Ben Raskin, author of The Woodchip Handbook, talks about using wood chips in gardens and agriculture.

Wood chips: They’re abundant, inexpensive, and renewable. There are many possible applications in horticulture.

Uses of Wood Chips

Wood chips have many uses in gardens, farms, and landscapes:

Mulch to suppress weeds and conserve moisture
Heat for propagation
Growing media
High-carbon ingredient for composting systems
Soil amendments

Ben Raskin’s new book is The Wood Chip Handbook.

He sees a lot of untapped opportunity for wood chips in horticulture. He uses wood chips at the agroforestry farm he manages. And through his work as the head of horticulture and agroforestry at the Soil Association, talks to growers and researchers working with wood chips.