path construction

[Mike Green]

I have a quantity of Oak bark and was wondering if it would be good to put in the paths on my allotment.
My concerns are either it would harbour slugs or it could be too acid. Anybody got any thoughts?

[charles]

A good question Mike,and it’s certainly worth mulching paths, to maintain/improve their soil structure and thus allow plant roots to access food and moisture.
Ideally I would use year-old bark, not fresh, and in smaller fragments, so that there are less pieces for slugs to shelter under by day.
Any wood in small size is good for paths, from sawdust to shavings. Larger chips are best kept for mulching near perennial plantings such as soft fruit and shrubs, otherwise they can obstruct small seeds and plants, perhaps harbour slugs too.

[Mike Green]

Thank you Charles.
I have a few bags of chain saw “dust” which I was going to ditch, but will now head for the paths!
Is there no danger of making the paths very acid, as I instinctively think of sawdust as acidic?

[Andy S]

Bear in mind when using chainsaw chippings that it will contain an amount of chainsaw oil that is sprayed out from the chain. You probably won’t want to introduce this into your garden. I now use ordinary vegetable oil,rape seed, oil instead in my chain saw which is apparently fine for the chain though more prone to congealing if left for long periods.

[Mike Green]

That is a very interesting observation re. the oil. Thank’s for that.
Mike

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