LOVE that you suggested innoculating your garden soil with local forest duff. Best explanation of why to do it that I've seen so far, too! My fave part of growing food at my boyfriend's rural property is that his house is in a 3/4 acre (grassed) clearing in an intact aspen parkland ecosystem. Not "old growth" the way most North Americans conceive of what old growth should look like, but it's what old growth looks like in this part of Manitoba and it's highly productive.
To everyone that reads this comment, please subscribe to this guy,he has so much information about permcualter gardening! He is one of the best that I have seen in a long time!
Excellent, clear info! Thank you. I've never used two layers of cardboard, rather than one, nor that many inches of woodchips. But I envision planting by the next season, so I didn't understand how that would work.
Ireally liked the way you explained the why's in this video. You even talked about making money with the fruit tree starts. I am looking forward to following your channe. Thank you for taking the time to post. Sincerely, Jeff
Yep, couldn't agree more, done this 5 years ago to the whole front yard, did the back yard a few yrs earlier. I am down to 10 minutes of push mowing now and don't miss it a bit.
Yes. It will try to push up through layers of cardboard, so it may need to get repeated the following year (or kept an eye on and smothered as it tries).
Yes, chalk that one up to one long video shot. Alternatively you can also innoculate the above cardboard compost layer without puncturing the cardboard. The soil life will find it's way down as the cardboard decomposes. Thanks for the comment and the common sense!
Subscribed to you this morning and I have watched a few of your videos and have to say that I like what you are doing. Thank for sharing your knowledge with me and others. I came across a comment you left on Mike Vanduzees channel.
Souch wonderful information thank you. I've been.on my property for a little over a year now here in Salem Missouri and am working on expanding my gardens as I also try and beautify in a Permaculture way. I recently planted 2 apple trees and a mulberry tree so it was interesting to learn I can get more trees from the branch trimmings. I wonder if you can do the same with berry bushes? We also bought a weeping Willow and curly Willow and are the only ones in Salem who have them. The Willow branches will add in rooting as it has a root hormone can't wait to try it out. Happy gardening! Missouri Wrightchk
Indeed, the willow salycylic acid is what helps it root so well. They are great trees to cut this way and propagate, and/or make willow water with them (boil sticks in a pot for 20 mins then let them soak overnight, then soak your new cuttings in them for 1 more night, but only half way in the water). Many trees can be propagated thos way, however it works the best (as a general rule) for softer woods such as bushes. Trees tend to be more effectively propagated by planting seeds, then grafting the cut wood (scion wood) onto the new seedling tree.
Thanks. I'm really looking forward to redoing this video in the future. It's one of my more popular videos, but such low quality. I can't wait to rev this one up this spring.
Canadian Permaculture Legacy Look into the camera when you redo it. Right now it looks like you’re looking off to the side, like at some screen or something.
@@gibartnick thanks, I'm slowly getting better. It's hard to not look at the screen to make sure you are in the shot. But when you do, you aren't looking at the camera. I also bought a gimbal stabilizer. This spring when I can prep a new bed, I will redo this video, and also provide progress updates.
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I really enjoy your videos. Another suggestion is to provide a quick written summary at the end with key points (e.g., "1. put down compost; 2. cover with cardboard" or whatever). Makes a world of difference in remembering instructions.
You suggested taking soil from old forests, to enoculate the garden with beneficial microorganisms. Can you elaborate on that. Can there be risks/downsides?
Definitely, but it falls under the category of don't worry about it. For example, there can be downsides walking to the store, you can get hit by a drunk driver that climbed the curb. But that doesn't mean you should never walk to the store. The worst thing that you can do by taking a shovel of old growth forest soil is that you unintentionally propagate something like poison ivy, or a poisonous mushroom. To mitigate that risk, you can observe that area for a season before you collect. But again, it's so unlikely, I wouldn't worry about it. This is what happens to us when we overanalyze stuff. Analysis paralysis is more dangerous honestly.
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I will definitely do this. Be it solely for the purpose of feeling like Sam gamgee from Lord of the rings, receiveing soil from galadriel :D
I started it, but I was too young to enjoy it. I just wanted more battles and such. I would enjoy it much more now, I just have no time. I think I will pick it up when the kids get older and life slows down a touch.
you are talking about compost and manure below and above the cardboard. Is it better to use fresh manure below to feed the animals and matured compost above or just matured one in general ? and is there an alternative to compost , can i use like 80% horse manure ? it is quite hard to get 400cbm compost here for the 4000sqm forest garden. and you mentioned that you have grass/clover in between the tree row , how do i turn meadow into grass/clover ?
Yes this is a perfect min/max of the strategy. Fresh compost below (where it will last the longest feeding the soil life) and older stuff above (where it will not burn the roots of the plants that you will plant into it). As far as alternatives go, yes, use whatever organic matter you have access to. For some it's manure. For others it's leaves. For others it's seaweed, or coconut husks, etc. Use what is readily available. As far as turning meadow into grass/clover, I think the best way is spring/fall. A very low hard cut, possibly a light abrasion, such as with a broadfork, or cleated shoes dug/spin as you walk. You want disturbance, but minimal disturbance. Sow into the disturbance. For higher climbing clovers like red clover, you may even be able to get away with a crimping, instead of a cut.
Odly enough i find it difficult to get woodchips or mulch or leaf bags in my area. (Yes i called forest maintenence, they dont sell it, yet they use it when planting) I can afford few bags of comercial mulch (pine bark) but thats not enough for area i plan to sheet mulch I have access to hay, straw and budles of corn stalks. I was thinking about using what i have and basically use forest soil + hummus + mixed straw, hey, corn stalks + bit of pine bark and have 8-12inches (~30cm) of sheet mulch for area where i want to plant I couldnt find any resources if hay, straw and stalks can be used for sheet mulching and i am bit afraid i will maybe create some issues by combining all this. Got any advice or views on this? Thank you for your time.
Go with living mulch instead. Get tons of seeds, and plant fast growing plants that you will chop/drop and build soil. Right now would be a great time to plant a bunch of winter rye for example. Grow your mulch :)
Hi there just wanna say immediate sub, your content and mind are awesome. I'm right in between zone 8b/9a on a way smaller scale in the hill country, you think any of this can apply to where I'm at?
Oh absolutely, the only things on my channel that may not apply is when I walk about specific cold hardy varieties. Also when I talk about some of my apple or pear varieties, I dont care about chill hours (not a factor for me, since I get PLENTY) but it could matter for you. So just make sure you get varieties best suited for your zone. And that being said, the real changes happen from zones 10ish and up. Most things I plant are zone 4 to 9, even 4 to 10. I dont plant anything that is for example zone 3 to 6. Everything about mulching, planting guilds, how to get started, that applies everywhere on the planet.
@@kawhihendrix5762 swales also, very applicable to you. The only times they aren't going to give you much value is in very very wet climates. However even there, the act of building the berm is going to help tremendously. Swales are useful everywhere, they are just REALLY useful in drier or moderately dry climates. I am fairly wet here, but they are still incredible tools for me. For you they will be very useful.
I know this is an old video but i had a question on sheet mulching under existing fully mature trees. I've heard you mention that sheet mulching can reduce oxygen in the area under it, can this have a detrimental effect on mature trees? Or really for that matter anything you might plant through it?
It can, but its relatively short lived, only a few months, if that. Trees can handle it. Also, in areas where you have a living tree, you also likely have good water absorption. So if yoy give a nice good deep soak like I mention in both this, and also my.more recent sheet mulching guides, then you will charge the soil with water that should last at least 2 weeks, likely a month.
Basically just add some in and let it do it's thing. For example: Innoculate soil with forest soil: go get some forest soil and "plant it" into your soil. Basically just dig a hole put it in, cover it up. The soil life will reproduce and spread. Most of that stuff may already be there, but it's likely our lawns are just backfill on top of gravel from the build phase. The topsoil was all removed during contstruction and sold to landscaping companies and they give you back crap soil (I'm talking urban/suburban development companies). So if we are going to try to make a forest on junk soil, then getting some forest soil with it's corresponding microbiological ecosystem and planting it in our soils, and giving it forest-soil-food (woodchips) is a good idea. For innoculating woodchips with fungal mycelium from a mushroom you want (say for example, King Stropharia), what you would do is buy a bag of sawdust spawn from a grower (fungi.com, etc) and then when it comes, open it up, dig a hole in your woodchip layer, crack off some spawn and plant it inside the woodchip mulch layer. I.e. don't dig a hole in the soil, just put the mushrooms in the wood where they want to be. Dig another hole a bit further away, crack off some more spawn, plant it. Rince and repeat. Recover these with woodchips to protect them from the sun. The mycelium will spread through your woodchip layer, and soon you'll have these popping up everywhere. From then on, every few years, just investigate how much your woodchip mulch layer has turned into soil and maybe top it up and add more on top. The mushroom mycelium mat is still there underneath and will move into this fresh stuff. Innoculate biochar with nutrient and life: that's just putting it into compost and letting the compost microorganisms move into it in the following months. Once the compost is finished, just add it into holes you dig for plants and trees as you plant your stuff. Or even just spread it out on top of the woodchips - that's fine also. Let the rains bring it down. Maybe give it a good watering if it won't rain for a bit. Alternatively you can also rake back the woodchips and put the compost on top of the soil - I just like to not disrupt my mushroom mycelium mat. When it doubt, just think about what nature does in a forest and do that. Nature has old trees die and fall over. Nature has leaves fall. Nature has animals walking by and fertilizing the soil with their waste. So just reproduce that. People always ask "can I just put a little manure down right on top of woodchips" and often people say "no don't do that!".... well, that's what nature does and it works.
I realize this video is older but I'm having an issue with the last load of wood chips I received and wanted to ask you a question. These wood chips are much finer than I have ever received. Water pools on the surface of these wood chips then evaporate in the heat. No amount of moisture gets through it. I have raked and turned them wetting them constantly but nothing as worked. The wood chips are sitting on the cardboard that is sitting on the grass. Will these wood chips eventually become absorbent?
Likely not, they have gone hydrophobic. This can happen with lots of stuff, but high carbon organic matter is really susceptible to it. The best way to reverse this is to do a few things: 1) get is soaking sopping wet. Once it is wet, the hydrogen (van der walls forces) bonds of the water actually helps pull more water down and in. Once it gets soaking wet, it then loses its hydrophobic properties. As you know, this can be hard, as it wants to pool and not soak. Anyone who has ever used pure peat moss to start seeds will know "the feel" of what I'm saying. When its bone dry, it is hydrophobic. Once its soaked again, it is VERY moisture retentive. 2) break up the uniformity of particle size by mixing in larger particles. Sticks, twigs, large chunks should be mixed into finer grains. This let's gases both get in and get out, and also allows pathways for water to travel down. 3) add a bunch if nitrogen to help quickstart decomposition. Once its wet, if you have privacy a nice dose of urine will do wonders. If that grosses you out, you can also mix in some grass clippings.
Canadian Permaculture Legacy Thank you. I'm using a high jet sprayer now to wet and turn the chips. I have put grass clippings on and will continue to it so every time I mow. Ha! No problem peeing on wood chips. I don't have anything larger to use so will have to order some larger grade wood chips. Thank you for the information. I had no idea about hydrophobic. You learn something every day. I now have a plan and that makes me feel better👍
We are in Cobourg. We are zone 5 Canadian zones, but USDA zone 4. Our zones are typically one "higher" than theirs, because ours look at more factors than just minimum temp.
For elderberries, I'm just learning myself. I have 4 varieties, and I planted them before I started cataloging things well. I know one variety is called black tower. I have a bunch of different types. I want picky on genetics at that point in my journey, so I can't help more than that. For propagation, you can use traditional softwood cutting and hardwood cutting techniques. I believe that stool layering really works well also, which is where you take an existing bush and just mound a foot of compost around it, swallowing the lower portions of the bush. In the fall, gently pull the compost back and each branch will have rooted into it. You can then prune say 50% of these the first year, below the rooted area, and then go plant it out. I will be doing videos on stool layering this summer and they should be ready this fall.
I plan on doing this in the spring on hard compacted ground. Compost, cardboard, more compost, then woodchip mulch a few inches thick. Could I move wood chips aside then sow seeds into the compost?
That's exactly right! Never sow into the mulch. Pull it back, sow into the compost, then lightly recoce the soil. Ince the plant it up, ensure all soil is covered well.
@@oneofanewkind5316 indeed. You can take some steps to help improve rooting, such as putting in fridge for callousing to start, wax to seal the cuts to keep moisture in, willow twig tea for a natural rooting hormone (salicylic acid), etc
Yes, depends on how much compost is there, and what I'm planting. If I'm planting annuals then definitely just plant into the compost under the woodchips but on top of the cardboard. If I am planting a tree, I will punch through the cardboard and get deeper into the soil, because the pot will usually be 1 foot tall, so I need to go deeper.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 80 | คู่เอก "รักษ์ vs ยอดนำชัย"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ckLMRorsMeY/mqdefault.jpg)
I thank Reddit for showing me this.
One of my most favorite "EARTH SAVERS" is Greg Auton from Maritime Gardening over in Nova Scotia.
LOVE that you suggested innoculating your garden soil with local forest duff. Best explanation of why to do it that I've seen so far, too!
My fave part of growing food at my boyfriend's rural property is that his house is in a 3/4 acre (grassed) clearing in an intact aspen parkland ecosystem. Not "old growth" the way most North Americans conceive of what old growth should look like, but it's what old growth looks like in this part of Manitoba and it's highly productive.
My editing software messed up a few bits in the middle, sorry about that
To everyone that reads this comment, please subscribe to this guy,he has so much information about permcualter gardening! He is one of the best that I have seen in a long time!
great!!
so many cool ideas, great point on inoculating with a bit of soil from old growth, I never would have thought of that.
Excellent, clear info! Thank you. I've never used two layers of cardboard, rather than one, nor that many inches of woodchips. But I envision planting by the next season, so I didn't understand how that would work.
Ireally liked the way you explained the why's in this video. You even talked about making money with the fruit tree starts. I am looking forward to following your channe. Thank you for taking the time to post. Sincerely, Jeff
We love using this method!
Yep, couldn't agree more, done this 5 years ago to the whole front yard, did the back yard a few yrs earlier. I am down to 10 minutes of push mowing now and don't miss it a bit.
Sounds like paradise.
Can you do sheet mulching as shown in the video over invasive rhizome grass types? I would be so happy not to have to dig and weed it out!!
Yes. It will try to push up through layers of cardboard, so it may need to get repeated the following year (or kept an eye on and smothered as it tries).
Wouldn’t it be easier to inoculate the soil before putting the cardboard down?
Yes, chalk that one up to one long video shot. Alternatively you can also innoculate the above cardboard compost layer without puncturing the cardboard. The soil life will find it's way down as the cardboard decomposes. Thanks for the comment and the common sense!
New sub!! Ill binge your videos tomorrow! Im Brad....in NH!
Subscribed to you this morning and I have watched a few of your videos and have to say that I like what you are doing. Thank for sharing your knowledge with me and others. I came across a comment you left on Mike Vanduzees channel.
That's wonderful, thanks for taking time out of your day to check out my content. Happy gardening
Souch wonderful information thank you. I've been.on my property for a little over a year now here in Salem Missouri and am working on expanding my gardens as I also try and beautify in a Permaculture way. I recently planted 2 apple trees and a mulberry tree so it was interesting to learn I can get more trees from the branch trimmings. I wonder if you can do the same with berry bushes? We also bought a weeping Willow and curly Willow and are the only ones in Salem who have them. The Willow branches will add in rooting as it has a root hormone can't wait to try it out. Happy gardening! Missouri Wrightchk
Indeed, the willow salycylic acid is what helps it root so well. They are great trees to cut this way and propagate, and/or make willow water with them (boil sticks in a pot for 20 mins then let them soak overnight, then soak your new cuttings in them for 1 more night, but only half way in the water).
Many trees can be propagated thos way, however it works the best (as a general rule) for softer woods such as bushes. Trees tend to be more effectively propagated by planting seeds, then grafting the cut wood (scion wood) onto the new seedling tree.
Nice, I did a video on sheet mulching and making a no dig bed using wood chips
I will make sure to check it out
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy nice one
Awesome guide thank you friend
Thanks. I'm really looking forward to redoing this video in the future. It's one of my more popular videos, but such low quality. I can't wait to rev this one up this spring.
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Sure waiting for the new videos very nice best wishes friend
I am going to redo this video. I will leave it up for now to keep the information available, but the quality isn't where I would like it to be.
Canadian Permaculture Legacy Look into the camera when you redo it. Right now it looks like you’re looking off to the side, like at some screen or something.
@@gibartnick thanks, I'm slowly getting better. It's hard to not look at the screen to make sure you are in the shot. But when you do, you aren't looking at the camera.
I also bought a gimbal stabilizer. This spring when I can prep a new bed, I will redo this video, and also provide progress updates.
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I really enjoy your videos. Another suggestion is to provide a quick written summary at the end with key points (e.g., "1. put down compost; 2. cover with cardboard" or whatever). Makes a world of difference in remembering instructions.
You suggested taking soil from old forests, to enoculate the garden with beneficial microorganisms.
Can you elaborate on that.
Can there be risks/downsides?
Definitely, but it falls under the category of don't worry about it. For example, there can be downsides walking to the store, you can get hit by a drunk driver that climbed the curb. But that doesn't mean you should never walk to the store.
The worst thing that you can do by taking a shovel of old growth forest soil is that you unintentionally propagate something like poison ivy, or a poisonous mushroom.
To mitigate that risk, you can observe that area for a season before you collect. But again, it's so unlikely, I wouldn't worry about it. This is what happens to us when we overanalyze stuff. Analysis paralysis is more dangerous honestly.
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy
I will definitely do this. Be it solely for the purpose of feeling like Sam gamgee from Lord of the rings, receiveing soil from galadriel :D
Haha, I read those books at least 10 times before I reached 30 years old. Channel your inner hobbit for sure.
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I hope you also read the silmarillion!!!
I started it, but I was too young to enjoy it. I just wanted more battles and such. I would enjoy it much more now, I just have no time. I think I will pick it up when the kids get older and life slows down a touch.
you are talking about compost and manure below and above the cardboard. Is it better to use fresh manure below to feed the animals and matured compost above or just matured one in general ?
and is there an alternative to compost , can i use like 80% horse manure ? it is quite hard to get 400cbm compost here for the 4000sqm forest garden. and you mentioned that you have grass/clover in between the tree row , how do i turn meadow into grass/clover ?
Yes this is a perfect min/max of the strategy. Fresh compost below (where it will last the longest feeding the soil life) and older stuff above (where it will not burn the roots of the plants that you will plant into it).
As far as alternatives go, yes, use whatever organic matter you have access to. For some it's manure. For others it's leaves. For others it's seaweed, or coconut husks, etc. Use what is readily available.
As far as turning meadow into grass/clover, I think the best way is spring/fall. A very low hard cut, possibly a light abrasion, such as with a broadfork, or cleated shoes dug/spin as you walk. You want disturbance, but minimal disturbance. Sow into the disturbance.
For higher climbing clovers like red clover, you may even be able to get away with a crimping, instead of a cut.
Odly enough i find it difficult to get woodchips or mulch or leaf bags in my area. (Yes i called forest maintenence, they dont sell it, yet they use it when planting)
I can afford few bags of comercial mulch (pine bark) but thats not enough for area i plan to sheet mulch
I have access to hay, straw and budles of corn stalks.
I was thinking about using what i have and basically use forest soil + hummus + mixed straw, hey, corn stalks + bit of pine bark and have 8-12inches (~30cm) of sheet mulch for area where i want to plant
I couldnt find any resources if hay, straw and stalks can be used for sheet mulching and i am bit afraid i will maybe create some issues by combining all this.
Got any advice or views on this?
Thank you for your time.
Go with living mulch instead. Get tons of seeds, and plant fast growing plants that you will chop/drop and build soil. Right now would be a great time to plant a bunch of winter rye for example. Grow your mulch :)
Hi there just wanna say immediate sub, your content and mind are awesome. I'm right in between zone 8b/9a on a way smaller scale in the hill country, you think any of this can apply to where I'm at?
specifically swales.
Oh absolutely, the only things on my channel that may not apply is when I walk about specific cold hardy varieties. Also when I talk about some of my apple or pear varieties, I dont care about chill hours (not a factor for me, since I get PLENTY) but it could matter for you. So just make sure you get varieties best suited for your zone. And that being said, the real changes happen from zones 10ish and up. Most things I plant are zone 4 to 9, even 4 to 10. I dont plant anything that is for example zone 3 to 6.
Everything about mulching, planting guilds, how to get started, that applies everywhere on the planet.
@@kawhihendrix5762 swales also, very applicable to you. The only times they aren't going to give you much value is in very very wet climates. However even there, the act of building the berm is going to help tremendously.
Swales are useful everywhere, they are just REALLY useful in drier or moderately dry climates. I am fairly wet here, but they are still incredible tools for me.
For you they will be very useful.
I know this is an old video but i had a question on sheet mulching under existing fully mature trees. I've heard you mention that sheet mulching can reduce oxygen in the area under it, can this have a detrimental effect on mature trees? Or really for that matter anything you might plant through it?
It can, but its relatively short lived, only a few months, if that. Trees can handle it. Also, in areas where you have a living tree, you also likely have good water absorption. So if yoy give a nice good deep soak like I mention in both this, and also my.more recent sheet mulching guides, then you will charge the soil with water that should last at least 2 weeks, likely a month.
When you say to “inoculate”, (wood chips, soil...) how do you suggest that is done???
Basically just add some in and let it do it's thing. For example:
Innoculate soil with forest soil: go get some forest soil and "plant it" into your soil. Basically just dig a hole put it in, cover it up. The soil life will reproduce and spread. Most of that stuff may already be there, but it's likely our lawns are just backfill on top of gravel from the build phase. The topsoil was all removed during contstruction and sold to landscaping companies and they give you back crap soil (I'm talking urban/suburban development companies). So if we are going to try to make a forest on junk soil, then getting some forest soil with it's corresponding microbiological ecosystem and planting it in our soils, and giving it forest-soil-food (woodchips) is a good idea.
For innoculating woodchips with fungal mycelium from a mushroom you want (say for example, King Stropharia), what you would do is buy a bag of sawdust spawn from a grower (fungi.com, etc) and then when it comes, open it up, dig a hole in your woodchip layer, crack off some spawn and plant it inside the woodchip mulch layer. I.e. don't dig a hole in the soil, just put the mushrooms in the wood where they want to be. Dig another hole a bit further away, crack off some more spawn, plant it. Rince and repeat. Recover these with woodchips to protect them from the sun. The mycelium will spread through your woodchip layer, and soon you'll have these popping up everywhere. From then on, every few years, just investigate how much your woodchip mulch layer has turned into soil and maybe top it up and add more on top. The mushroom mycelium mat is still there underneath and will move into this fresh stuff.
Innoculate biochar with nutrient and life: that's just putting it into compost and letting the compost microorganisms move into it in the following months. Once the compost is finished, just add it into holes you dig for plants and trees as you plant your stuff. Or even just spread it out on top of the woodchips - that's fine also. Let the rains bring it down. Maybe give it a good watering if it won't rain for a bit. Alternatively you can also rake back the woodchips and put the compost on top of the soil - I just like to not disrupt my mushroom mycelium mat.
When it doubt, just think about what nature does in a forest and do that. Nature has old trees die and fall over. Nature has leaves fall. Nature has animals walking by and fertilizing the soil with their waste. So just reproduce that. People always ask "can I just put a little manure down right on top of woodchips" and often people say "no don't do that!".... well, that's what nature does and it works.
I realize this video is older but I'm having an issue with the last load of wood chips I received and wanted to ask you a question. These wood chips are much finer than I have ever received. Water pools on the surface of these wood chips then evaporate in the heat. No amount of moisture gets through it. I have raked and turned them wetting them constantly but nothing as worked. The wood chips are sitting on the cardboard that is sitting on the grass. Will these wood chips eventually become absorbent?
Likely not, they have gone hydrophobic. This can happen with lots of stuff, but high carbon organic matter is really susceptible to it.
The best way to reverse this is to do a few things:
1) get is soaking sopping wet. Once it is wet, the hydrogen (van der walls forces) bonds of the water actually helps pull more water down and in. Once it gets soaking wet, it then loses its hydrophobic properties. As you know, this can be hard, as it wants to pool and not soak. Anyone who has ever used pure peat moss to start seeds will know "the feel" of what I'm saying. When its bone dry, it is hydrophobic. Once its soaked again, it is VERY moisture retentive.
2) break up the uniformity of particle size by mixing in larger particles. Sticks, twigs, large chunks should be mixed into finer grains. This let's gases both get in and get out, and also allows pathways for water to travel down.
3) add a bunch if nitrogen to help quickstart decomposition. Once its wet, if you have privacy a nice dose of urine will do wonders. If that grosses you out, you can also mix in some grass clippings.
Canadian Permaculture Legacy Thank you. I'm using a high jet sprayer now to wet and turn the chips. I have put grass clippings on and will continue to it so every time I mow. Ha! No problem peeing on wood chips. I don't have anything larger to use so will have to order some larger grade wood chips. Thank you for the information. I had no idea about hydrophobic. You learn something every day. I now have a plan and that makes me feel better👍
Where are you locatec with zone 5? We are 6b Toronto Ontario.
Do you have information on elderberry propagation and best variety for lots of berries?
We are in Cobourg. We are zone 5 Canadian zones, but USDA zone 4. Our zones are typically one "higher" than theirs, because ours look at more factors than just minimum temp.
For elderberries, I'm just learning myself. I have 4 varieties, and I planted them before I started cataloging things well. I know one variety is called black tower. I have a bunch of different types. I want picky on genetics at that point in my journey, so I can't help more than that.
For propagation, you can use traditional softwood cutting and hardwood cutting techniques. I believe that stool layering really works well also, which is where you take an existing bush and just mound a foot of compost around it, swallowing the lower portions of the bush. In the fall, gently pull the compost back and each branch will have rooted into it. You can then prune say 50% of these the first year, below the rooted area, and then go plant it out. I will be doing videos on stool layering this summer and they should be ready this fall.
I plan on doing this in the spring on hard compacted ground. Compost, cardboard, more compost, then woodchip mulch a few inches thick. Could I move wood chips aside then sow seeds into the compost?
Also, can you root any fruit tree cutting using the method you mentioned at the end of the video? Super cool idea! Great video
That's exactly right! Never sow into the mulch. Pull it back, sow into the compost, then lightly recoce the soil. Ince the plant it up, ensure all soil is covered well.
@@oneofanewkind5316 indeed. You can take some steps to help improve rooting, such as putting in fridge for callousing to start, wax to seal the cuts to keep moisture in, willow twig tea for a natural rooting hormone (salicylic acid), etc
So when planting, you are planting above the cardboard?
Yes, depends on how much compost is there, and what I'm planting. If I'm planting annuals then definitely just plant into the compost under the woodchips but on top of the cardboard. If I am planting a tree, I will punch through the cardboard and get deeper into the soil, because the pot will usually be 1 foot tall, so I need to go deeper.
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy ok, cool, thank you!! Great video, I'm enjoying the learning.
Can I put manure for the lower compost level as well?
Absolutely. Sorry I didnt reply sooner, I have had a crazy end of fall and early winter!