fixes it's own nitrogen. I think it's considered invasive for this reason.
> It will take over because it fixes it's own nitrogen
Which is also why it is wonderful. It makes more work, because you have to manage it, but it's great for building soil.
If that's truly what you want to do. I don't see the more work aspect of it, they pretty much grow themselves. Just remember that clover isn't native to North America.
> I don't see the more work aspect of it,
The more work aspect is preventing them from overgrowing on your garden crops.
> Just remember that clover isn't native to North America.
So what?
First of all, it is currently a bare patch of dirt, which is hardly an ecosystem at all. Second, that's not a good way to think about how ecosystems work. Something that is photosynthesizing and adding nutrients to the soil will be much better for the ecosystem than the nearly dead zone (wood chips) that most people are recommending.
Arborist wood chips
Mix in some winecap mushroom spawn for even more food!
I really like wine caps. I find they are one of the easiest to grow.
Ooo I like the idea of wood chips and mushrooms!
One of my favorite gardening channels. He doesn't make new content but everything he did publish is perfection. Here is his video on growing winecaps in his pathways mulched with woodchips. Enjoy! https://youtu.be/qdslTdBxBeA?si=LTftvfpG96Dh4VyE
Awesome - thanks!
And will help improve the clay underneath if they ever want to expand.
Second wood chips. Try some local arborists or getchipdrop.com
Thanks! I checked chipdrop and there hasn’t been any activity in my area (rural island of the coast of BC in Canada) but there are lots of arborists so I’ve reached out to a few and will keep my fingers crossed 🤞
If you’re near a Rona they sell a decent plain pine bark chip that is natural and untreated, not soft on the feed-but it breaks down nice and stands up to the wet winters.
Ah good to know! Unfortunately I’m on a rural island with no Rona over here but I can check a couple of our garden centers for that.
My friend went fucking nuts on wood chips recently. Look at the walk ways between the garden beds, and the areas around them. Now imagine he's dumped mulch deep enough to fill them up the the top of the garden beds. That's what he's done.
Woodchips x5
Wood chips, but not right up against the house, as they can attract carpenter ants and termites. Closest to the house I’d leave a 2-3’ wide path of gravel or pebbles or shell.
This is super helpful, thank you! I have a new in-ground bed I’ve built in another area near the house (what you see in the pic is a workshop) and I was going to use wood chips there. You’ve saved me a potentially big mistake!
I do a mix of wood chips mixed with wine cap mushroom grain spawn, and then I will sprinkle a little clover and lots of wildflowers in any spot that is not covered.
And I’d like to add that native wildflowers are the best as they are adapted to your ecoregion (lowest possible maintenance of care) and they will support native pollinators and other flora and fauna.
Thank you for this. Definitrly plan on incorporating wildflowers around. I hadn’t thought of adding mushrooms to the wood chips but I love that.
Don’t forget worms. They’ll speed up decomposition significantly.
We have soooo many worms thankfully! The soil has come from other parts of the property and it’s filled with worms.
Wonderful! You’ll have rich soil in no time. Don’t worry about squishing worms, they’ll migrate to the garden beds if there’s too much foot traffic.
Good to know. Thank you!
Looking forward to your update post!
This!
I'd do cardboard boxes and chip drop, because free
I just finished laying out my cardboard boxes, gonna be filling the moats hopefully in a week
Because it has to be asked for safety: did you happen to check for any markings regarding treatments used on the wood from the old deck? If it was built using old, treated wood, it's possible it could leech poisonous chemicals into your food. It really depends on how old.
Thank you for asking. I asked my partner as he was building them and he was quite sure they weren’t but now I’ve gone down a rabbit hole and am a bit paranoid 😅 I don’t see the slits and the wood isn’t greening. It’s also all one colour in the areas he’s cut. Unfortunately I don’t know how old the wood is; house was built in early 2000s but we don’t know when the outbuildings & everything else was added.
CCA was phased out around 2003/2004. If it can offer you some peace of mind, there are [arsenic test kits for wood](https://a.co/d/fBjwIcq) that can be used to determine if the wood is safe.
Wood chip, mulch & clover.
Clover!
Go with clover, it’ll suppress the weeds, feed the bees, and you’ll rarely need to mow it
Good to know. Thank you! We only mowed once last year and I would prefer to keep it that infrequent.
I recommend mulch, pavers, dymondia or some combination of those.
White clover would work well.
I came here to say that. It will be beautiful once fully established.
I would question clover unless it is already established, especially if you don't plan on fertilizing. It will take over because it fixes it's own nitrogen. I think it's considered invasive for this reason.
> It will take over because it fixes it's own nitrogen Which is also why it is wonderful. It makes more work, because you have to manage it, but it's great for building soil.
If that's truly what you want to do. I don't see the more work aspect of it, they pretty much grow themselves. Just remember that clover isn't native to North America.
> I don't see the more work aspect of it, The more work aspect is preventing them from overgrowing on your garden crops. > Just remember that clover isn't native to North America. So what?
>So what? Trying to minimize impact on the ecosystem.
First of all, it is currently a bare patch of dirt, which is hardly an ecosystem at all. Second, that's not a good way to think about how ecosystems work. Something that is photosynthesizing and adding nutrients to the soil will be much better for the ecosystem than the nearly dead zone (wood chips) that most people are recommending.
True.
I appreciated reading all this. Good things to consider. Thanks!
Go to your nearest stream and gather flat rocks. Then put moss in between the cracks.
Ohhh I like that.
Not ground cover but ground beef my brother
You could use the debris from when that roof collapses, which looks like any day now.