permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>]

On Jan 10, 2014, at 9:34 AM, Jay Woods wrote:

> With lots of experience on irrigation canals including floaters and minor 
> experience filling one with chips:
> 
> I'd suggest using the chips in a mesh bag (wire or plastic). Otherwise, 
> they 
> will float off down stream. They will also act like a sand filter and catch 
> floating debris.

Ditto that. Wood chips float, pile up, block the channels, overflow onto the 
beds. They also soak up a lot of water, which has its good and bad sides. If 
you only have a slow, small amount of water in the channels, they are okay, 
but in heavy rain or flood irrigation they make a mess. Mesh bag is a good 
idea, but then you have a soggy mesh bag as a path.

Toby
http://patternliteracy.com


> 
> On Friday, January 10, 2014 11:46:45 AM Chris Carnevale wrote:
>> Hey all,
>> 
>> Have you experimented with filling irrigation channels with wood chips
>> so they can act as paths too? Does water still move much underneath the
>> chips or is it all blocked? I'm considering using this on a backyard
>> scale. Soil is sand/clay. Thoughts welcome.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> Chris Carnevale
>> Charleston, SC
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> human habitat