French drains - can i use woodchip instead of gravel?

[bario1]

Hi,

I'm thinking of digging some French drains to carry standing water away from my beds. I'm happy to shell out for the perforated pipe to lay in the trenches, but I'm not sure I can afford (or be bothered) to have tons of gravel delivered to the plot to backfill the trenches. I can get hold of plenty of free woodchip though - I know it won't be as good as gravel, but will it still work?

[roitelet]

You could but the problem is that it won't last as it will rot and you will be back to square one. May be the perforated pipes wrapped in landscape membrane to stop the soil getting in would work on their own.

[bario1]

Wouldn't even rotted woodchip (inside landscape membrane) be more free-draining than the surrounding soil?

[roitelet]

Depends on your soil. The technique as I understand it is to dig a trench put a layer of gravel in the bottom, cover it with landscape membrane. Lay the pipes with the slits down wards, cover with more landscape membrane and another layer of gravel and finally more membrane before backfilling with soil. The object is to stop the pipes getting bunged up with soil or roots there by allowing free drainage.

[bario1]

That's the theory, only the way I was going to do it was to dig a trench, then line it with landscape fabric, then gravel-pipe-gravel, then fold over the membrane and backfill. My heart tells me that woodchip isn't going to work as a replacement, but my wallet wants to believe it will.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I don't think would chip would last very long at all and with all the hard work your going to put in you wouldn't want to have to start again next year.

[bario1]

I know, sigh. I can't face having to get gravel delivered to the allotment car park, and then having to barrow it all to my plot though. Back to the drawing board!

[jziegler]

Did you go with wood chips? How did it work out?

Seems the roted wood chips would flow water just fine vs the clay around it.

[Snoop Puss]

Hello and welcome, jziegler. bario1 last visited in 2020 so may not see your question. I think that the problem with rotted wood is that it would get absorbed into the clay eventually (just as compost and manure do). So while it might be good for a short-term fix, long-term it might be less effective unless it was constantly reapplied. I see lots of people are using it as a surface mulch, and this is easier to keep replacing than if you had dug a proper French drain.

Are you trying to sort a drainage issue on your plot? Feel free to open a new thread to ask questions.

In any event, best wishes for a great growing year ahead.

[Bren In Pots]

Hello jziegler and welcome to the vine, like Snoop says start a new thread and hopefully you'll receive the info you need.