Sawdust for the garden: the benefits and harms of such fertilizer. Is it possible to use sawdust as fertilizer in the garden? What to do with fresh sawdust in the garden?
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Usually the owner is at least small area tries to grow as much as possible own vegetables or fruit. After all, they don’t have chemicals, which are used to improve crop yields. In addition, even a novice gardener has many home remedies in his arsenal that lead to a similar result, but are absolutely safe. Among them, a popular method is to use sawdust. But is it really effective? That’s what worries inexperienced gardeners. So, let's figure out what is more beneficial or harmful from using sawdust in the garden.
Sawdust in the garden - benefits
In general, sawdust is small, powdery wood particles that appear when sawing wood. Essentially, it is woodworking waste, which experienced gardeners prefer to be widely used in gardening.
If we talk about why sawdust is needed in the garden, the range of its applications is quite wide. Firstly, sawdust- This great material for loosening dense, oily soil. In it, practically no air enters the root system, that is, aeration does not occur. Of course, such a situation cannot but affect normal development plants. You can introduce sawdust into the soil by scattering it on the ground or digging it up. The main advantage of this baking powder is the absence of weed seeds.
The use of sawdust in the garden is shown in the form. After rain or watering, sawdust is sprinkled under bushes or on vegetable beds layer up to 4-5 cm. Such mulching is indicated for the first two summer months. In August, sawdust is not used for this purpose so that perennial plants can prepare for the cold.
Another purpose for which you can buy sawdust for the garden is that it is a good material for fertilizer. And when using them in this capacity, it is worth considering many nuances. First, never use fresh wood waste. The fact is that such sawdust practically does not contain substances useful for plants, but on the contrary, they are washed out of the soil important element– nitrogen. That is why it is recommended to first bring the sawdust to a boil, when the sawdust undergoes decomposition and acquires various microorganisms beneficial to the flora. The approximate time for sawdust to rot is 4-6 months. They are placed in a container, systematically watered with a solution (20 g per bucket of water) and covered with a thick film. When such compost is ready, by autumn it is added to the soil for digging.
Sawdust for the garden - harmful
With all the advantages, one cannot help but say a few words about whether sawdust is harmful for the garden. And there are reasons for this, since some gardeners were dissatisfied with the experience of using wood waste in own plots, noting a decrease in yield. In reality, dacha owners simply did not have the necessary information and therefore made mistakes.
For example, it was already indicated above that only rotted sawdust should be used as fertilizer. If you want to loosen the soil with sawdust, do not forget to liming it, 
mixed with dolomite flour. Otherwise, the soils will become acidic, which is extremely unacceptable for such agricultural crops as cabbage, beets, onions, peppers, and asparagus.
It is also worth limiting the use of coniferous sawdust for the garden, in which the concentration of resins is much higher than that of deciduous sawdust. In addition, their overheating lasts twice as long - about a year.
In addition, when purchasing sawdust for the garden, make sure that it was not obtained from wooden furniture, coated with varnish or other chemical compounds. Otherwise, the plants will be truly harmed.
Hello friends! About the benefits and harms of sawdust summer cottage gardeners have been arguing for a long time. Some are categorically against their use, while others regularly sprinkle them in a thick layer in the garden and claim that this improves the structure of the soil and fertilizes it. Who is right? We'll figure out!
But first, let's talk about the properties of sawdust.
They help it breathe and prevent the formation of a crust on the surface of the earth, so there will be less need to loosen the plantings.
For plants, this feature is, of course, only a plus.
A controversial fact... But partly this is true. In any case, not everyone will make it through.
But this is only true if they have rotted well and if they were introduced into the soil correctly.
And this is a minus. Some gardeners have had negative experiences and say that even fertilizers don’t help – almost nothing grows in the garden. Let's talk about this too.
They “steal” it from plants, and this is also a minus. However, any negative can be turned into a positive if you know how to do it. 
Problems and solutions
So, problem number 1 -soil acidification. If you mulch with sawdust, or, then there is no problem at all - they love “sour” things. For most other plants, acidification is detrimental.
Solution:If you remember from chemistry course, alkalis and acids neutralize each other by reacting. Remember how long ago you “quenched” soda with vinegar when preparing dough? The same can be done in the garden plot.
Just instead of soda you need to use:
- (peat or wood);
- regular lime or special deoxidizing lime (sold in stores);
- dolomite flour;
- (potassium chloride, potassium or ammonium sulfate, calcium or sodium nitrate, superphosphate);
- crushed chalk.
In general, it is necessary to add alkalis with sawdust. The main thing is to follow the dose and rules. So, with lime and dolomite flour, you need to add fertilizers enriched with boron and manganese to the soil. To do this, use special tests with litmus papers. They are also sold in garden centers and are very easy to use (no chemistry knowledge required).
Problem #2 - "pulling" nitrogen. And with a lack of nitrogen, as we know, plants develop poorly.
Solution: urea (calcium nitrate). In this case, you must use water so that the fertilizer dissolves and the sawdust is saturated with it.
Now let's move on directly to ways to use sawdust in the country.
Ways to use sawdust in the country
It would be wrong to limit ourselves only to methods of improving the soil with the help of sawdust, because their possibilities are much wider. Therefore, I will generally describe the scope of use of sawdust in a summer cottage.
1. Sawdust - mulching material
Objectives of any mulching material:
In order for sawdust to become a good mulch, you need to prepare it. Here's one way:
After the sawdust has “ripened”, sprinkle it on the ground in a layer of 3-5 cm, mixing with the ash. Or you can mix it with alkali at the first stage. I’ll note right away that it’s not necessary to cook rotted sawdust this way, but fresh sawdust needs to be “marinated” in any case.
Gardeners who grow this kind of mulch are especially fond of it - the berries are always clean and do not rot when they come into contact with the soil. At the end of the season, the sawdust is dug up along with the ground.
- not a cheap pleasure. To generously fertilize the entire area, mix manure with sawdust and let it rot well. The worms will do their job, and the sawdust will quickly become safe for your garden.
The ratio is as follows: for 1 cubic meter of sawdust, 100 kg of manure (preferably cow) and 10 kg of bird droppings are required. This mixture should last for a whole year. Periodically, the compost heap needs to be watered, “flavored” with hay, grass, leaves and kitchen waste. It is better to cover the pile on top so that rain does not wash away useful elements. Instead of manure, you can use urea alone, mullein or a solution of bird droppings.
Before starting the compost pile, be sure to thoroughly moisten the sawdust with water. Slurry or liquid waste from the kitchen is also suitable. In addition, it is useful to compost heap there will be ordinary soil, at the rate of 2-3 buckets per cubic meter of sawdust; this is necessary so that the worms get to work faster.
3. Sawdust for paths
Firstly, it looks beautiful and neat. With this you can even late autumn walk without the risk of getting mud on your shoes.
Secondly, less grass grows on such paths. The sawdust is compressed and prevents the growth of weeds.
And thirdly, sawdust sprinkled between the rows protects the edges from drying out. Do not forget that fresh sawdust must be prepared in any case.
4. Sawdust for beds
If your site is located in a low area, you can use sawdust to raise the level of the beds. To do this, dig a trench 25 cm deep, cover it with straw or hay and fill it with sawdust (with urea and alkali, of course). Dug up soil is the most fertile upper layer— we place it on top, thereby raising the level of the beds. Immediately place sawdust between the beds. When they rot, they can be used to fertilize the plantings.
5. Sawdust for seed germination
Sawdust easily replaces soil, but only for the period while the seed contains nutrients. If the plant is not transplanted into the ground in time, it will die.
To germinate seeds in sawdust, you need to do this:
- Pour sawdust into the container thin layer and place the seeds on them.
- Sprinkle the seeds with another layer of sawdust, lightly. You don't have to sprinkle it, but you will need to check the moisture content often. So it's better to sprinkle it.
- Cover the container with polyethylene and place it in a warm place (+25...+30 degrees). When shoots appear, the container must be removed to a cooler place, the polyethylene removed, and the sawdust sprinkled with soil on top.
- As soon as the seedlings have their first true leaf, we plant them in the ground in separate containers.
This way you can germinate almost any seed.
6. Sawdust and early potato harvest
Do you want to eat new potatoes before all your neighbors? Use sawdust! What do we do:
- Sprout tubers of early varieties in the light.
- Moisten the sawdust with water and pour it into the box in a layer of 10 cm.
- Place the potatoes on top, sprouts up, and sprinkle them with another layer of sawdust (2-3 cm).
- Keep the sawdust moist. When the length of the sprouts reaches 6-8 cm, we plant the potatoes in the holes and completely cover them with soil. You need to lay straw or hay on top, you can cover it with film for the first time (if it’s still cold).
This method of preparing planting material allows you to harvest the harvest several weeks earlier than usual. 
7. Sawdust and plant insulation
Most reliable way- Fill bags with sawdust and place them around the plants. In this case, the sawdust does not get wet during bad weather, does not freeze, and does not become a habitat for mice. True, there is a more reliable way. Thus, the vine is often insulated in the following way: a frame is knocked together from boards (like a box without a bottom), placed on the plant, covered with sawdust on top and covered with polyethylene. They also put a layer of earth on top. With such protection, the plant is not afraid of any frost.
You need to carefully insulate plants with sawdust. If you just pour sawdust, it will get wet and then turn into an ice ball. In addition, as already mentioned, mice and other rodents can “have fun” in them. Therefore, it is better to use the dry method of insulation with sawdust, be sure to cover them on top with polyethylene and something inaccessible to mouse teeth.
8. Sawdust on the farm
What else can you do with sawdust in your dacha? Here are some possible areas of their application:
Of course, now there are more modern and safe materials- for example, ecowool, - but you can use sawdust the old fashioned way. And if you mix them with clay and apply them to the floor of the attic, you will not only insulate the ceiling, but also take care of fire safety.
There are even heating boilers, which work specifically on compressed sawdust. 
Previously, this was the only way to plaster: they mixed clay with sawdust - and that’s plaster. Cement can be used instead of clay. The method is suitable, for example, for plastering garden house or gazebos.
Children actually love them as much as sand! Did you know that you can even make colored appliques from sawdust? To do this, they need to be painted in a gouache solution and dried in the sun. Then draw some kind of outline on the cardboard, spread it with office glue and sprinkle multi-colored sawdust on it, creating appliqués.
As you know, sawdust absorbs water well. Therefore, feel free to use them if the cellar is too damp: sawdust will absorb excess moisture, and fruits and vegetables will not rot.
If you are interested in sculpting, you should know: a beautiful glaze on products appears when they are fired again using sawdust, when burned, the product quickly heats up and cools down.
Do you make toys, decorative pillows for the garden or dolls? You can fill them with sawdust. By the way, now is the time to make a garden scarecrow for the new summer season.
Juniper sawdust can be used to make cabinet scent. Place them in a cloth bag and hang them in the closet.
In this case, sawdust plays 2 roles: floor insulation and hygiene products (absorb slurry and waste). However, not all are worth using.
Of course, sawdust is best fruit trees- they contain less resins. Pine ones are possible, but it is advisable to dry them well first. But nut sawdust can even cause inflammation of horses’ hooves.
They smolder slowly and produce a lot of smoke, which is what you need when smoking.
Sprinkle them on icy paths. Safe and environmentally friendly!
Perhaps there are some other ways, but nothing else came to my mind. Maybe you know how else you can use sawdust on the farm? If yes, share with us in the comments. And I would like to hear from each of you whether you use sawdust in your dacha, how, and what benefits it gives you. Thank you all for your attention, I will be glad to receive your comments.
I really love planting plants in my garden, caring for them, and harvesting them. But all the pleasure of working in the garden is ruined for me by the numerous weeds that grow and grow, no matter how much you remove them!
A lot of time is wasted fighting them! This would have continued to this day if I had not complained to a colleague about the weeds, and she said that her garden has been free of weeds for a long time, thanks to the wood shavings that she sprinkles between the rows of vegetables and in the aisle between the beds.
This year I decided to do the same. Weeds have decreased significantly. In this article I will list the benefits and harms of sawdust, tell you what fertilizers can be made from them, and how to use them correctly in the garden.
In Soviet times, sawdust was often used by gardeners as mulching and fertilizer to help plants grow better. Fortunately, this material is suitable for any soil.
Fresh sawdust has the ability to absorb all the liquid and take away useful substances from the soil, therefore experienced gardeners to increase their benefits, add wood chips to various mixtures for fertilizer.
There, during infusion, the chips become covered with beneficial bacteria, which then saturate the soil with microelements necessary for the development of plants. In addition, they release essential oils to the soil and plant.
The wood material You can buy it inexpensively at any sawmill or get it from sawing firewood or any construction. The main thing is that they do not contain chemicals and that the percentage of conifers is minimal, since not all plants like it.
Some gardeners use shavings to insulate the soil around bushes and plants in the winter, but you need to remember that it is recommended to spread it in a thin layer, since under a thick layer the earth begins to rot and rot.
Most best material obtained from hardwood trees, but conifers increase the acidity of the soil, so they only mulch beds with cucumbers, carrots and tomatoes.
pros
Let's consider the advantages of wood chips:
- Helps retain moisture in the ground for a long time. It is especially irreplaceable in the hot regions of Russia. Thanks to the sawdust carpet, there will be no hard crust on the ground during drought.
- Blocks access of weeds to the ground surface. To do this, the shavings are poured in a thick layer. Only the toughest weeds can grow past this obstacle.
- They are insect repellents. That's why they generously sprinkle it around fruit bushes and berries.
- Helps some plants survive the winter thanks to mulching.
- Can be used as fertilizer.
- If you prepare it correctly, you can get humus excellent quality, which can replace cow dung.
- Coniferous chips are an excellent antimicrobial agent, as they do not infect plants with various microbes, like deciduous wood.
- With its help, you can correct too wet soil by simply sprinkling this material between the rows.
Minuses
There are fewer disadvantages, but they still need to be taken into account when using wood shavings in the garden:
- They absorb all the liquid and beneficial minerals, causing the soil to become poorer. The nitrogen content is especially greatly reduced.
- Pine shavings make the soil more acidic, so they are not used to mulch cabbage and beets.
- If sawdust is taken from uninspected places, you can lose almost the entire harvest due to destructive bacteria.
- If you use fertilizers containing shavings that have not had time to rot, you can get a negative result.
Fertilizer recipes
Since they take all the water from the ground, they are mostly used as fertilizer, where they are indispensable. It’s just that wood chips are used only in weed control and for draining too much wet soil. In order for sawdust in fertilizers to work properly, it must be carefully prepared and in no case should the rotting process be rushed.
Typically, wood shavings take at least ten years to rot; compost is made to speed up this process. That is, this wooden material is mixed with manure and left to infuse. Usually the mixture with sawdust material begins to be prepared two weeks or a month in advance.
Ash
First, 200 kg of sawdust are placed at the bottom of a 50-liter container, about 100 kg of any grass and food waste are thrown on top, and 10 kg of ash is added. The layered cake pour 2.5 kg of urea dissolved in 50 liters of water. Then they are covered with a film with small holes for oxygen access. Leave it all until completely ready.
Organic enrichment
If the soil is too poor in nutrients, then this recipe, which increases the nitrogen content in the soil, can save the situation.
To do this, mix 50 kg of manure, 200 kg of wood waste, 30 kg of any food or human waste in one heap, and add 100 kg of regular fresh grass. It's all done by eye required quantity humate solution (1 drop is enough per 100 liters of liquid).
Fresh sawdust
As we already know, fresh wood chips are not used to make the mixture. But what if you urgently need to fertilize the beds? There is a recipe according to which the mixture will be ready in two weeks. To do this, pour a glass of slaked lime, 30 grams of granulated superphosphate, 40 grams of ammonium nitrate, 10 grams of calcium chloride into a ten-liter bucket filled to the top with sawdust.
This is all mixed and insisted on the street or open veranda. In no less than 14 days, this mixture will be ready to be added to the soil during digging. After which all the beds need to be watered, then the separation process will begin useful substances. For one square meter Two buckets of this mixture are enough.
Mulching
Typically, the beds begin to be mulched with sawdust at the beginning of summer to protect young shoots from weeds, which take all the nutrients for themselves. Already in July there will be no trace left of the wood chips, as it will mix with the soil with the help of rain and earthworms.
Usually they begin to use it as soon as the sprouts reach about 7 cm in height. And the rows in the garden bed should be mulched with a thin layer of 2-3 centimeters so that the soil does not rot. A bush plants Protect from insect pests and diseases by sprinkling around the trunk.
Fruit bushes sprinkled with wood chips will look especially beautiful. In addition, thanks to this protection, the fruits grow beautiful and do not rot, which is especially beneficial for raspberries. And if you sprinkle soil around the bushes in the fall, even the youngest seedlings will survive the harsh winter without any problems.
To do this, wood chips are mixed with peat and compost for the winter. In spring, the mulched soil under the bushes will only need to be dug up.
Standard preparation of sawdust mulch: 3 buckets of wood chips are poured onto a huge waterproof film, 200 grams of urea are poured on top, all this is filled with 10 liters of water. Then they cover the top with another film, the edges of which are fixed with stones so that it does not fly off.
All this is left to infuse for about two weeks. After which this mixture can be spread between the beds mixed with ash.
If strawberries or strawberries are thoroughly covered with sawdust, the berries will remain clean and snails and slugs will not be able to crawl onto them. The layer thickness should be about 6 centimeters.
But before that the earth is thoroughly saturated minerals, since the sawdust material will take part of useful minerals. Then the procedure is repeated in the fall so that the strawberries survive the cold well and keep the roots in a healthy state.
Early potatoes
This recipe is only suitable for early variety potatoes. In order to early potatoes better grown and ripened as early as possible; experienced gardeners warm it up in wood shavings. Two weeks before planting, the sprouted potatoes are placed in a box full of wet sawdust.
Then a 3-centimeter layer of shavings is covered on top. For two weeks in a row, you need to maintain their humidity and ensure that the air temperature does not fall below 20 o C. During this time, the sprouts on the potatoes should reach a height of 8 cm.
Before planting, each potato is moistened in a fertilizer solution and planted in the ground. in the usual way. If the forecast predicts frost, then the entire bed is covered with polyethylene.
Germination of seeds
In order for the seeds to germinate well and form strong roots, they are germinated in sawdust, which turns into loose material. In this case wood chips should be very fine. True, gardeners need to remember that sprouted seeds are replanted in the ground on time. If you postpone this matter until later, they may die.
Chips are extracted only from deciduous trees. Oak doesn't count. And it must be rotted. A thin layer of wet small shavings is poured onto the bottom of a flat container with low sides. After that, the seeds are carefully laid out on them and fertilizer is poured on top.
After which it is all covered with a film with small holes for oxygen. This capacity placed on the windowsill sunny place. After the first shoots have hatched, the film is removed and a thin layer of soil is sprinkled on top, in which they will then grow.
This is done so that the plant gets used to the composition of the soil. At the same time, the container is placed in a cooler place. After one or two leaves appear, the sprouts are transplanted into a separate pot with soil.
Various industrial wastes are often used in the household.
Often they can successfully replace purchased products and turn out to be no worse in quality.
Waste generated during the sawing process of wood (sawdust) can be very helpful in the garden.
After all, with their help:
- fertilize the soil, making it more fertile;
- create favorable conditions for germination of seedlings and seedlings;
- fight weeds;
- regulate soil acidity;
- protect plant roots from drying out and frost;
- make the paths cleaner and more convenient for movement.
Most types of seedlings must be planted at the very beginning of spring, when the air temperature at night often drops to negative values.
Because of this, the soil temperature does not exceed +5 degrees, so it the roots do not develop well and the plant becomes sick.
If it is not possible to install a greenhouse, then good decision You may end up pouring fresh wood waste into grooves or holes.
Sawdust needs to be poured 3–5 cm below the root level, That's why seats go a little deeper.
Having dug a hole or groove and placed some sawdust on the bottom, water them with any fertilizer that contains nitrogen and phosphorus, you can also add a few grains of urea.
In this case, bacteria that ensure the decay of wood waste and raise its temperature will take these substances from the fertilizer that has soaked the soil and the top layer of soil will be provided with constant heating, and also will not lose the microelements necessary for plant growth.
Wood sawing waste is better suited for this type of bedding. deciduous fruit trees(pear, apple, apricot, etc.). If such sawdust is not available, then you can use any other deciduous waste, mixing it with a small amount of manure or droppings to speed up the decomposition processes of wood.
If only pine sawdust is available, then you need it mix in equal parts with manure, and also treated with aerobic bifidobacteria. Such preparations are sold in gardening stores, they can also be bought on the Internet, for example. The cost of packaging sufficient to process 25 m2 is 4–4.5 thousand rubles.
Place on top of the sawdust mixture of garden land and humus, because in most cases garden soil is severely depleted, so the plant will not be able to develop normally in it.
The mixture of soil and humus contains many useful substances and microelements, so the planted seedlings will not suffer from a lack of them.
Do not mix soil with unrotted sawdust, droppings or manure, because this mixture will burn the roots of the plants and you will not receive a harvest.
If you have completely rotted sawdust, then they can also be added to the mixture of soil and humus; they will improve the structure of the soil, so that the earth will be better filled with water, air and various nutrients.
In addition, rotted sawdust will provide the plant with additional nutrients, in particular calcium and phosphorus.
This planting method can be used for any garden plants, but for best result soil acidity must be taken into account.
It can be determined using tests or by looking at the plants on the site. If they grow there:
- sorrel;
- horsetail;
- buttercup;
- sorrel;
- blueberry,
That the earth is very acidic and holes or grooves for planting are needed pour slaked lime solution, and sprinkle the bottom layer of sawdust with wood ash.
If the following appeared on the site:
- heather;
- fern;
- cornflowers,
that's enough pour lime mortar into the holes or groove.
Most root vegetables, as well as cucumbers and tomatoes, love moderately acidic soil, so if the site does not have the above plants, then sawdust poured into the bottom of the hole, grooves or furrows will slightly acidify the soil, so that the seedlings will grow better.
Rotted sawdust does not change either the acidity or the amount of nitrogen in the soil, therefore, by mixing it with soil and humus, you only add additional fertilizers, so no acidity or nitrogen adjustment is required.
The same method of adding sawdust to the bottom of grooves or holes can also be used for planting seeds directly into the ground. However, for such planting a greenhouse is necessary, because the time for planting seeds is in February and March, so sawdust burning will not be able to warm the ground and air to the required level.
Planting seeds on sawdust allows you to meet deadlines and avoid transplanting from pots into soil that injures the roots of plants, because, unlike soil, sawdust has a very loose structure, so When transplanting, the roots are kept intact.
If you are going to grow seedlings in separate containers and then transplant them into open or closed ground, then completely rotted sawdust is needed mix with soil and humus. This will ensure maximum amount nutrients and elements necessary for seedling growth.
Fertilizer
Sawdust are good material to obtain fertilizers, and depending on the method, its composition, characteristics and the time during which they are converted into fertilizer change.
Here main methods of obtaining fertilizers:
- natural decay;
- rotting with droppings or manure;
- rotting with the addition of bifidobacteria.
The natural decay process takes several years, and its speed depends on the type of wood, humidity and temperature.
Soft hardwoods rot most quickly. The process lasts somewhat longer in hardwood waste of medium hardness. Sawdust from coniferous and hardwood species takes the longest to rot.
Adding to wood waste droppings or manure accelerates their decay, as well as does ready humus more useful.
In addition to glucose, calcium and phosphorus, it contains nitrogen and other useful substances. Adding bifidobacteria to the mixture of sawdust and litter or manure allows you to obtain ready-made humus within several months.
Such fertilizers can be apply from autumn to spring. In the summer, when the plants gain strength and bear fruit, it is not advisable to do this. After all, the soil must absorb the fertilizer and mix with it, otherwise in the area of the roots there will be areas where the content of useful substances exceeds not only the norm, but also the safe value.
That's exactly how it turns out vegetables soaked in nitrates– the fertilizer was applied at the wrong time and it did not have time to dissolve in the ground. As a result, the roots of the plant ended up not in the soil, but in the fertilizer and absorbed too many nitrogen compounds.
Mulching
After watering, water not only saturates the soil and goes deep, but also evaporates from the surface.
The evaporation process directly depends on wind speed and air temperature, so on sunny or windy days the ground dries out quickly.
As water evaporates, soil moisture drops and plant roots lose their ability to absorb nutrients and microelements necessary for growth.
The roots can only absorb an aqueous solution of these substances.
A layer of sawdust laid on top of the soil (mulch) reduces the rate of moisture evaporation, due to which plants absorb water solution more efficiently and need watering less often.
Fresh sawdust negatively affects the acidity of the soil and also draws nitrogen out of it, so immediately after laying mulch from sawdust, the soil must be watered not only with water, but also solution of nitrogen-containing and alkaline fertilizers.
In addition, these fertilizers need to be applied 2 more times throughout the season - in mid-spring and mid-summer. For more information about this process, as well as about various combinations of fertilizers, read the article (Sawdust mulch).
Weed and pest control
Chemical control methods used in the fields not always applicable in the garden, because domestic animals often run along it, which can be poisoned. Therefore, gardeners are forced to look for other methods of control, one of which is to cover the soil with a thick (5–10 cm) layer of sawdust.
This is similar to mulching, but not only the area around the plant trunk is covered, but the entire bed.
Wood waste, laid in a thick layer, deprive weeds of seedlings sunlight , due to which they cannot grow and soon die off.
Slugs are one of the most dangerous and tenacious pests living in vegetable gardens. Mulch made from fresh sawdust sticks to the body of slugs, causing them to lose their ability to crawl and soon die from dehydration.
This mulch should be added once a week in a thin layer, and pour over the coffee residue dissolved in water, which is harmful to slugs.
If you only have rotted sawdust, then due to the softening of the wood during the decay process, they can no longer stop slugs, so useless in the fight against these pests.
Backfilling of paths
During the rain the paths between the beds become muddy and turn into a difficult-to-pass porridge, so many gardeners fill them with various materials.
Wood waste is suitable for this task better than crushed stone, broken slate or brick, because they not only remove dirt, but also improve soil structure. In addition, the bottom layer of the fill gradually rots and after 1–4 years, depending on the humidity and type of wood, turns into good fertilizer, which is received by nearby plants.
If over time you decide to change the shape or location of the beds/plantings and dig up the garden, then sawdust will be useful in this case too.
They will improve the structure of the soil, making it looser, and also fill the soil with nutrients.
To reduce Negative influence wood on the soil, 3-4 times a year, water the sawdust-strewn paths with urea and slaked lime or ash solution.
These drugs compensate for the loss of nitrogen in the soil, and also adjust the acidity of the soil to an acceptable level.
Choosing between coniferous, including pine and hardwood sawdust, take into account different time their rotting. Deciduous wood turns into humus much faster, and the softer the wood, the less time is needed for this process.
Waste from sawing alder or poplar will rot in 1-2 seasons, and waste from oak or coniferous wood will rot in 3-5 seasons.
Can do not divide the garden into beds and paths, covering the entire area with sawdust. Optimal thickness layer - 10 cm. In this case, it is advisable to use rotted sawdust, because it is advisable to dig up the ground before winter and spring.
Fresh wood, once in the soil, will acidify it and reduce the level of nitrogen content. If there is no rotten wood waste, then immediately after backfilling and in the fall, after harvesting, pour the sawdust with a solution of droppings or manure, as well as a means that accelerates the proliferation of bifidobacteria.
From spring to autumn, these sawdust will play the role of mulch and filling, and bacteria will turn them into high-quality fertilizer by spring. Having plowed the entire garden, you will mix the soil with fertilizer, thanks to which all plants will receive more abundant and balanced nutrition.
Coniferous and deciduous – which is better for the garden?
On numerous forums, users often ask the question - which sawdust is best for the garden and is it possible to use coniferous or other wood waste?
At correct use any sawdust brings many benefits, but improper use can be harmful and completely destroy the harvest making the land unsuitable for growing some plants.
Any waste from sawing wood make the soil more acidic and also draw nitrogen out of it, therefore it is necessary to add fertilizers along with them to compensate for these changes.
Sawdust, both completely or partially rotted and fresh, improves the structure of the soil, which is especially important in clay soils. On special heavy soils consisting of solid clay, it is necessary add sand along with sawdust.
Fresh wood waste becomes very hot during the process of decay, which leads to an increase in soil temperature and overheating of plant roots, so fresh sawdust cannot be laid close to the roots.
That's why there is not much difference between coniferous and deciduous sawdust - with correct use they bring a lot of benefit, but mistakes can cause harm and lead to dire consequences. Majority negative reviews about the use of sawdust in the garden due to their misuse, while those who have applied them correctly are happy with the results.
Conifers
However, it is important to understand the differences between hardwood and softwood sawdust, as well as how the latter affects the soil.
In most cases, pine sawdust means pine or spruce sawdust as the most accessible, as well as as cheap as possible. Pine and spruce are used for most carpentry and carpentry work, so sawdust is everywhere.
Fresh pine and spruce sawdust due to the high resin content, it takes much longer to rot deciduous and also pull more nitrogen from the soil.
Improper use of pine and any coniferous sawdust causes much more damage to the garden than deciduous sawdust.
Due to the high content of resins, humus from pine sawdust contains more microelements necessary for plants, therefore better suited for balanced feeding.
If pine sawdust is placed in furrows, ditches or holes, then due to the greater need for nitrogen for complete decay, it is necessary to increase the amount of nitrogen-containing fertilizers.
In addition, pine sawdust acidify the soil more strongly, so you need to increase the amount of slaked lime or ash.
Use pine and other pine sawdust in the garden not only possible, but also necessary, taking into account their characteristics and compensating for the negative impact on the earth. Only in this case will they bring much benefit.
Deciduous
Due to the lower resin content, humus from leaf waste is slightly less balanced, but they rot faster. Besides, sawdust are less accessible, so dried and crushed branches and branches of fruit trees are often used in the garden.
In this article we talked about the places where you can buy wood sawing waste, and also talked about in various ways, which allow you to save on their purchase.
Only A complex approach, which compensates for the negative impact of wood on the soil, will lead to improved plant development, as well as more abundant and high-quality fruiting.
Video on the topic
This video talks about using sawdust in the garden:
Summarize
Sawdust is Very useful material , which will be useful to any gardener. After all, they are used for:
- mulching;
- filling paths;
- plant nutrition;
- improving soil structure;
- earlier planting of seedlings or seeds.
After reading the article, you learned how to use this material correctly and what mistakes garden owners most often make.
Hello my readers! Many summer residents use on their personal plots pine or wood waste. They can become like organic fertilizer, and a protective litter for fruits. But, despite this, disputes regularly arise about whether sawdust in the garden is beneficial or harmful to plants?
There are many ways to use sawdust. They are mixed with compost, used for germinating seeds. But each case has its own secrets.
How do sawdust affect the soil?
To answer the question of how to use sawdust in the garden, you need to consider its effect on the soil.
The softer the soil, the more air it contains and the better it absorbs liquid. Organic additives help increase friability and prevent crust formation on the surface. Why are these techniques needed? Plants under such conditions develop full-fledged root system and grow faster.
You can mix semi-rotted or rotted sawdust into the soil. Brown. It will take a lot of time to prepare the material. You will have to wait more than 10 years. For a tree to rot, it needs living organic matter and moisture. But the process can be artificially accelerated. Urea can be added to the mass and used as mulch. Or let it rot by mixing it with manure or compost.
If this fertilizer is used in large quantities, additional lime or eggshells as acidity increases. This is perhaps the only disadvantage of using sawdust.
Mulching with sawdust
Mulching will help with the following problems:
- In regions where drought lasts for a long time, it can protect the soil from overheating and excessive loss of moisture. For example, this is how to protect tomato plantings.
- This method is also useful for strawberries. Mulch poured under the bush protects the berries from dirt, rot and slugs.
- Weeds grow through this layer very poorly.
- Mulch protects beneficial bacteria at the planting site from the sun. Microorganisms reproduce better in it and become more active.
Not only rotted sawdust, but also fresh sawdust is suitable for mulching. They are poured in raspberry fields, on beds and under bushes of plants in a layer of 3-5 centimeters. Fresh material is pre-enriched with nitrogen. To do this, pour it onto a spread film (3 buckets), add 200 g of urea and moisten it with 10 liters of water. New sawdust is poured on top and all steps are repeated. The resulting fertilizer is covered with film for two weeks.
Mulching is used at the beginning of summer so that earthworms can mix everything with the soil by autumn.
Fertilizer for beds
The use of sawdust as fertilizer is also quite common. To do this, use mulch prepared earlier. It is necessary to take into account that if at the end of summer the layers of soil and fertilizer are not mixed, a vegetable garden is needed. Otherwise rainwater will penetrate poorly into the soil.
Compost
To the question “can sawdust be used with compost”, many summer residents answer positively. To do this, rotted sawdust is mixed with manure - 100 kg and bird droppings - 10 kg and left to ferment for a year. To moisten the mass, water or liquid food waste is added.
Using material to form beds
What sawdust can be used in the garden and why is often of interest to many. Another option for use is that they can be used to easily form ridges. Any wood waste is suitable for this. First, long furrows are dug and the soil is piled up along them. The walkable depressions are filled with small shavings, and the excavated soil is used for growing vegetables.
Using sawdust you can form high bed. First, a little soil is removed from the future planting site. Lay a layer of leaves or straw, then mulch, again the first components and cover with the removed substrate. To prevent shedding, a barrier is made from the boards. Berries and vegetables grow very well on such an organic bed.
Sawdust for growing potatoes
To obtain early harvest potatoes, you can use sawdust. Before planting (2 weeks before), you need to pour them into boxes in a 10-centimeter layer, put the sprouted vegetables and fill the top completely with the same sawdust.
The workpieces should be stored at a temperature no higher than 20 degrees and the substrate should be kept moist. It should be moderately moist and not dry out.
When the garden warms up and the potatoes grow 10 cm, the entire contents of the boxes are transferred to the holes, then watered abundantly mineral fertilizers. Then the tubers are dug in, covered with straw and insulated with film. This will bring the harvest forward by several weeks.
You can find out another way to use sawdust for sprouting potatoes.