How to Lay Wood Chips
A growing area mulched with wood chips is not only an attractive growing spot in a landscape, but the wood chips also serve to improve the growing conditions. Wood chips keep soil moist, they help prevent weed growth, they can improve the soil composition and they help keep the soil cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Lay wood chips down over the soil in a flowerbed, vegetable bed, around shrubs and beneath trees for an attractive and effective mulch.
Prepare the area where you will apply the wood chips. Use the garden hoe or the spade to till the soil if weeds are growing. If there is grass growing, remove it as well. Rake the soil smooth after you finish preparing it.
- A growing area mulched with wood chips is not only an attractive growing spot in a landscape, but the wood chips also serve to improve the growing conditions.
- Use the garden hoe or the spade to till the soil if weeds are growing.
Lay down landscape fabric over the soil to prevent future weeds, if you desire. Landscape fabric will prevent weeds from growing through the wood chips. If you lay the wood chips in a 4-inch layer, most weeds will not penetrate through this depth, even without landscape fabric blocking their growth.
Shovel the wood chips over the planting area until you have a 3- to 4-inch layer.
Pull the wood chips back away from direct contact with trees and shrubs by making a 6-inch space between the trees or shrubs and the wood chips. Pull wood chips 2 to 3 inches away from herbaceous plants.
Rake the wood chips smooth and level with the rake. Tamp the wood chips lightly with the back of a wide shovel to help hold them in place.
- Lay down landscape fabric over the soil to prevent future weeds, if you desire.
- If you lay the wood chips in a 4-inch layer, most weeds will not penetrate through this depth, even without landscape fabric blocking their growth.
Replenish wood chips about every two years to keep the depth at the optimal 3 to 4 inches.
Wood Chips In Landscapes
Pull up or hoe weeds in the areas where you plan to spread wood chips. If there are many persistent, perennial weeds or if turf grass is present in the site, spray the unwanted vegetation with a nonselective herbicide such as glyphosate. Spread wood chips loosely over the area, creating a uniform layer 2 to 3 inches thick. Water the wood chips thoroughly after spreading. Add a thin layer of new wood chips to improve the appearance of the area, if desired.
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Writer Bio
Kathryn Hatter is a veteran home-school educator, as well as an accomplished gardener, quilter, crocheter, cook, decorator and digital graphics creator. As a regular contributor to Natural News, many of Hatter's Internet publications focus on natural health and parenting. Hatter has also had publication on home improvement websites such as Redbeacon.
