You have plenty of good options instead of woodchips for your garden and yard. Straw, gravel, shredded leaves, pine needles, rubber mulch, and living ground covers can each fill the role. Your best pick depends on where you need coverage and what you want the material to do for your soil.
The full list of wood chip alternatives splits into two groups. Organic choices include straw, shredded leaves, pine needles, and grass clippings. Non-organic options include gravel, river rock, and rubber mulch. I've tried most of these in my own yard over the years. Each one has clear wins and losses when you stack it up against wood chips.
Straw became my top pick for veggie beds after I tested it for a full season. I spread a 6-inch layer between my tomato and pepper rows each spring. It kept the soil moist and stopped mud from splashing onto my fruit. The downside? Weed seeds hiding in the straw bales sprouted all over my beds. I pulled three times more weeds from my straw beds than from my chipped beds that same year.
Gravel works great for paths where you don't want to replace material every year. I swapped wood chips for 3/4 inch crushed gravel on my main garden path three years ago. It hasn't moved, rotted, or blown away since. But gravel adds nothing to your soil and makes the ground bake hot in summer. Your plants near gravel paths will need more water than those next to organic mulch.
You should know that rubber mulch comes with serious downsides. It lasts over a decade, but WSU research found it to be the most likely to catch fire of all mulch types tested. It also leaches chemicals into your soil over time. For play areas, wood chips at 12 inches deep give you the same fall safety without the fire risk or chemical worry.
Shredded leaves are your best free option for fall garden prep. Run your mower over fallen leaves and spread the chopped bits 3-4 inches deep on your empty beds each November. They break down over winter and feed your soil by spring. Pine needles work well around blueberries and azaleas since they add a touch of acid as they rot. You can often rake up enough from your own yard or a friend's pine trees.
Match your material to the job for the best outcome. Use straw for annual veggie beds you replant each year. Choose gravel for paths you never want to touch again. Spread shredded leaves each fall for free soil food. Plant white clover as a living ground cover between your garden rows. Each of these mulch alternatives to wood chips fills a gap that chips can't always cover on their own.
Read the full article: 10 Best Uses for Wood Chips
