samekid480 asks: Wood chips in my organic garden?
I just recieved a huge truckload of wood chips from the city and I’m wondering if it is okay to use it as mulch in my organic garden. I was told that they may attract ants to my garden. Do ants eat your vegies? Are there any other reasons I shouldn’t use the wood chips in my garden? I have about 300 sq. ft. to cover, so I’m hoping the wood chips will work fine. Also I’m going to use wood chips to cover my back porch where the land is eroding from the cement. I would like to build up the soil about 6 inches and put the wood chips on top of that. Can I just throw down a bunch of organic materials and then throw down the wood chips?
Well I guess this is alot of questions, thanks for answering!
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Answer by PeeTee
Not only ants,but termites also. It would be much better to compost the wood for several years before using.
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Wood chips are alright to use as a mulch, but yes, they attract ants, slugs, termites, and MANY other things. a good question is what type of wood? was it all hardwood, or is there some soft wood? Is there any cedar in it? Are they good trees for composition?
in a veggie garden, you really don’t want to put down ANYTHING that will provide cover for bugs, because yes, they will eat it.
DON’T put wood chips near your house!!!! wood is what termites eat and they will get into your house!! Don’t do it!
As far as mulch in the garden, it’s a fair mulch. fair. as wood decays, it takes a fair amount of nitrogen to decompose.. this can rob your soil (and your plants) of nitrogen.
Wood chips are a better arborist’s mulch.. used to mulch around trees. Bark is a better garden mulch.
wish I had better news for you… good luck.