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drnewman6

Pine shavings between rows

drnewman6
10 years ago

I've been trying to figure this out but there is conflicting information everywhere. We have a WHOLE lot of fresh pine shavings from pine boards we are planing ourselves. The wood came from a local sawmill, and was kiln dried but has not been treated with chemicals. I'm using them in my little chicken coop but I'd like to use them between my beds in the garden, not in the beds themselves. The beds are raised a bit, but not a lot and are enclosed with wood. Between the beds, there is no way to keep the weeds and grass out, we are surrounded by cow pastures and every kind of weed you can imagine ends up growing in the garden. I can keep the beds weeded but not the between them. It doesn't take long for all the weeds to start creeping in the beds. I don't use poison. I'd like to put cardboard down, then a thick layer of the pine shavings. I don't think the issues people say happen when you actually put them on the plant would apply, but wanted to check. I also plant a few watermelons in one bed, which grow out of the bed and take over one section of the garden area, which is fenced in. Weeds become a problem under the plant, no matter what I do. I've put a thick layer of straw where the watermelon will grow out to, and that works for a while but the darn weeds always find their way through the straw. I thought the cardboard and pine would work under that also.

Mother Earth News had an article in the Oct/Nov 2010 issue that says pine shavings aren't bad to use in the garden, that it is myth that they acidify the soil and that if you mix them with blood meal, it actually is good for the garden (of course it said a lot more than that).

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