Are Wood Chips Good Ground Cover

It is essential that wood chips be used properly.

Are wood chips good ground cover.

Every six months kim contacts a local tree company and asks them to drop off a load of chips when they are in the neighborhood. They are a mess. Using locally produced wood chips is a sustainable activity keeping a useful product out of the landfill which is both environmentally and economically a good thing. Most problems from using wood chips result from mulching too deeply.

Properly using wood chips as a mulch or to cover. So which to use. Wood chips decompose over time sending nutrients to the ground while strengthening soil structure and improving aeration. As i mentioned of all the types of mulch we have used we have found wood chips to be the most unforgiving.

They do break down rather quickly and will settle after a few weeks. Because wood chips are natural they contribute a lot of nutrients to surrounding soil. My neighbor kim has an area that isn t paved where he parks the family s second vehicle. These organic chips also attract earthworms and tend to create healthy fungi and bacterial growth.

He uses the chips as mulch under shrubs and trees in the back yard as ground cover in the dog kennel and as filler for the ruts under his suv. Using wood chips mulch or bark dust as playground bedding is a messy and splinter filled option. Wood chips are readily available and are quite useful in the landscape. Compare the benefits of both and see which one is best for you.

Towns and cities often have a mulch program where you can pick up your. If you live in a region with the regular threat of cold extremes save up your wood chips and use them as insulation on the sides and bottom of your cold frame. Even after the ground freezes the wood chips will help protect the roots of your winter harvest vegetables and prolong your growing season. Here we re talking about tree bark chips or shredded bark mulch that comes in bags sold by garden centers.

Both mulch and ground cover plants have their good and not so good points. Okay now that we have that out of our system here are 5 reasons why you shouldn t use playground wood chips or mulch. In order to get the optimum benefits from wood chips they can be applied at a depth of 4 to 6 inches. Wood chips also regulate soil temperatures bring a natural feel to an area and can serve as path material to prevent muddy or dusty conditions.

For example many types of wood chips and bark chips need to be replaced every few months because the wood s color fades.