I think it is possible to find all sorts of anecdotal evidence about wood chips and their by-products. Just like there are some on here that post inaccurate information. Sure it can make for interesting reading, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

Lloyd

That reads like what I have been telling people here to do for about the last 25 years, add organic matter to your soil. That OM can be wood chips, shrerdded leaves, straw, compost, even peat moss if you have a lot of money to throw away.
The best organic matter you can put in your soil is what you can get for free. Next is organic matter that has nutrients to feed the plants you want to grow. The yard waste you generate should be recycled on site and never thrown away since that wastes valuable nutrients that yard wste removed from your soil.
The link attached will take you to a video, about an hour and one half long, that will pretty much tell you the same thing Tom Clothier wrote, if one needs some more information.

Here is a link that might be useful: Back To Eden video

Ugly. Unless you live in a wood lot.

Beauty in some eyes!

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood Chip Bed

The Good: Provides organic matter and carbon over time. Keeps the soil cool, helps the soil retain moisture, and acts as a natural weed barrier.

The Bad: Provides dense amounts of carbon, which encourages microbes to scavange nitrogen before plant roots can uptake. Contain low levels of P,Ca, and Mg (some K in wood). Anyone ammending the soil or topdressing with wood will need to provide extra fertilizer to achieve good plant growth. Lastly wood drops the pH.

From the picture it is hard too know when the plants were tranplanted or if grown from seed. But the leaves appear to be smaller than a really well fed plant. Could be they just need some nitrogen - or if the wood/soil pH is low - the low pH may be reducing the root uptake of all Macro Nutrients (N,P,K,Ca,Mg).

The Bad: Provides dense amounts of carbon, which encourages microbes to scavange nitrogen before plant roots can uptake. Contain low levels of P,Ca, and Mg (some K in wood). Anyone ammending the soil or topdressing with wood will need to provide extra fertilizer to achieve good plant growth. Lastly wood drops the pH.

Beg to differ. Nitrogen tie-up only occurs to any significant degree if the chips are incorporated into the soil. There is no measurable adverse effect if used as a topdressing. Some very shallowly rooted plants - like annuals - can experience some nutrient lack but these typically receive supplemental fertilization during the growing season anyway.

And there is no appreciable change in soil pH using wood chips, just as there is no appreciable change from using pine or fir needles as a mulch. This is one of the those persistant gardening myths that just has no basis in science :-) There may be a slight lowering of pH at the soil surface due to leaching but the long term use of wood chips as a mulch actually tends to slightly raise (or deacidify) soil pH.

Here is a link that might be useful: wood chip mulch myths

One thing that should be said here is that CHIPPED wood is just that, woood that has gone through a chipper.

Anything else is not chipped wood, it could be shredded, chunk or just wood debris but unless it goes through a chipper, nowadays, it is not chipped wood.

Chipped green wood of branches of three inches diameter or less act differently that those from a heavy duty chipper that takes branches eight inches in diameter.

There are some people that think soils covered with any mulch are bad so they leave that soil exposed to the ravages of the sun, wind, and rain amd wonder why there are so many leaves covering that bare soil. They do not realize that Ma Nature does not like bare soil and will plant stuff, much of what we call "weeds", to try to cover that soil.
Soils left bare are subject to erosion because the wind will blow soil particles away and rain can wash soil particles away. Soils left bare heat up a lot from the sun which causes evaporation of soil moisture that plants need to uptake the nutrients from the soil the plants need to live on, and can raise the soil temperature high enough to cook those plants trying to grow there. It is never a good idea to leave soils bare and exposed to the ravages of the sun, wind, and rain.

All wood chips are not equal and I think it's important to state the difference in case there are newbies who think otherwise.

"This article gives some info."

Basically the size of chip/shred, type of wood, and freshness of the wood will impact how it behaves when used in the garden.

I use sawdust and fine wood shavings (which technically are not chips at all) from a small mill to make compost. This is from pine, aspen, spruce, and fir because that is what grows around here and because it's a product of milling somewhat dry lumber it doesn't decompose as quickly as ramial chips. It's still useful when mixed with grass clippings and kitchen trimmings, etc., turned occasionally, and left to decompose awhile. The reason I use it is because deciduous leaves are in short supply and the sawdust/shavings are free for the shoveling. It makes a good looking mulch and has greatly improved my soil over the years.

I've also purchased cedar mulch, which is composed of chips, shreds, and sawdust, which I use for paths but do not use for compost as cedar takes longer to break down and *may* inhibit plant growth.

For mulching my perennial garden (since I never have enough homemade compost/mulch) I use shredded bark mulch from the garden center. Not too sure what's in it but it looks to be mostly finely shredded bark and some small chips and I am assured it's not noxious. Looks good and lasts much longer than my compost/mulch.

In the past I got a load of chipped wood which had sharp pieces up to about 3" diameter but would only use that for woodland paths due to esthetics and the fact I wear flip flops and don't like slivers!

I'd prefer to get ramial wood chips but so far my requests to Asplundh have not produced (any) loads of chips. I'm sure my composting efforts would produce faster results with these.

All of these products could be termed wood chips but there's a world of difference in how they are best used.

Emgardener, thanks for that link, interesting study.

Some good information in that article, luckygal, especially about the mulches from old construction material, often that red dyed junk.
I have never found it necessary to soak newspaper before plunking it down as some suggest and find that wet paper is much harder to work with, and more apt to tear apart, then dry paper.

Interesting article, Luckygal...thanks for posting.
Kimmsr...whenever you use dry newspaper, a breeze must not start up. I swear that everytime I lay down a dry paper, even if there has been no breeze all day, the wind starts. I've learned to lay paper with the hose at my side!

There have been times when I was laying the newspaper down when there was no breeze, but mostly there was enough to grab the paper and blow it around if I did not weigh that newspaper down as soon as I layed it. I have watched people attempt to cover a very large bed with newspaper before weighing that paper down and seen the paper blow away. Putting a handful of the mulch material on the paper is enough to hold it in place until you are ready to cover it all, as long as that is not several hours or days later.

I haven't anything, nothing, nada, to add to this thread, but I saw an opportunity for a Mainer to boast, and thought I'd avail myself of it. I think that laying down dry newspaper is much, much, easier than trying to handle wet paper. I've started opening the newspapers up inside and making a big pile of unfolded paper, which I take to the garden. Here's the part that should make you ill with envy: Every time I lay down an area of newspaper(6-8 layers thick), I cover it with seaweed. Not only does the seaweed hold the newspaper down, and fertilize the garden, it also does something amazing. The little seaweed pillows absorb water every time it rains and releases it when it gets hot again. A seaweed mulched garden rarely requires watering.

I alienatated my entire neighborhood the very first time I used a newspaper and hay mulch in 1976. I apologized to all, cleaned up the neighborhood, and went straight to the shore, so I could reapply the most brilliant mulch there is: newspaper.

I've newspapered gardens as large as 50'x100'.

What a wonderful resource you have, annpat. I'm suitably jealous!

oh, thank you. (I feel bad now.)

Annpat, no need to feel bad, I think any of us would be bragging about such a wonderful garden amendment. I know years ago I tried to convince DH that we could fill the pick-up with weed from a lake that's 200 miles away. He'd rather have had me committed! LOL

IMO cardboard is easier to deal with than newspaper for smothering weeds. I always keep the hose handy and wet down both sides as I lay it. Stays in place until I spread the mulch. I got a pick-up load of large flattened boxes at a garden center. Saved them hauling them away and they are better than the small boxes I can get elsewhere that I have to flatten myself.

Here's an article about using sawdust as mulch that some may find interesting. I think I've posted this before but some may not have seen it. Note that this person used poultry manure as felt there was some nitrogen depletion.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sawdust is my slave

Annpat: "I apologized to all, cleaned up the neighborhood, and went straight to the shore, so I could reapply the most brilliant mulch there is: newspaper. "

you get your newspaper at the shore?

I could, but you're right; you caught me in a confusement, which isn't a word, but which certainly should be, are we in agreement?

Sure
or at least I'm pretty sure.
Would you accept a definite maybe?

We are going to try and building a no till 10,000 sq ft garden. Our idea is bring and spread some compost, (no cardboard or paper) to be covered with 5-6â of wood chips. We then water the wood chips with human urine in the ratio of 20 part of water to one (1) urinel.

Opinions?

Generally speaking it sounds like it would work. Not knowing anything about your soil, climate, what's growing there now or what you intend to grow, or what country you're in. :-] Other than that it sounds great!