One of woodchip’s secret superpowers is its ability to restore the soil. If your soil is suffering, give woodchip a try! From bioremediation to erosion to soil compaction and more, woodchip is here to save the day. (And your soil!)

The following is an excerpt from The Woodchip Handbook by Ben Raskin. It has been adapted for the web.

With the potential for woodchip to boost soil health, hold onto water and promote plant growth, it is a small step to look at how to effectively harness that potential for rescuing degraded and damaged soils. There are numerous examples of how this has been done, and we’ll look at a few of them here. In some of the studies woodchip and biochar are used either comparatively or in combination, and there is certainly potential for combining the shorter-term benefits of woodchip with the longer-lasting properties of biochar. Both the physical and biological properties of woodchip are used in soil remediation.