Sheet Mulching With Wood Chips

Most problems from using wood chips result from mulching too deeply.

Sheet mulching with wood chips. Sheet mulching is an excellent way to transform lawn into growing space. Browns are carbon sources such as dry leaves straw paper cardboard sawdust animal bedding mixed with manure corn stalks pine needles wood chips etc. Never be afraid to cover crop your sheet mulch with a green manure or over wintering crop like fall rye. Sheet mulching uses equal portions of each in alternate layers.

At its most basic sheet mulching is simply putting down a sheet of paper cardboard burlap or other similar biodegradable material i e. Sheet mulching also called lasagna method or lasagna gardening is a popular technique for creating a new garden. I have found that 2 3 is just right for wood chip mulch. Material that will decompose and then adding at least one layer of regular mulch wood chips fall leaves straw etc on top of the first layer.

If this is your first sheet mulch start small. Two pieces 2 12 12 untreated fir. One piece 2 12 8 cut in half one piece 4 4 8 cut four 11 inch lengths for corner braces 40 2 inch galvanized wood screws 10 per corner cloche. As i mentioned of all the types of mulch we have used we have found wood chips to be the most unforgiving.

If you can try to keep these materials out of your mulch. When i used the sheet mulching technique in the parched landscape of california i found the moisture in the soil lasted at least five to 10. Some people even use it as an annual mulching system to keep weeds down. It is essential that wood chips be used properly.

Seven pieces of 10 foot inch pvc pipe. Traditional compost piles need 2 parts brown to 1 part green materials. Every farmer and gardener knows that mulching is a must to cut down on irrigation but the cardboard used in sheet mulching is much more effective at trapping moisture than typical wood chips or straw. This slide show demonstrates how to remove your lawn using sheet mulching techniques.

Sheet mulch can be as simple as a layer of newspapers topped by 8 to 12 inches of nearly any mulch material. But if you want to build the perfect sheet mulch here s how. Cedar pine and walnut. Getting lots of wood chips straw stable bedding leaves pine needles compost and other mulching materials isn t always easy.

Build a raised bed sheet mulch garden materials box. They all release allelopathic chemicals that suppress. Sheet mulch will be a lot more productive in the second and third year than in the first.