wood chips instead of grass in small back yard

[Talisman]

Don't do wood chips. It's just too wet here and you're going to have all sorts of rot and bugs and mold and ticks and spiders and splinters and more mud and... You get it. Just don't.

You mentioned bugs, and among the insects wood chips attract are termites. Wood chips near a house foundation is asking for expensive trouble from nature's wood destroyers.

[MESH]

Put down weed block and use cedar bugs don't like it.

[ill-advised strategy]

Fwiw I’ve been throwing clover seeds around my yard for a few years now and I like it. It stays soft and green when the grass is looking dry. The bunnies and chippies seem to like it. It’s nice on bare feet.

[irul&ublo]

Looking for advice from the collective:

SO I have a small backyard, maybe 1/8 of an acre? It leads up to a public golf course, so it feels larger than it is

There is a paved drive and an unattached garage on one side and it is fenced ( we have 2 greyhounds)

It has a great old tree in the back by the garage which even after trimming doesnt give the lawn much sun. Garden along the fence on the perimeter for pretty stuff, veg & herb garden is in front where we get sun. For six years we have struggled to keep grass growing there and last summer my then 6 year old son and his buddies literally wore out the grass playing soccer, etc. Younger male dog tears it up running madly around the back yard after walks ( we rarely ever just let them out to do their business in the yard, they get walked 3-4x daily) These are behaviours I want to encourage not discourage. Way too young to tell kids to stay off the grass.....

Right now its a bit of a mud hole.

So my wife suggested and I am contemplating just putting down wood chips where the grass is. We can get them free from a landscaper we know, just a day of moving and spreading. Seems conducive to playing on, low maintenance and pleasant.

Anyone have any experience with this or know others that do? Any downsides I am not seeing?


Thank you

Fuck wood chips. Leaves and shit get into. DG is way to go

[Danno]

It's like you described my yard!

We put in wood chips over much of it, still have dirt and a clump or two of grass on the rest. The dogs track in mud all the time. We have no freaking idea what to do. I guess we could just woodchip the whole thing, but it does seem kind of weird.

I will say that we can use the leaf blower and it blows leaves and not chips, mostly.

After mentioning this thread to my wife, I've been instructed to post that you should definitely not do wood chips. Especially if you have dogs. Apparently we have a constant wood chips in the house problem.

[gravitylover]

You mentioned bugs, and among the insects wood chips attract are termites. Wood chips near a house foundation is asking for expensive trouble from nature's wood destroyers.

Yup.

[david clan]

nice

[MakersTeleMark]

#xeriscape

[Flyoverland Captive]

Fwiw I’ve been throwing clover seeds around my yard for a few years now and I like it. It stays soft and green when the grass is looking dry. The bunnies and chippies seem to like it. It’s nice on bare feet.

Honeybees thank you too.

[dannynoonan]

Fwiw I’ve been throwing clover seeds around my yard for a few years now and I like it. It stays soft and green when the grass is looking dry. The bunnies and chippies seem to like it. It’s nice on bare feet.

Hmmm, this is intriguing. How's the durability? I have kids, dogs, etc all that stuff so it's not exactly a Japanese tea garden back there, but I love me some clovers. They seem delicate, does it hold up to disrespectful little creatures?

[Conundrum]

Hard to scoop dog poop, not good for bare feet, if your dogs piss in the same place you’ll smell it, raking leaves sucks, blowing leaves can be tricky, weeds grow through, bugs like it, have to watch drainage, have to layer more on every year or so, tracks in the house.

But it is cheap and looks okay when new. Can be better than mud.

[Mulletizer]

Are there many cats in your neighbourhood? Or foxes? Both love to shit in wood chips.

[riser4]

Honeybees thank you too.

Just be careful not to step on one in those barefeet.

[goathead]

we did pea gravel for our dogs and it's worked out pretty well

[Woodsy]

Fuck wood chips. Leaves and shit get into. DG is way to go

DG?!?
sensing turf is the answer, but now I have another expensive project to ad on to stripping & repainting garage, repaving driveway, etc.
FFS

[Percy Rideout]

Slope? When it rains your yard can float away

This. Also will need filler every other year or so or the stuff will just decompose to dirt.

[AdironRider]

Mulch is for garden beds, not the actual garden.

[gatorboy]

We have rocks, grass, and wood chips in our back yard.
Golden loves scratching her back by rolling around in the chips.
Then brings this mess into the house.

[The AD]

Fwiw I’ve been throwing clover seeds around my yard for a few years now and I like it. It stays soft and green when the grass is looking dry. The bunnies and chippies seem to like it. It’s nice on bare feet.

Clover is sort of the bane of my existence (well, along with blackberry vines). You better be sure you want it before you sow any seed, because it's pretty difficult to control once it's established.

[riser4]

Clover is sort of the bane of my existence (well, along with blackberry vines). You better be sure you want it before you sow any seed, because it's pretty difficult to control once it's established.

I love clover lawns. We'd be better off as a society and a planet if the vast majority of us in the US didn't have a green grass lawn fetish.

[ötzi]

If it's green and you can mow it I'm perfectly okay with it.

[yellofin]

Go with the Bronx backyard
Cement

[dtown]

Not sure where the OP lives (maybe PNW) but if you’re in the eastern half of the country I would avoid it. Sounds like you’re in a wet climate and there is a fungus called blastomycosis that thrives in wet and rotting wood. 25% of dogs that get it die from it, many lose legs, eyes, etc. People can get it too and being that it’s a fungus it is a long timetable for a cure. Both my dog and daughter have had it, it’s a fucking bear to deal with.

Fungus aside, I’d go turf because it’ll be less maintenance and look better...or cut down the tree and keep the grass??


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[Beaver]

Just popped in to say wood chips suck.

If you want to use it (have kids rip it up having fun) but don't want mud, and don't want artificial, bring in a load of sand, lay down 2"-3", pack the shit out of it then sod it or seed it.

[ötzi]

Wait, don't beavers spend pretty much their whole lives making wood chips??