Sawdust for the garden: benefits and harms, use as a fertilizer. How to mix sawdust to fertilize the soil

Usually the owner at least small area tries to grow his own vegetables or fruits as much as possible. After all, they don't have chemicals that are used to improve yields in the beds. In addition, in the arsenal of even a novice gardener there are many home remedies that lead to a similar result, but are absolutely safe. Among them, the method of using sawdust is popular. But is it really effective - that's what worries inexperienced gardeners. So, let's figure out what is more from using sawdust in the garden - good or bad.

Sawdust in the garden - good

In general, sawdust is small wood particles, powdery, that appear when sawing wood. In fact, it is woodworking waste, which experienced gardeners prefer to be widely used in horticulture.

If we talk about what sawdust is for in the garden, then the range of their application is quite wide. First of all, sawdust is an excellent material for loosening dense, oily soil. In it, practically no air enters the root system, that is, there is no aeration. Of course, such a situation cannot but affect the normal development of plants. You can introduce sawdust into the soil by scattering them on the ground, 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 the past rain or watering, sawdust is sprinkled under the 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 a good material for fertilizer. And using them in this capacity, it is worth considering a lot of nuances. First, never use fresh woodworking waste. The fact is that such sawdust practically does not contain substances useful for plants, but, on the contrary, is washed out of the soil. important element- nitrogen. That is why it is recommended to first bring the sawdust to overheating, when the sawdust undergoes decomposition and acquires various microorganisms useful for the flora. The approximate time for overheating sawdust - 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 brought into the soil for digging.

Sawdust for the garden - harm

With all the advantages, it is impossible not to say a few words about whether sawdust is harmful to the garden. And there are reasons for this, since some gardeners were dissatisfied with the experience of using woodworking waste in their own plots, noting a decrease in yield. In fact, the owners of dachas simply did not have the necessary information and therefore made mistakes.

So, 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 lime them, mixed with dolomite flour. Otherwise, the soils will become acidic, which is highly unacceptable for such crops as cabbage, beets, onions, peppers, 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 hardwoods. In addition, their overheating time lasts twice as long - about a year.

Also, when purchasing garden sawdust, make sure it is not sourced from wooden furniture varnished or other chemical compounds. Otherwise, the plants are waiting for really continuous harm.

Sawdust is one of the most common organic fertilizers used by summer residents. However, many believe that in case of ignorance and non-compliance with certain rules of use, this cheap, environmentally friendly and practical material can severely damage plants. To prevent this from happening, you must first figure out how to use sawdust in the garden, and only then proceed to actions in your summer cottage.

Sawdust for the garden: benefits and harms, safe methods of use

Let's figure out how to use sawdust correctly so that they will surely benefit. Sawdust is really good as a fertilizer for the garden, but there are some nuances. You should not expect a rich harvest if they were simply thoughtlessly scattered along the garden until a stable microbial community has been created.

1st method: sawdust as compost

This is how it is done, and everyone has been scared for a long time that you should not use fresh sawdust for any crops. Decaying, they will use up the available nitrogen in the soil, while expelling toxic substances. It would be much more rational to make compost from sawdust.

To do this, the bottom layer of grass or hay is first laid out in the compost tank, and then the sawdust is compacted in layers of 10-15 cm. Each layer is significantly filled with a solution of water with urea, made in proportions of 200 grams of this substance per bucket of water.

Of course, mineral water can be replaced with weed infusion (there are more nettles and dandelions, but with roots) or diluted bird droppings. It is also good to layer each layer of 10-15 cm with earth in order to populate the compost with beneficial microbes.

When the whole pile is ready, it should be covered with a film or any material that does not allow drying. After two weeks, the pile must be poured with a shovel (transshipment should be done). After a two-month period, the sawdust will completely darken and a safe organic fertilizer for the garden is ready.

Method 2: Nitrogen Enriched Sawdust - A Quick Mix for the Lazy

There is not always time and patience to make a full-fledged compost fertilizer. Not a problem. Plants will benefit greatly from sawdust from raw wood mixed with a nitrogen fertilizer prepared in any of the following ways:

  • 20 grams of carbamide per kilo of wood chips;
  • 0.5 liters of bird droppings solution per bucket of water;
  • 3 liters of weed infusion for 7 liters of water.

You can mix dry sawdust with urea in advance, or first scatter them on an empty garden bed and spill it with a solution - it doesn’t matter. After a while, the ground covered with sawdust can be processed as usual. Enriched sawdust is great to use when laying high beds - they give looseness to the soil, improve moisture capacity.

Whoever has a little sawdust, you can enrich them with home remedies - rinse the bowl from the preparation of the dough for the jellied pie (another name is "charlotte") and soak the sawdust. The wash from the dough contains everything you need - the remains of eggs, flour, sugar. Soil biota will definitely be delighted with such a freebie. By the way, it is not a sin to powder the soil in pots of home flowers with such sawdust - evaporation from the soil surface will decrease, transpiration jumps will smooth out.

3rd way: enrichment of fresh sawdust with EM cultures

Wood sawdust as fertilizer for the garden can be enriched with EMs. It doesn't matter if it's purchased or homemade. We cook just like OFEM in this video of charming Valeria Zashchitina:

4th method: a mixture of fresh sawdust with compost or manure

Potatoes, tomatoes and carrots can be fertilized with sawdust interspersed with organic fertilizers. In this case, it is better to shower them on the ground autumn sometimes.

As for cucumbers, cabbage, gourds, then fertilize them in this way, preferably in the spring, mixing with farm animal manure and ash.

5th method: mulching the soil with sawdust

As already mentioned, due to the many publications, novice gardeners doubt whether it is possible to mulch fresh sawdust. It seems to us that such articles are incomplete and scare beginners in vain. sawdust - beautiful natural material, and to refuse such cheap organics is simply a sin. By the way, such a wonderful fertilizer as lingohumate is obtained from wood waste. Haven't tried? Try at least on seedlings.

How sawdust mulch will remarkably protect the soil from adverse weather conditions and drying, because they perfectly retain moisture. In addition, many rooted weeds will not be able to break through their stratification.

After a year, the sawdust will rot without a trace, saturating the soil during this process. nutrients which will ensure a good harvest. In the next season, it is advisable to take care of the plants by soaking the sawdust mulch with aerated compost tea or weed solution.

To avoid trouble

And, as usual, having considered all the advantages, we must still recall the harm of sawdust to the soil. There are not so many cons. For example, do not sprinkle the soil around the plants with sawdust of unknown origin. Varnishes, glue, carcinogens and others chemical substances contained in them can kill crops or spoil the expected harvest. If a mistake has already been made, all the beds should be generously watered with rotten humus. It will gradually cleanse the soil of unwanted substances.

The second warning is also quite simple - sawdust conifers trees contain organic resins, and they acidify the soil. It is desirable for them to mulch the soil near rhododendrons, blueberries and heathers. Or add deoxidizers - dolomite flour, ground eggshell and/or wood ash.

Third - sawdust of poplar, oak, walnut known to be allelopathic. That is, their excretion inhibits the growth of many cultivated plants. But do not throw away such organic matter! It is better to accumulate sawdust, shavings and foliage of these tree species somewhere separately (bag, box, etc.), spilling them with EMs or urea and calmly use them in a year or two.

By this time, the natural collins will have weathered out, the waste will be saturated with natural organic acids, saprophytes will develop in it, and the entire armada of soil biota will pounce on these sawdust when you distribute it in the garden.

Here are some ways to use sawdust in the garden. So do not be afraid of incomplete publications, and do not try to collect and take sawdust in the country somewhere, and even more so burn it - this is blasphemy! We hope excessive emotionality the article did not prevent you from understanding how you can use sawdust for the garden - the benefits and harms of their use in the country have become obvious.

Waste wood is used in the garden in different ways - as mulch, in compost. How useful it is to use sawdust as a fertilizer, what nutrients wood contains, in what form it is better to bring it into the soil for digging - the main questions for beginner gardeners.

If there wood waste, they are used to decorate the site - they sprinkle paths in the garden, flower beds. If the beds are located in a lowland, then with the help of shavings they can be raised.

sawdust properties

The use of sawdust in the garden in the fall helps protect the roots berry bushes from freezing. The fact is that root system they are superficial, located in the ground no deeper than 30 cm, therefore, in a cold climate, raspberries and gooseberries easily freeze out.

For this purpose, you can use fresh shavings, after sprinkling it with lime or any other alkali. This is done so that the wood does not take useful nutrients from the soil, especially nitrogen.

The fine fraction of wood helps to improve physical characteristics soils, especially clay or loam. When introduced into the soil by digging, sawdust in the garden and garden is used as a baking powder. As a result, more oxygen is supplied to the roots, the plants breathe and develop better.

The method of using sawdust in the country as sponges for water has proven itself well. The water entering the soil is retained by the wood, and the plants do not dry out in summer. If you mulch the soil and roots with sawdust after watering trees and shrubs in the fall, then the water lingers longer in the soil, the plants are provided with moisture for the entire cold period.

According to chemical indicators, rotted or composted wood residues are more useful. They contain the main nutrients - nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and calcium, have a neutral reaction and do not affect the acidity of the soil.

Small wood chips in the ground - benefit or harm

Not all plants love acidic soil, but only rhododendrons, azaleas, conifers, hydrangeas. For example, if you add 10 - 15 kg of fresh sawdust, there will be no harvest at all.

Video: Sawdust for a big harvest

Potatoes love nitrogen, and sawdust mineralizes fertilizer and prevents plants from getting it. When using sawdust as a fertilizer for potatoes, there will be no harvest for several years in a row. The same thing happens with tomatoes, cucumbers and other plants. This is a minus, but there is a solution - to neutralize the acid with alkalis:

  • ash;
  • calcium nitrate;
  • dolomite flour;
  • chalk or lime.

In this way, fresh shavings can be completely neutralized, so the question of benefit or harm when using sawdust in the garden remains open.

Mulching the soil with wood shavings does not allow weeds to grow, as it closes the sunlight. There is a secret here on how to use sawdust as mulch in a summer cottage and prepare them for soil application:

  • Take shavings bucket and spread on film.
  • sprinkle on top 200 g of urea.
  • Pour bucket of water, cover and leave to ripen 2 weeks.

So do with fresh shavings. Overripe ones do not need to be marinated. Next, mix the resulting substrate with ash or other alkali and apply under the roots. Such sawdust mulch will not harm plants.

The use of shavings as fertilizer

Prepared wood chips are in themselves a good top dressing. But there is a way to use fresh sawdust in the garden as fertilizer - to build compost heap and put them to rot.

in compost

How to make sawdust compost a bunch of:

  • Manure is an expensive pleasure if you don’t have your own animals. Therefore, it is possible to increase the amount of raw materials based on manure using wood residues. Since both components are nitrogen-containing, dry leaves, hay, straw are added to the compost so that it is evenly saturated with air and ripens faster.

On the cubic meter wood waste is necessary to make a centner of manure. The mixture matures within a year. If you need to make compost from sawdust quickly, then they use biological accelerators - bacteria.

  • Instead of manure, you can use urea or bird droppings. In the summer, the pile is covered with a film on top so that precipitation does not fall and nutrients are not washed out. watered as it dries out to maintain the same level of humidity at which bacteria have the opportunity to actively process organic matter.
  • Instead of manure, you can add kitchen waste. It is especially important in the fall, when people make conservation and eat vegetable peelings, rotten fruits, greens. 10 kg of wood ash, 2.5 kg of urea, 2 centners of chips, 5 buckets of water are added to a centner of waste.
  • You can compost sawdust with mineral fertilizers - potassium sulfate, superphosphate, ammonium nitrate and lime. A bucket of chips is 30 g of phosphate, 40 g of saltpeter, 120 g of slaked lime. After ripening, fertilizer is applied in 3 buckets per square meter.

Main condition rapid maturation- regular shoveling of the substrate. Compost is produced by aerobic bacteria that need air. The more it is ingested, the faster the microorganisms will multiply and the sooner they will process the raw materials. It is customary to stir the mixture every 2 weeks.

As a mulch

Apply sawdust to garden plot for mulching strawberries. This helps to protect the berries from rotting, especially in rainy weather. Ripening strawberries do not fall on the ground, so they are harvested clean and undamaged.

If you mix fresh manure with fresh shavings and cover the roots, you can avoid spring frosts. In such a mixture they quickly start earthworms and accelerate decay.

Eukaryotes eat organic matter and secrete coprolites into the soil - waste products that enrich the soil with humic acids. The harvest of berries with such top dressing will be 2 times more.

If sawdust is used as a mulching fertilizer, then rotted shavings are added to rotted manure, and fresh wood is added to fresh manure.

Seeds germinate in wet shavings, but they must be quickly transplanted into the ground, because the wood will not provide them with nutrients and the plants will die. In humus, seedlings can exist provided that superphosphate, nitrogen and potassium are added.

Coniferous sawdust and litter

Softwood waste is not as nutritious as hardwood shavings, but is quite suitable for restoring soil aeration. The method of preparation of coniferous sawdust is the same as for all other types of wood.

In order not to waste time and effort, coniferous litter or shavings can simply be scattered on the site layer 3 - 5 cm and leave for the winter. Wood holds back moisture loss, so soil microflora will actively develop in a humid environment.

This will attract earthworms - they will gradually process the mulch layer and loosen the surface of the soil. Planting something in such a plot in the spring will be much easier.

Considering that they are independently coniferous plant remains they rot very badly, before being stored in a compost heap, they are kept for some time in the air - an average of 1 year.

birch shavings

An interesting suggestion is where to use birch sawdust as a fertilizer in the country: fill them with large plastic bags, make holes and populate mushroom spores - mushrooms or oyster mushrooms. The fact is that the mycelium of these mushrooms loves only the substrate deciduous trees, quickly masters the environment, and mushrooms grow faster.

Mycelium shavings must be fresh and free of mold. It is pre-boiled for 2 hours, then dried and the mycelium can be populated. It is important to monitor the humidity - with an excess of water in the bags, mold can multiply. Humidity is checked by squeezing in the hand: if a couple of drops of water stand out, then it is optimal for planting.

In order for the mycelium to breathe, be sure to make holes in the film, otherwise the mycelium will die without air.

Using sawdust in a greenhouse

Most summer residents use shavings to heat the greenhouse. If you mix it with manure, the combustion process will begin, and warm air masses will warm the seedlings in the spring before the onset of warm weather. Lay the mixture under the top layer of soil or between rows.

Apply fertilizer from sawdust in the following way:

  • In autumn, a layer of dry foliage, straw and green grass is laid in the greenhouse.
  • In the spring, manure mixed with shavings is laid on top of the semi-overripe layer. Both layers are mixed.
  • Further on top is another layer of straw.
  • A layer of soil mixed with ash and mineral fertilizers.

Under the ground, wood rots faster because microorganisms from leaves and straw spread to the chips. Earthworms, attracted by the smell of manure, help the process. By next year, all that plant-based "hamburger" will be nutritious humus.

For cucumbers and tomatoes, sawdust treated with urea, superphosphate and potassium sulfate is a rich source of nutrition. Infused with aqueous solution shavings are used for digging with top layer soil. It is better if the wood lies in the air for about a year. It is also possible to grow seedlings in such a substrate, but it is pre-mixed with the soil.

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» Preparations

Inexpensive and affordable natural material- sawdust. They can be purchased at the nearest sawmill, obtained at own site during construction, sawing firewood. Farmers have found many ways to benefit from this waste. However, do not forget that they can be harmful. Further in the article, let's take a closer look at such aspects as the benefits and harms of using sawdust in the garden. And also how you can fertilize or treat the beds with them.

Sawdust and shavings are sometimes burned to obtain a mineral fertilizer - wood ash. But this is how valuable organic matter disappears, the voluminous loose substance disappears. It's better to do it the other way around:

  1. Mulching.
  2. Compost.
  3. Bookmark in the soil and greenhouses.
  4. Neutralizer of harmful substances.
  5. Acidifier.
  6. Dehumidifier.
  7. temperature insulator.
  8. Pest repeller.
  9. Additive to seedling soil.
  10. Substrate for mycelium, germination of seeds and tubers, forcing flowers and herbs.
  11. environment for winter storage rhizomes and tubers.
  12. Covering garden paths.
  13. Litter in animal husbandry and poultry farming, in a dog kennel.
  14. Filler in the country toilet.
  15. Stuffing material garden scarecrow, garden furniture and pillows.
  16. Construction raw materials (insulator, insulation, filler for sawdust concrete).
  17. Fuel in heating boilers.
  18. Source of smoke in the smokehouse.

sawdust close up

Varieties of small wood waste

Small waste from sawing wood is divided into chips, large and small fractions. There are also differences in the type of wood: from coniferous or from hardwood. Sometimes differences are important, for example: leaf waste rots faster; conifers are not suitable for smoking products, etc. But any organic matter is valuable. Before use, it is desirable to process sawdust.

Benefit and harm

  1. For humans and the environment, the presence of impurities such as creolin, chemical oils, paint particles, glue, gasoline is dangerous. That is why it is necessary to take processed wood products, and not chipboard or sleepers.
  2. Resinous substances inhibit the germination of seeds, the development of plants. This disadvantage is neutralized by scalding the substrate with boiling water, as well as by composting.
  3. Underripe organic matter (when applied to the soil and on its surface) begins to decompose by microorganisms that intensively consume soil nitrogen. Because of this, plants experience nitrogen starvation - turn pale, develop worse. Therefore, it is recommended to put only rotten sawdust into the ground, and when mulching fresh, flavor them with nitrogen fertilizers.
  4. Sawdust compost acidifies the soil. Simultaneous alkalization is necessary (in autumn - with lime, in spring - with dolomite flour, ash).
  5. Seedling sawdust soils dry out too quickly. It is necessary to observe the recommended proportions of the components, monitor the regularity of watering.

Mulching

Sawdust mulch is a cheap and convenient option. They cover it in the country:

  • surface of ridges with vegetables and strawberries
  • soil in raspberries, flower beds
  • trunk circles in fruit and berry garden

Sawdust in bags ready for soil mulching

The thickness of the layer can be from 4 to 20 cm.

Mulch is placed in spring or early summer, and for fruit and berry and ornamental crops it can also be done in autumn. At the beginning of the season, rotten sawdust compost of the last or the year before is used; at the end of the season, spring composting organic matter is suitable.

It is permissible to mulch with fresh sawdust. They are pre-cooked: soak strong mortar nitrogen fertilizers. To do this, 3 buckets of mulching material are poured with 10 liters of water, where a quarter kilogram of carbamide or nitrate is dissolved. It is best if this mixture stands for a couple of weeks before mulching (covered with polyethylene), after which you can pour it onto the beds. Mineral fertilizers can be replaced with fresh manure or manure (2 liters), but this mulch is not suitable for strawberries and some vegetables (for hygienic reasons).

Advantages of sawdust mulch

  1. the material is not clogged with weed seeds
  2. gradually overheating, the mulch enriches the soil with organic matter
  3. moisture is saved
  4. no soil crust and erosion
  5. roots are warmed, temperature differences are smoothed out
  6. comfortable for beneficial soil inhabitants (microorganisms, earthworms)
  7. the exit of some pests is difficult
  8. no dirty splashes from rain and watering - cleaner food and less disease
  9. inhibits the growth of weeds
  10. ridges, garden, flower beds look well-groomed and beautiful

Mulching sawdust beds with potatoes

How to fertilize with compost

The best way to dispose of sawdust is proper composting. Just poured out in a big pile, they will last for several years (especially from coniferous trees). Rotting is accelerated by layer-by-layer mixing with substances such as

  • manure, litter
  • feces
  • foliage
  • herbal humus
  • dolomite flour, ash.

The mass is regularly shoveled and spilled with water, as well as solutions mineral fertilizers, herbal infusions, biopreparations (Baikal, Flumb Super, Radiance). The process of compost maturation usually lasts from six months to two or three years. The minimum waiting period is 2 months.

Mixed compost is considered the best organo-mineral fertilizer for all crops.


Bookmarking in the soil and greenhouses

Fertilizer "works" in the ground for 3-5 years: it nourishes plants, loosens heavy loams.

Small wood waste is also used when laying biofuel in greenhouses and greenhouses. They are mixed: fresh sawdust to fresh manure, rotten to rotted (in a ratio of 1: 1).


Neutralizer of harmful substances

A fresh mass of small wood waste serves as an "ambulance" in case of emergency. It is added to the ground if an excess of nitrogen and other fertilizers is noticed. So plants will avoid fattening, accumulation of nitrates and harmful salts.

Acidifier in the beds in the garden

Sawdust is useful when planting and mulching those plants that love hyperacidity soil (hydrangeas, rhododendrons, azaleas, heathers, blueberries).

Pine sawdust as a desiccant


Fresh sawdust can absorb an amount of liquid that is 5 times its volume. They are good for filling drainage ditches, paths between high ridges in wetlands.

temperature insulator

In regions where winter low temperatures, dry sawdust close the root zone and branches of shrubs (grapes, hydrangea, rose, clematis) from freezing, planting winter garlic and perennial flowers (lilies, irises, chrysanthemums). To avoid warming up, shelter is made at the onset sub-zero temperatures, and disclosure - early in the spring. To protect against dampness, a waterproof material (polyethylene, roofing material, etc.) is placed on top.

Some fruit crops bloom very early, and the ovaries freeze slightly. If the root zone is covered with a powerful sawdust layer, then the trees and shrubs will wake up later. Flowering will move to a more comfortable time.


Pest repeller in the garden

Small wood waste is impregnated with tar or gasoline, laid out to repel rodents, onion and carrot flies.

Adding prickly sawdust makes it difficult for snails and slugs to move. The resinous aroma partially protects plants from the attack of beetles (Colorado, raspberry, flower beetle, weevil).

Additive to seedling soil

A soil substrate containing 10 to 50% rotten sawdust compost is recommended for

  • vegetable and flower seedlings
  • rooting cuttings and strawberry whiskers
  • growing seedlings with a closed root system.

Other components of such soil - garden soil, peat, some sand. Loose soil requires frequent watering or special additives that retain moisture (hydrogel, vermiculite, coconut substrate).

Underripe organic matter can cause starvation of young plants. If the foliage has turned pale, then it is necessary to give nitrogen-phosphorus top dressing.


Use of the substrate as a fertilizer

In fresh small sawdust, seeds of cucumbers (as well as zucchini, pumpkins, melons and watermelons) are germinated, seedlings are kept. The substrate is poured with boiling water, then the water is immediately drained. The procedure is repeated twice to wash off the resinous substances. The warm wet mass is laid out in a layer of 6 cm, dry seeds are placed in it to a depth of 1.5 cm (with a distance of 3 cm from each other). Crops are covered with a film and placed in a warm place. Shoots "shoot" after 3-4 days. Seedlings are ready for planting in two weeks.

In sawdust, you can make the forcing of green onions, tulip flowers. The substrate must first be shed with boiling water, flavored complex fertilizer dominated by nitrogen. Potato and dahlia tubers are germinated in the same way before planting.

The middle fraction of crushed wood of deciduous trees is used in the artificial cultivation of mushrooms such as oyster mushrooms.

Medium for winter storage of rhizomes and tubers

In autumn, flower growers dig up dahlia tubers, callas and begonias, canna rhizomes. They are stored in a cellar or refrigerator, sprinkled with dry, fresh sawdust. Resinous components inhibit decay.

Farmers are diligent and creative people. They are able to convert waste into income, especially when it comes to organics. As you can see, the use of pine or any other sawdust can be beneficial in the right hands.

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