Woodchippings on allotment beds advice

[stevekentuk125]

Hi yesterday got three big sacks of woodchippings for my allotment. I have heavy clay there and was wondering if i can dig them in my beds and will it help to make my soil more manageable? I was thinking about doing it this weekend before spring comes

[Thelma Sanders]

I use it on paths, leave it to rot down on paths, until it's full of worms - then turn it onto beds.

I don't think it's a good idea to use it on beds before it's rotted.

[Guest]

I think whilst it is decomposing it robs soil of nitrogen and other nutrients. However when used as a mulch the effect is minimal, effecting only the top layer and plants can get nutrients from further down. So not advisable to dig in as is.

[Jay-ell]

I'd use it on the paths, that way it'll rob the nitrogen from the weeds trying to grow there, stop the path from being a mud slide when it rains and once it's rotted down it can be scooped up and added to the beds

[hamesy]

If you're going to put it into your beds, make sure you add plenty of grass clippings. If you don't the soil will be robbed of nitrogen.

[stevekentuk125]

i better let my allotment neighbour know as hes been digging it for a couple of months ekkkk. thanks for all the advice much appreciated
.

[Guest]

chicken poo - nitrogen rich so can help counteract it

[Bigmallly]

i better let my allotment neighbour know as hes been digging it for a couple of months ekkkk. thanks for all the advice much appreciated
.

Tell him he should have joined the best forum in the world first...............

[Greenleaves]

^^ Absolutely

[muddled]

Just to be difficult ......

I'm not convinced by the robbing nitrogen theory.
Huglekulture relies on buried wood to retain water and microbes. And, where there is rotting wood, there are usually all manner of things growing around and through it.

This gentleman uses trench huglekulture to raise the level of his allotment, improve drainage and nourish the soil. He uses rotted wood, bush and hedge trimmings and lots of woodchips.

Allotment Garden: Trench Hugelkultur and hot bed.

If we get another delivery of woodchips at our site, I'm going to copy his example just for a couple of raised beds.

I also think that if we're going to get more wet and miserable summers like 2012, the benefits of bulking out my clay will far outweigh the risks of nitrogen robbing.

[stevekentuk125]

thanks i will have a good read on that

[Mark Lottie]

Just to be difficult ......

I'm not convinced by the robbing nitrogen theory.
Huglekulture relies on buried wood to retain water and microbes. And, where there is rotting wood, there are usually all manner of things growing around and through it.

This gentleman uses trench huglekulture to raise the level of his allotment, improve drainage and nourish the soil. He uses rotted wood, bush and hedge trimmings and lots of woodchips.

Allotment Garden: Trench Hugelkultur and hot bed.

If we get another delivery of woodchips at our site, I'm going to copy his example just for a couple of raised beds.

I also think that if we're going to get more wet and miserable summers like 2012, the benefits of bulking out my clay will far outweigh the risks of nitrogen robbing.

If you plant a hugel with fresh wood you have nitrogen deficiencies in the first few years, but with rotted wood you don't.

I'm doing a hugel this year with a mix of rotten and fresh wood and will cover it in loads of manure, pee and grass to try mitigate Nitrogen loss.

If you made a hugel out of pure woodchips they would break down much quicker than logs but you have an even larger Nitrogen deficiency the first year or so. What a lot of people do is immediately plant with a leguminous / nitrogen fixing ground cover to build stability, provide nitrogen and reduce soil erosion in the first year while it settles

[Tonythegardener]

Woody Chippings

As my blog suggests (Allotment Garden), I have been using lots of woody stuff to make trench Hugelkultur like raised beds.

There is a lot of confusing research about how wood decomposition leads to nitrogen depletion through locking it into bacteria and fungi bodies. Although there is nitrogen in woody material and this can be used by microorganisms, it is assumed that wood decomposition will produce nutrient depletion.

I add copious amounts of woody material to the subsoil not to the topsoil.
In the subsoil it aids with water retention and drainage (technically it increases water and air filled porosity and reduces bulk density.) It is a slow nutrient release system. If it does lead to nitrogen depletion, in the subsoil, the nitrogen has been leached from the topsoil. Therefore it is a nutrient capture system. With further deep digging, this nutrient can be recycled to the top soil.

Eventually it increases the depth of the top soil and allows plant roots to penetrate deeper into the soil.

I also use woody chippings as a mulch. The research shows that this does cause nitrogen depletion in the very top two or three millimetres of soil. I can live with that.