What can be made from sawdust: we extract benefits and benefits from wood waste. Sawdust for the garden: the benefits and harms of such fertilizer

The vast majority of gardeners are convinced of the value of such fertilizer as manure, although at current prices very few buy it, unfortunately, they cannot afford it. But few people know about the benefits of sawdust, although it is a very valuable organic material that, if used correctly, can provide very good results.

At the same time, this organic material regularly appears in considerable quantities to everyone who enthusiastically continues to carry out construction work in their garden. And purchasing a machine of sawdust is not a problem for many, since they are much cheaper compared to manure.

Sometimes some enterprises even take them to a landfill. Meanwhile, options for using sawdust on garden plot quite a lot - they are placed in compost, used as a mulching material and when forming ridges, sprinkled on paths, etc. And they are even used as a substrate for germinating potatoes and seeds, and seedlings are grown on them.

However, you should not take these words quite literally and immediately start, for example, growing tomatoes on sawdust or covering raspberries with a thick layer of sawdust - nothing good will come of this, since everything is not so simple.

How do sawdust affect the soil?
Soils containing large number loosening organic matter, in particular, sawdust is breathable and absorbs moisture well, and plants develop well on such lands. Such soils practically do not form a crust that is harmful to plants, which means they need to be loosened much less often.

However, all this is true only if rotted or at least semi-rotted sawdust is used, which, unlike fresh sawdust, have dark brown or, accordingly, light brown shades. And sawdust rotting is a slow process: fresh sawdust rots in the open air very slowly (10 years or more).

The reason is that sawdust needs living organic matter and water to ripen. There is no living organic matter in a heap with sawdust, and as for water, there is no water inside the heap either, since the top layer of sawdust forms a crust through which moisture does not seep into the heap. You can speed up dehumidification in two ways: either add sawdust in small doses to a compost heap or greenhouse beds along with fresh manure, or use it as mulch after enriching it with nitrogen.

In addition, sawdust from our tree species, unfortunately, slightly acidifies the soil. Therefore, when using them in large quantities, the soil must be additionally limed.

Sawdust as a mulching material
For mulching, you can use rotted, half-rotted or even fresh sawdust in a layer of 3-5 cm - such mulch will be especially good under bushes, in raspberry fields and on vegetable beds. Rotted and half-rotted sawdust can be used directly, but fresh ones will have to be prepared first; if this is not done, they will take nitrogen from the soil, and therefore from the plants, and as a result, the plantings will wither.

The preparation process is relatively simple - you need to put a large film on a free area, then sequentially pour 3 buckets of sawdust, 200 g of urea onto it and evenly pour out a 10-liter watering can, then again in the same order: sawdust, urea, water, etc. d. When finished, seal the entire structure with film, pressing it down with stones. After two weeks, the sawdust can be safely used.

True, it makes more sense to use such mulching material only in the first half of summer, when moisture from the soil is actively evaporating. In this case, in the second half of summer, only memories will remain from the mulch, because... thanks to the active activity of worms and loosening, it will be well mixed with the soil.

If you pour such a thick layer of sawdust in the second half of summer, when there is a lot of rain, then such mulch will prevent the evaporation of excess moisture from the soil, which will negatively affect the ripening of annual shoots of fruit and berry plants and their preparation for winter.

If the layer of mulch turns out to be too large and it does not mix with the soil, then in the second half of summer, during heavy rains, it is necessary to thoroughly loosen the mulched soil. If rains are rare, then this operation can be postponed to autumn, but loosened (or dug up or processed with a flat cutter, if we're talking about about vegetable beds) you still have to, otherwise in the spring the frozen layer of sawdust will delay the thawing of the soil layer. This is especially important for areas where planting is carried out in the early stages.

Sawdust in greenhouses and greenhouses
In closed ground, sawdust is absolutely irreplaceable. They are useful for flavoring both manure and plant residues. In combination with sawdust, manure and all kinds of tops warm up faster in the spring.

In addition, the rate of their overheating increases, and the resulting compost will be much better both in terms of looseness and breathability, and in terms of its nutritional value and diversity of composition. Just keep in mind that when using fresh manure, fresh sawdust is used, which will take away excess nitrogen from it, and if rotted manure is added, or if you do without it at all, then only rotted sawdust is used - they do not need additional nitrogen.

You can add sawdust to the ridges of greenhouses and greenhouses both in spring and autumn, and it is best to mix them with other fragments of the soil being formed. It makes the most sense in the fall to lay a layer of plant debris on the ridges in the form of straw, fallen leaves, mown grass and various tops. And in the spring, add a layer of fresh manure, sprinkle the latter with lime and not a large number fresh sawdust, then use a pitchfork to mix the manure with other organic residues. After this, you will need to cover the manure with a small layer of straw or leaves, lay a layer of soil, adding ash and mineral fertilizers to it. For better heating, it is also advisable to pour boiling water over the ridges and cover them with film.

Sawdust in compost

Since it is the rotted sawdust that is of the greatest interest, it is wiser to compost some of the sawdust. It is best to mix them with manure and bird droppings (100 kg of manure and 10 kg of bird droppings per 1 m2 of sawdust), and then let them sit for a year, moistening and covering them if necessary, so that the beneficial substances are not washed out. It is also useful to add mowed grass, hay, fallen leaves, kitchen waste, etc. to this compost.

In the absence of manure, you will have to add urea to the sawdust (200 g of urea for 3 buckets of sawdust), you can replace the urea with diluted mullein or a solution of bird droppings.

To speed up the rotting process of sawdust, before adding compost, you need to moisten it well with water, or even better, with slurry or kitchen waste. In addition, it is useful to add soil to the sawdust: two or three buckets per cubic meter of sawdust. In such compost they will multiply quickly earthworms and microorganisms that accelerate the process of wood decay.

If sawdust was stored near abandoned areas overgrown with weeds, they also need to be pre-composted. Moreover, the compost heap must warm up to at least +60°C - only in this case the weed seeds, which can remain viable for up to 10 years, will die. You can achieve such heating of the heap by watering sawdust hot water followed by quickly covering it with plastic wrap.

Sawdust on strawberry beds

Sawdust will also be useful when mulching strawberry beds - it will not allow the berries to touch the ground, and this will reduce fruit loss from gray rot. And when applied in the fall (a very thick layer is required), sawdust will also protect the strawberry plantings from winter freezing, and next year they will prevent many weeds from germinating. True, when mulching strawberries, you need fresh sawdust, pre-treated with urea, and preferably from coniferous trees. Indeed, in this case, they will to some extent begin to scare away the weevil.

Sawdust when forming ridges in low places
Sawdust will also help raise ridges in low places. In this case, wide (30-40 cm) furrows are dug around the proposed ridge to a depth of 20-25 cm. The soil removed from the furrows is placed on the bed. Sawdust is poured into the trenches formed around the bed.

This is beneficial for a number of reasons. Firstly, after any rain you can walk to the garden bed in slippers. Secondly, by filling the furrows, you will thereby prevent the bed (especially its edges) from drying out. Thirdly, sawdust will prevent weeds from germinating. Fourthly, in the future, rotted sawdust will become an excellent fertilizer - when they are transferred to the garden bed, the soil will become not only lush, but also warmer and more fertile.

Sawdust on high ridges
In high beds formed on a thick layer of organic matter with the addition of a small amount of soil, vegetables, flowers and other plants grow well. garden plants. You can also create such a multi-layer bed using sawdust.

First, remove the top fertile layer of soil and set it aside. In the resulting trench 1 m wide and 3-5 m long (the length depends on your desire), lay a layer of grass (hay, straw, etc.), add a layer of sawdust flavored with urea.

Then lay another layer of organic debris, such as leaves, and cover the entire structure with the previously deposited soil on top. And to prevent the earth from crumbling along the edges of the ridge, build a kind of barrier around it from mown grass, straw or layers of turf (it must be placed with the roots facing out). Keep in mind that plants on such a ridge require more water, so it’s a good idea to cover the sides of the bed with film to reduce evaporation.

Sawdust as a substrate for seed germination
There are two technologies for sowing seeds for seedlings: directly into the soil or into old sawdust. Sawdust is an ideal soil for a short period of time, because... they represent a very loose substrate, ensuring intensive development of the root system, on the one hand, and guarantee absolutely painless plant transplantation, on the other.

True, we are talking about a short period, because... sawdust does not contain nutrients in a form accessible to plants, and therefore plants can develop on them only as long as they have enough nutrition from the seeds - that is, approximately until the appearance of the first true leaf.

The technology for sowing into sawdust is as follows. Take a flat, shallow container filled with wet sawdust. Seeds are sown into it at a certain distance from each other and again sprinkled with sawdust - the last operation for many seeds need not be done, because In the light, seed germination increases. True, in the absence of a top layer of sawdust, the risk of seeds drying out increases, and if you do not have the opportunity to check their condition several times a day, then it is better not to refuse the top layer.

Containers are placed in slightly open plastic bags V warm place(for example, on the battery, if it is not too hot there). During the germination period for many seeds, in particular nightshade crops, it is desirable to maintain a temperature of approximately 25...30°C. With the emergence of seedlings, the temperature is reduced: during the day to 18...26°C, and at night to 14...16°C, but the temperature data given, of course, is for different plants vary.

After the emergence of seedlings, the bags are removed, sawdust is sprinkled with a layer of fertile soil of about 0.5 cm, and the containers are moved under fluorescent lamps. When the first true leaf appears, the plants are planted in separate containers.

Sawdust for early potato harvest
If you dream of getting an early potato harvest, then sawdust will come to the rescue here too. Get the right amount of light-sprouted potato tubers of early varieties, several boxes and old, moistened sawdust. Two weeks before planting the tubers in the garden, fill the boxes 8-10 cm with sawdust, place the tubers upside down in the boxes and cover them with a layer of the same substrate 2-3 cm thick.

Make sure that the substrate, on the one hand, does not dry out, and on the other, does not become waterlogged. Provide it with a temperature no higher than 20°C. When the height of the sprouts is 6-8 cm, water them generously with a solution of complex mineral fertilizers and plant them together with the soil in prepared holes, covering both the tubers and sprouts with soil. Before this, the soil must be pre-warmed, covered in advance with plastic film, and after planting, the entire potato plot must be covered with straw or hay, and then with the same plastic film, so that the tubers do not freeze. As a result, you will speed up your potato harvest by several weeks.

Sawdust as a fertilizer causes a lot of controversy among gardeners and gardeners. Many consider them an excellent fertilizer, others are against the use of such organic matter. Which one is right? Like any fertilizer, the use of sawdust requires some knowledge, since if you use it thoughtlessly, you will not get a positive effect, but you can also cause harm.

There are many options for using sawdust in the garden:

Effective mulching material for forming beds;
Sprinkle sawdust on the paths;
Used as a substrate for germinating seeds and potatoes, as well as for growing seedlings;

The effect of sawdust on the soil: benefit or harm?

Soil rich in a large amount of loosening organic matter, such as sawdust, is breathable, absorbs moisture well, and as a result, plants actively develop in such soil. Such soil is not subject to drying out, does not form a crust during dry periods, and therefore requires less frequent loosening.

However, all of the above advantages relate to to a greater extent rotted sawdust, which is dark or light brown in color.

Fresh sawdust

Using large amounts of fresh sawdust can do more harm than good to the soil.

During the decomposition of sawdust, soil bacteria consume a large amount of nitrogen from the soil, thereby significantly depleting it. Plants growing on this land are deficient in this essential microelement.
In addition, fresh wood shavings are replete with substances harmful to vegetation, such as resins.
Fresh sawdust can negatively affect the condition of the soil, as it has an acidifying effect. Therefore, when using them, the soil needs additional liming.
Therefore, fresh sawdust should absolutely not be used. Most best option, make compost from sawdust.

Sawdust compost

When preparing compost, you also need to adhere to some technology, because if you just dump wood shavings in a heap, and hope that it will rot over time. This process will take a lot of time. The fact is that sawdust piled up will never get wet through (this is a prerequisite for rotting), even if it rains heavily. The wet top layer, after drying, forms a strong crust that protects the lower layers from any influences.

In the compost heap, mix 1 cubic meter. sawdust with manure (100 kg) and bird droppings (10 kg);
Sawdust should first be thoroughly moistened with slurry or water;
You can also add fresh grass clippings, fallen leaves or plant waste to speed up the process.
If the required amount of manure is not available, it can be replaced with a solution of urea (200 g per 3 buckets of sawdust), or a solution of mullein and bird droppings.
During the year, the compost will mature, during which time it is necessary to regularly moisten and cover the biomass so that the beneficial substances are not washed out.
To improve the quality of compost, you can add a little soil at the laying stage: 2-3 buckets per 1 cubic meter. sawdust, then earthworms and microorganisms will become accelerators of wood decomposition and transformation into high-quality compost.

Keep in mind that if the sawdust was stored near abandoned areas where there were thickets of weeds. Such sawdust should be cleared of possible contamination with weed seeds using the hot composting method. To do this, the temperature in the biomass should be brought to +60C. This can be achieved by watering the sawdust with hot water and immediately covering it with plastic wrap to maintain the temperature.

Mulching material

Sawdust as a fertilizer, sprinkled with a layer of 3-5 cm as a mulching material. Particularly good this material for mulching the soil under raspberry bushes, strawberry and strawberry beds, when growing vegetables, as well as for flowers.

Rotted sawdust is immediately ready for use, but fresh sawdust should be prepared first, as it can draw nitrogen from the soil.

Preparation for mulching

Place a large oilcloth or film on the ground
Pour sawdust (3 buckets), urea (200g) in order and moisten evenly with 10 liters of water, then repeat everything in order.
At the end of the work, cover the sawdust with film, making it as airtight as possible, and place a few stones on top.
After two weeks, the sawdust is ready for use.

It is most effective to use this mulching material in the first half of summer, during the period when active evaporation of moisture occurs from the soil. With this approach, by the end of summer the mulch will have done its useful work, and thanks to the work of earthworms and regular loosening, the sawdust will be completely mixed with the soil.

If initially a too thick layer of mulch was poured, then by the end of summer it should be mixed with the soil, thoroughly loosening the soil. Otherwise, with the onset of spring, the frozen layer of mulch will become an obstacle to thawing of the soil cover. It is especially important to take this fact into account when processing areas where early spring plantings are carried out.

For greenhouses and greenhouses

When growing cucumbers and tomatoes indoors, sawdust as a fertilizer is an indispensable material.

Sawdust is used in combination with manure and all kinds of tops; in this combination, the compost rots much faster. When preparing compost, you should keep in mind: fresh sawdust is added to fresh manure, which will take on excess nitrogen; when using rotted sawdust, rotted manure or sawdust is also added as independent material– because they do not require additional nitrogen.

Sawdust can be added to the beds of greenhouses or greenhouses in spring and autumn. To add sawdust, you can use this method:

In autumn, place a layer of vegetation residues (straw, fallen leaves, mown grass and plant tops) on the beds;
In spring, add a layer of fresh manure and sprinkle it with lime and a small amount fresh sawdust;
Thoroughly mix sawdust, manure and plant residues;
Then you should cover this mixture with straw or leaves and lay a layer of soil, adding ash and mineral fertilizers to it;
For better heating, it is recommended to pour boiling water over the soil and cover it with film.

Sawdust for sprouting potatoes

To obtain an early potato harvest, sawdust serves as an indispensable material.

First of all, you should acquire the required amount of moistened sawdust and sprouted potato tubers of early varieties.
A couple of weeks before the planned planting of potatoes in the ground, fill the boxes with sawdust to 10-15 cm, place the potato tubers there.
Place a 3-5 cm layer of substrate on top.
Make sure that the substrate is optimally moistened, do not allow it to dry out or become waterlogged, and maintain a temperature of no more than 20C.
When the sprouts reach 6-8 cm, water them thoroughly with complex fertilizer and plant them together with the substrate in the holes, sprinkling the tubers and potato sprouts with soil.
It is recommended to pre-heat the soil; to do this, cover the soil with plastic film in advance.
After planting potatoes, cover the entire area with hay or straw, and then with the same film, to prevent the tubers from freezing.
As a result, the potatoes will ripen several weeks earlier than usual.

» Medicines

An inexpensive and accessible natural material is sawdust. They can be purchased at the nearest sawmill, or obtained on your own site during construction or sawing firewood. Farmers have found many ways to benefit from this waste. However, do not forget that they can also cause harm. Later 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 beds with them.

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

Mulching.
Compost.
Adding to soil and greenhouses.
Neutralizer of harmful substances.
Acidifier.
Dehumidifier.
Temperature insulator.
Pest repeller.
Additive to seedling soils.
Substrate for mycelium, germination of seeds and tubers, forcing flowers and herbs.
Wednesday for winter storage rhizomes and tubers.
Covering garden paths.
Bedding in livestock and poultry farming, in a dog kennel.
Filler in a country toilet.
Material for stuffing garden scarecrows, garden furniture and pillows.
Construction raw materials (insulator, insulation, filler for sawdust concrete).
Fuel in heating boilers.
Source of smoke in the smokehouse.

Sawdust close up

Types of small wood waste

Small waste from cutting wood is divided into shavings, large and small fractions. There are also differences in the type of wood: from coniferous or from deciduous species. Sometimes the differences are important, for example: leaf waste rots faster; Coniferous trees are not suitable for smoking products, etc. But any organic matter is valuable. It is advisable to treat the sawdust before use.

Benefits and harms

The presence of impurities such as creolin, chemical oils, paint particles, glue, gasoline. That's why you need to take pure wood products, and not chipboard or sleepers.
Resinous substances inhibit seed germination and plant development. This deficiency is neutralized by scalding the substrate with boiling water, as well as by composting.
Unripened organic matter (when introduced into the soil and onto its surface) begins to decompose by microorganisms that intensively consume soil nitrogen. Because of this, plants experience nitrogen starvation - they turn pale and develop worse. Therefore, it is recommended to put only rotten sawdust in the ground, and when mulching with fresh sawdust, flavor it with nitrogen fertilizers.
Sawdust compost acidifies the soil. Simultaneous alkalization is necessary (in the fall - with lime, in the spring - with dolomite flour, ash).
Seedling sawdust soils dry out too quickly. It is necessary to follow the recommended proportions of components and monitor regular watering.

Mulching

Sawdust mulch is a cheap and convenient option. They cover it at the dacha:

surface of beds with vegetables and strawberries
soil in raspberry gardens, flower beds
tree trunk circles in a fruit and berry garden

Sawdust in bags, ready for soil mulching

The layer thickness can be from 4 to 20 cm.

Mulch is applied in spring or early summer, and for fruit and berry plants ornamental crops– it is also possible in the fall. At the beginning of the season, rotted sawdust compost from last year or the year before is used; at the end of the season, organic matter from spring composting is suitable.

It is also possible to mulch with fresh sawdust. They are pre-cooked: soaked in a strong solution of nitrogen fertilizers. To do this, 3 buckets of mulching material are filled with 10 liters of water, where a quarter kilogram of urea or saltpeter is dissolved. It is best if this mixture sits for a couple of weeks (covered with polyethylene) before mulching, after which you can sprinkle it on the beds. Mineral fertilizers can be replaced with fresh manure or droppings (2 liters), but such mulch is not suitable for strawberries and some vegetables (for hygienic reasons).

Advantages of sawdust mulch

the material is not contaminated with weed seeds
gradually rotting, the mulch enriches the soil with organic matter
moisture is saved
no soil crust and erosion
roots are insulated, temperature changes are smoothed out
comfortable useful soil inhabitants(microorganisms, earthworms)
makes it difficult for some pests to escape
no dirty splashes from rain and watering – cleaner products and fewer diseases
inhibits weed growth
ridges, garden, flower beds look well-groomed and beautiful

Mulching a potato bed with sawdust

How to fertilize with compost

The best option for sawdust disposal is proper composting. Simply poured out in a large heap, they will rot for several years (especially from coniferous trees). Rotting is accelerated by layer-by-layer mixing with substances such as

manure, droppings
feces
foliage
herbal humus
dolomite flour, ash.

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

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

Adding to soil and greenhouses

The fertilizer “works” in the soil for 3-5 years: it nourishes plants and loosens heavy loams.

Small wood waste is also used to add biofuel to greenhouses. They are mixed: fresh sawdust with fresh manure, rotted with rotted manure (in a 1:1 ratio).

Neutralizer of harmful substances

Fresh mass of small wood waste Serves as an ambulance in emergency situations. It is added to the soil if an excess of nitrogen and other fertilizers is noticed. This way the plants will avoid fattening, accumulation of nitrates and harmful salts.

Acidifier in garden beds

Rotten sawdust is useful when planting and mulching those plants that love increased acidity 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 and paths between high ridges in wetlands.

Temperature insulator

In regions where in winter low temperatures, dry sawdust is used to protect the root zone and branches of shrubs (grapes, hydrangea, roses, clematis), planting winter garlic and perennial flowers (lilies, irises, chrysanthemums) from freezing. To avoid overheating, the shelter is made when sub-zero temperatures set in, and the opening is made earlier in the spring. To protect against dampness, a waterproof material (polyethylene, roofing felt, etc.) is placed on top.

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

Pest repeller for garden plots

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

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

Additive to seedling soils

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

seedlings of vegetable and flower crops
rooting cuttings and strawberry mustaches
growing seedlings with a closed root system.

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

Unrotted organic matter can cause starvation of young plants. If the foliage has turned pale, then you need to give nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizing.

Using substrate as fertilizer

Seeds of cucumbers (as well as zucchini, pumpkin, melons and watermelons) are germinated in fresh small sawdust and 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, and dry seeds are placed into it at a depth of 1.5 cm (with a distance of 3 cm from each other). The crops are covered with film and placed in a warm place. The seedlings “shoot” after 3-4 days. The seedlings are ready for planting in two weeks.

In sawdust you can force onions and tulip flowers. The substrate must first be spilled with boiling water and fertilized with a complex fertilizer with a predominance of nitrogen. Potato and dahlia tubers are sprouted in the same way before planting.

Average fraction of crushed wood deciduous trees used for artificial breeding mushrooms such as oyster mushrooms.

Medium for winter storage of rhizomes and tubers

In autumn, gardeners dig up dahlia tubers, calla lilies and begonias, and canna rhizomes. They are stored in a cellar or refrigerator, sprinkled with dry, fresh sawdust. Resinous components inhibit rotting.

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

Sawdust is one of the common organic fertilizers used by summer residents. However, many believe that due to ignorance and non-compliance certain rules application, this cheap, environmentally friendly and practical material can significantly damage plants. To prevent this from happening, you should first figure out how to use sawdust in the garden, and only then proceed to action in your own garden. 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 are sure to be beneficial. Sawdust is really good as a fertilizer for the garden, but it has its own nuances. You should not expect a rich harvest if they were simply thoughtlessly scattered along the bed until a stable microbial community was created.

1st method: sawdust as compost

This is the way it is, and everyone has been scared for a long time that fresh sawdust should not be used for any crops. As they decompose, they will consume the nitrogen reserves available in the soil, removing toxic substances. It would be much more efficient to make compost from sawdust.

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

Of course, mineral water can be replaced with weed infusion (more nettles and dandelions, with roots) or diluted with bird droppings. It’s also good to layer each layer of 10-15 cm with soil to populate the compost with beneficial microbes.

When the entire pile is ready, it should be covered with film or any material that does not allow it to dry out. After two weeks, the pile needs to be shoveled (transfer). After two months, the sawdust will completely darken and a safe organic fertilizer for the garden is ready.

2nd method: sawdust enriched with nitrogen - a quick mixture for the lazy

It is not always possible to find the time and patience to make full-fledged compost fertilizer. No problem. Plants will receive excellent nutrition from sawdust from untreated wood mixed with nitrogen fertilizer prepared using any of the following methods:

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

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

If you don’t have a lot of sawdust, you can enrich it with home remedies - rinse the bowl used for preparing the dough for jellied pie (another name for “charlotte”) and soak the sawdust. The dough wash contains everything you need - leftover eggs, flour, sugar. The soil biota will definitely be delighted with such a freebie. By the way, it’s not a sin to sprinkle the soil in pots of homemade flowers with such sawdust - evaporation from the soil surface will decrease and surges in transpiration will be smoothed out.

3rd method: enrichment of fresh sawdust with EM crops

Sawdust as a fertilizer for the garden can be enriched with EM-cami. It makes no difference - purchased or homemade. We cook just like OFEM in this video by the charming Valeria Zashchitina:

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

Potatoes, tomatoes and carrots can be fertilized with sawdust mixed with organic fertilizers. In this case, it is better to sprinkle the ground with them autumn time.

As for cucumbers, cabbage, and melons, they should be fertilized in this way, preferably in the spring, mixed with farm animal manure and ash.

5th method: mulching the soil with sawdust

As already mentioned, due to many publications, novice summer residents doubt whether it is possible to mulch with fresh sawdust. It seems to us that such articles are incomplete and needlessly scare newcomers. Sawdust is a wonderful natural material, and it’s simply a sin to refuse such cheap organic matter. By the way, such a wonderful fertilizer as lingohumate is obtained from wood waste. Have you tried it? Try it at least on seedlings.

As a mulch, sawdust will wonderfully protect the soil from unfavorable weather conditions and drying out, because they perfectly retain moisture. In addition, many established weeds will not be able to break through the layer.

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

So that there is no trouble

And, as usual, having considered all the benefits, we still need to remind you about the harm of sawdust to the soil. There aren't many downsides. For example, there is no need to sprinkle the soil around plants with sawdust of unknown origin. Varnishes, glue, carcinogens and others chemicals 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 rotted humus. It will gradually clear the soil of unwanted substances.

The second warning is also quite simple - sawdust from coniferous trees contains organic resins, and they acidify the soil. It is advisable to use them to mulch the soil near rhododendrons, blueberries and heathers. Or add deoxidizers - ground dolomite flour eggshells and/or wood ash.

Third - poplar, oak sawdust, walnut are known to be allelopathic. That is, their secretions suppress the growth of many cultivated plants. But don’t throw away such organic matter! It is better to accumulate sawdust, shavings and foliage of these tree species somewhere separately (bag, box, etc.), spill them with EM or urea and calmly use them in a year or two.

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

These are the ways to use sawdust in the garden. So don’t be alarmed by incomplete publications, and don’t even think about collecting sawdust from your dacha somewhere and taking it away, much less burning it – this is blasphemy! We hope that the excessive emotionality of the article did not prevent you from understanding how you can use sawdust for the garden - the benefits and harms of using them in the country have become obvious.

When used correctly, waste from sawing wood (sawdust) increase the fertility of any soil, making its composition not only balanced in microelements and nutrients, but also more friable.

Thanks to this, plant roots grow deeper into the soil more easily and receive more nutrients from the soil, as well as oxygen and nitrogen from the air.

In addition, sawdust is also well suited for making a soil mixture, which is used for growing high-quality seedlings.

So, why do they sprinkle sawdust on the beds, is it possible to add them painlessly, and what does it give in general?

Wood sawing waste contain many useful substances , which increase soil productivity.

After all, all these substances extracted from the earth are integrated into cellulose, which makes up wood.

In addition, during decomposition, cellulose breaks down into glucose, which plants need for growth.

One more thing useful quality wood waste – change in soil structure, which is especially important for clay soils.

After all, the looser the soil, the easier it is to soak it aqueous solutions of fertilizers and microelements, and the roots penetrate the soil more easily, creating a more powerful root system.

Sawdust is used both as a single-component fertilizer and in a mixture with:

manure;
litter;
humus;
sand;
lime;
mineral fertilizers;
microelements.

Read more about preparing fertilizers from sawdust.

But it is worth considering that in addition to the undoubted benefits, sawdust can also cause significant harm if used incorrectly. But we will talk about this below.

Caring for seeds and seedlings

Wood sawing waste can be used to germinate seeds and grow seedlings.

Moreover, the seeds are germinated in clean rotted sawdust of high humidity.

Their advantage over other methods of seed germination is that wood waste is similar in structure to soil.

The seed produces a root and stem due to internal reserves of nutrients, and sawdust provides the root with the opportunity to produce shoots that penetrate into the soil.

Thanks to this the root system develops quickly and takes the desired shape.

During transplantation, the loose structure of wood waste allows the root to be removed without damage, thanks to which the seedling quickly takes root in a new place.

Germination in sawdust produces the greatest effect when the seedling is placed in a soil mixture containing, in addition to soil, peat and rotted waste from sawing wood.

Mulch

Used for mulching various materials, including sawdust.

The main advantage of sawdust is that it shipping is cheaper than purchasing any other materials.

The only exception is mulch from grass plucked or mowed from your own area.

Mulching with rotted waste from sawing wood has little effect on the microclimate in the soil, because no active processes take place in the waste.

That is why you cannot mulch with fresh sawdust, because bacteria that break down cellulose consume nitrogen from the soil and release various substances that increase soil acidity.

Mulching reduces the plants' need for water, because a layer of mulch separates the soil from the air and prevents moisture evaporation.

Thanks to this, plants less need for watering and problems caused by excessive moisture in the top layer of soil do not appear. In addition, the less the plant is watered, the less water gets on the leaves.

If the beds were mulched in the spring, then after harvesting, applying manure or litter and various fertilizers they need to be dug up or plowed. Thanks to this, the soil will receive a portion of balanced fertilizers, and sawdust will make its structure more loose.

You can read more about all these issues in the article.

Weed control

For many beds and greenhouses weeds represent serious problem , because even in imported soil their seeds are found.

In addition, many weeds release seeds into the air, which causes them to fly over long distances and germinate in any soil.

Chemical methods of control are not applicable, because it’s difficult to treat weeds without disturbing them useful plants, and it is very difficult to pull them out by hand.

That's why good way to combat such pests - put sawdust.

Layer of wood waste 10–15 cm thick prevents the germination of weed seedlings, after all, at this stage, seedlings can grow only 2–5 cm thanks to the energy reserves in the seed. For further growth, they need both nutrition from the ground and solar energy, the supply of which is blocked by a layer of mulch.

The type of wood does not matter, the only condition is that the waste must completely rot, otherwise it will acidify the soil and draw nitrogen out of it, which will negatively affect plant growth.

To protect the beds or greenhouse from weeds, mulch must be sprinkled in several stages:

At the first stage (immediately after planting the seedlings), the thickness of the layer should be such that the mulch does not reach the bottom sheet a little.
After the plant has taken root and resumed growth, add another layer of mulch.
The third bedding is done together with trimming the lower and unnecessary leaves (pinching). During the third addition, the layer thickness is adjusted to the required level.

Slug protection

The leaves of many plants provide food for various slugs and snails, which eat and damage them.

Chemical control methods (including the use of tobacco) are not always applicable, so gardeners and greenhouse owners are forced to look for other ways to protect plants from these pests.

One of these methods is mulching with sawdust.

After all, the surface of the mulch is filled with sharp, protruding fragments, which is why it is difficult for slugs to move on them.

This makes wood mulch more effective in controlling slugs and snails than mulch made from grass clippings or grass.

After all, grass, even dried grass, is more convenient and familiar to slugs than a layer of sawdust.

Therefore, beds and greenhouses mulched with sawdust reliably protected from slugs and snails, and this protection prevents the germination of weeds, and after autumn and spring digging/ploughing, it will improve the soil structure and fill it with substances necessary for plant growth.

Is it possible to pour fresh sawdust?

Why are the beds sprinkled with sawdust at all and why is it believed that fresh sawdust can harm the plantings?

To answer this question, you need to understand - what processes are taking place in fresh sawdust and how they affect the soil and plants.

Fresh wood waste consists of cellulose and various resins, into which the juices that nourish the tree trunk are converted.

When the humidity of the waste exceeds 30–50%, aerobic bifidobacteria and various fungi begin to multiply in them, which convert cellulose into glucose, carbon dioxide and water.

By eating wood, these fungi and bacteria also consume huge quantities of nitrogen, some of which they obtain from the air. However, there is not enough nitrogen in the air, so microorganisms pull it out of the ground, on which sawdust is poured.

This leads to a decrease in the level of nitrogen in the soil, which reduces soil fertility, because nitrogen is essential for the development and growth of any plant.

Besides, microorganisms secrete various acids, which penetrate the soil and increase its acidity. This is good on alkaline soils if they are going to grow cucumbers, tomatoes and other plants that love acidic soil.

However, on neutral and acidic soils this will lead to excessive acidification and loss of yield, as well as to frequent plant diseases.

In addition, as sawdust rots, it heats up and heats the surrounding soil. This effect is used for heating the soil when planting seeds and seedlings early in greenhouses or open ground, however, there the decaying wood waste is separated from the soil in which the plant grows by a layer of earth.

Therefore, you cannot pour fresh sawdust onto the garden bed or into the greenhouse, you have to wait for them to rot. This applies to both the bottom layer of mulch and subsequent layers.

The exception is adding wood waste to the paths between the beds, because they will be separated from the ground by a layer of rotted sawdust and will not be able to affect the soil. If you are going to completely dig up not only the beds, but also the paths between them, then it is advisable to let them completely rot, because fresh waste will negatively affect the soil.

Filling between beds

Despite the fact that the paths between the beds are not used for planting, sprinkling them with fresh sawdust will reduce the yield of the beds.

After all groundwater, which transport microelements and nutrients between individual soil particles, even with low humidity will lead to entry of some acids and outflow of nitrogen from the beds.

The exception is the top layer of mulch, separated from the ground rotted wood waste.

In greenhouses it is difficult, and sometimes it is impossible to completely plow the soil, therefore the use of fresh wood sawing waste in top layer mulch on paths is justified.

However, where the entire area is regularly plowed or dug up, fresh sawdust cannot be used.

After all, once in the ground, they will reduce nitrogen content and increase soil acidity, which will negatively affect productivity.

Therefore, even for filling paths between beds, it is advisable to use prepared (rotted) sawdust.

Preparing the mixture for addition in the spring to a greenhouse or open ground

The preparation method depends on how and when you intend to use the sawdust.

If time permits, the easiest way is to dump them in a large pile on the ground and pour the solution generously, consisting of warm water and litter or manure in a ratio of 1:50–1:100.

For every cubic meter of sawdust, you need to use 100 liters of this solution.

Manure and droppings activate bacteria and fungi, which will ensure the rotting of wood waste and the whole process will take 1–2 years. If you water clean water, then the process will take 2–4 years.

Such sawdust can be used for:

mulching beds;
adding to the soil mixture for growing seedlings;
seed germination;
protecting plant roots from frost;
plant nutrition.

If you are going to make complex fertilizer from sawdust, then you need to mix it with droppings or manure and leave it to rot.

Such humus is a higher quality fertilizer than rotted wood sawing waste alone, due to the fact that it contains many different useful substances, and the structure is close to the structure of chernozem.

To speed up the decay process add drugs that accelerate the growth and reproduction of bifidobacteria. In order to reduce the acidity of the finished fertilizer, slaked lime, dolomite flour or wood ash are added to the mixture.

Preparations that accelerate the growth of bacteria can also be used for clean wood sawing waste or watered with a solution of manure/droppings.

However, even with the use of bacteria the process will take at least six months for deciduous trees and for coniferous trees.

If you need to quickly turn sawdust into rotted sawdust, then you need to process it:

an aqueous solution of humus or droppings in a ratio of 1:20 at the rate of 100 liters of solution per 1 m3 of wood waste;
urea solution 1:100 (10 l per 1 m3);
slaked lime or dolomite flour (50–100 g per 1 m3);
a drug that accelerates the proliferation of bifidobacteria (the dosage indicated on the package is multiplied by 2).

Video on the topic

This video talks about how you can use sawdust in garden beds:

Conclusion

Wood sawing waste can be very useful material for fertilizing the soil in beds and greenhouses, however, their improper use can not only destroy the crop, but also make the land infertile for several years.

After reading the article, you learned: