Well, Jake, this is an interesting display for us.

A lot of mulch, a lot of dirt.

So what do we have here?

>>Well, we have an experiment that's taken its course over time.

And you're right, we have a lot of dirt.

But before we get to the dirt... >>Yes.

>>We gotta start out with the foliage.

>>Love it, always start with greenery.

>>And the end result.

>>Yeah.

>>So we're gonna be talking about wood chips and their effect on soil.

Wood chips versus mulch that you buy in the store.

>>Yes.

>>So this is a tree.

This is a small white oak that we've had at our shop, and every year it's struggled to grow.

So it's grown about this much every year.

You can see the bud scars.

>>Yes.

>>So we started putting wood chips on this tree, not mulch, wood chips.

>>Right.

>>Right here.

And this year's growth.

>>Oh my.

It's quadrupled, almost five times.

>>As you can see, is way more.

>>Yes.

>>So that's one example.

>>Okay, I'm gonna put this one over here.

>>And we have a middle-aged ash tree.

>>Uh-huh.

>>So this was three years ago.

>>Mhmm, just a few inches.

>>This is the growth.

We started putting wood chips on right there.

You can see this growth.

And then, this year it's really exploded, and you can see all that green is the growth from this year.

>>Wow, that's amazing!

So what you're doing is making a difference.

So, please, tell us what you're doing.

>>So that was the end result.

So this is kind of the beginning.

So this is an experiment that's been running for only a month.

So what you have here is bare soil.

You have mulch on one side- >>That you buy at the store.

>>That you buy at the store.

>>Mhmm.

>>And then, you have wood chips on the other side.

>>Which are from arborists.

>>From arborists like me, and we grind them up in a chipper and it comes out.

And so we're gonna see the result of after a month, are there any soil changes from wood chips versus mulch?

>>Okay, what did you find?

>>So you have, and we're starting out, this is not good soil.

>>Well, yeah, and the conditions have not been good.

>>They haven't been great.

So with mulch that you buy from the store, >>You pull it back.

>>You pull it back and it's not a lot of difference.

It looks kind of the same.

>>Okay, so what about this side?

>>So now you go to wood chips- >>And you pull it back.

>>And you pull it back, and you can actually feel the warmth- >>'Cause it decomposes, right.

>>And you can actually see my finger going down.

>>Going down, yes.

>>And if you compare it- >>It's not going anywhere, yes.

>>So, you know, one of the things that urban trees really struggle with is compaction.

>>Yes.

>>So you can see in a month, and it has been terrible conditions, in a month, you know, it literally has already kind of changed the whole makeup of the soil.

>>So I'm gonna ask why or how did this happen?

But we're gonna pull this over to help you explain.

>>So this is wood chips.

This is about a year, a year and a half, that's been on the ground.

And as I scrape away, you'll be able to see kind of the story.

So it starts out with wood chips up top.

>>And not too far down.

>>And not too far down, you'll start seeing all this white stuff.

>>Okay.

>>And so that is called mycelium.

>>And what does the mycelium do?

>>Mycelium is breaking down the wood.

So it's the fungus, it's basically the roots of the fungus that are really getting to work and breaking this wood down.

And if you go farther, all the way down here, you'll start to see how dark this gets.

And basically the darker the soil, the more organic matter it has, the more organic matter, the healthier it is.

>>The richer it is, yes.

>>Exactly.

So when you pull it all back, you can kind of see the story of the wood chips and how they work.

>>And, also, with all of this organic matter from the wood chips, you've got wood, but you also have leaf debris or needle debris.

So you've got organic matter, you've got all the components to break this down naturally.

>>Exactly.

>>And it will actually feed the microbial soil, the microbes in the soil underneath.

>>Exactly, it's like, mulch is basically a frozen patty of beef.

>>Yes.

>>It tastes good, it's great.

There's benefits to it.

>>Looks pretty.

>>Wood chips are fresh ground beef.

>>Yes.

>>It's always gonna win.

>>It is, well, let's go back to our mulch a minute to show people, you might wanna move that over one more, to show people just how the difference is.

This is all friable, it's easy, the water penetrates it quite simply, you know, this is wonderful.

I've used it for decades in my gardens and on the properties I've taken care of.

But that over there... >>So this is mulch that was laid down about two years ago.

And this is something common we see happen with mulch, which is, if you can hear that, it's hard.

It creates a mat, and you can actually pick that mat up and- >>Kind of like a pancake.

>>Like a pancake.

But what it does is it actually prevents water from even getting into the soil underneath.

So it creates this mat layer.

And there's been a lot of times, you can go up to a mulch pit and you can knock on it, and it sounds like you're knocking on the door.

>>It does, it does.

It's so compacted, it's come together.

It's kind of merged itself together to be as hard as a piece of wood almost.

>>Exactly.

>>Where again, this is just wonderful.

>>Exactly.

>>It enriches our soil, which enriches our plants.

And we all know, healthy soil is healthy plants.

>>Exactly.

>>But this is wonderful.

I love the fact that you've done this explanation so clearly so people can start to understand.

I'll be honest, right now at my house, I have a huge pile of chips waiting to be moved one wheelbarrow full at a time.

But, on the other hand, I know the value of it, so I'm willing to put the time into it.

>>Exactly.

>>So thank you so much for making this so clear and easy to understand, that chips are much better than mulch.

>>Yes, they are.

And we're just on the start, kind of, of this journey.

You know, the new research has come out probably in the last five to seven years, and most people still do not know about this.

So it is, even though it's as old as time, as old as chippers, you know, it's really kind of revolutionary right now.

>>Mhmm, a secret weapon that needs to be revealed once again.

>>Exactly.

>>So, thank you.