Does tree sawdust affect lawn?
timjc
16 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (11)
jer213
16 years agolou_spicewood_tx
16 years agoRelated Discussions
Sawdust - compost or mulch?
Comments (22)Good idea! I'll try that when I start the heap off, and maybe use the compost tea at the end to introduce microbes more normally present in the soil. I also found this 'recipe'... 1 cubic meter = 35.2 cubic feet - sawdust. Urea = 1 kg. Triple phosphate = 1 kg. Potassium sulfate = 1 kg. CuSO4 = 200 grams. ZnSO4 = 250 grams. FeSO4 = 250 grams. MnSO4 = 150 grams. Boron = 150 grams. How does that sound? Should I worry about adding all that stuff? I also found the following (I saved the page and now can't find the link...) Consider using sawdust when it is easily and cheaply obtainable. Prepared properly and sawdust is a great organic waste for the garden. Sawdust is low in nutrients such as nitrogen when compared against products like straw or lucerne. This factor detracts many gardeners from using sawdust. In their raw state, hardwood and softwood contain poisonous substances, which may be harmful to your plants, but they can be easily leached. Hardwood sawdust, the coarser of the two, stays longer in the soil before decomposing. Both aid in making the soil more friable for increased water and air holding capacity. The material also holds nutrients well in the garden and potting mixes. Composting Sawdust Sawdust, while void of weed seeds, pests, and diseases, in its raw state contains the poison phenol. When used in the raw state, nitrogen is drawn from the plants causing a nitrogen deficiency. Bacteria need increased nitrogen as they digest the high carbon content of the sawdust. Instead of the nitrogen going to the plant, it goes to the bacteria. Prevent this by adding more nitrogen. Simply remove the phenol by positioning the sawdust heap in a location where runoff can leach away. Place on a slope or a mound of soil. Water it well and turn weekly for a month and then leave until you require it in the garden. The longer the heap is left, the better the product. The leaching will be dark and staining on timber and concrete. A potting mix containing wood materials will leach away the stained water after first potted. Consider this when placing newly potted plants on balconies. How-to make sawdust safe by composting. Consider the following three methods, adapted from Queensland Gardener, May 1986: Use sawdust in the garden compost pile in the ratio of 5 parts sawdust, 1 part fowl manure, 3 parts grass clippings and weeds, 1 part leaves, 1 part cow or other manure and add blood and bone in the pile building process. Construct the pile in the manner mentioned in my compost article. Compost by adding a cubic metre of sawdust to 1/3 to 1/2 of chicken litter or 1/3 fowl manure. The finished product looks similar in texture to the original sawdust and suitable for gardens. Dilute 2.5 kg urea in water and spray onto or mix in about 150 to 170 litres of fowl manure for every cubic metre of sawdust. (A 2 gallon buckets holds about 10 litres.) Water the pile well and turn it a few times over the initial two weeks. Following this, the toxic phenols should be removed. There will be little nutrition in the composted sawdust, so add manure or natural fertiliser in the usual manner....See Morecost of organic
Comments (18)skizot, your 14:14 post is exactly what I'm talking about. Carbon is a black compound that has no food value; however, in its gaseous form (CO2) it can be absorbed by plants. Through the process of photosynthesis, carbohydrates are made. At that point the carbon you are talking about becomes food. So why don't we just talk about food instead of the esoteric "carbon?" Talking about carbon is meaningless. Talking about carbohydrate has some value. Microbes cannot take black carbon and make food out of it. They can take CO2 and make food out of it. If you want to talk about CO2 we can do that. If you want to talk about carbohydrate we can do that, but to talk about carbon is meaningless unless we are all scientists and have the background in organic chemistry to understand that "carbon" = carbohydrates. Microbes use protein to make protein. Here is how that works. Microbes eat food containing protein. Protein is made from amino acids. Amino acids are nitrogenous compounds like carbohydrates are carbon compounds. Nitrogen has no food value but amino acids and protein are absolutely required. When we, or microbes, eat protein, our digestion system breaks apart the proteins from the plants or animals into amino acids. Then our bodies recombine the amino acids into protein that WE need to make muscles, hair, etc. In nutrition they talk about complete and incomplete proteins. Plants like beans and corn are both incomplete proteins, but when you eat both beans and corn, our body can make complete protein out of them and we can survive. We cannot survive on a diet of only beans or only corn but we can survive on beans and corn. Similarly microbes need to eat protein to make their own protein. The entire food chain, or food web, relies on breaking protein down and recombining the amino acids into new protein. I'm not trying to be hard headed about this. I'm trying to make it understandable. I can understand eating food to build muscles, skin, and organs. I can't understand "making cell walls out of carbon." I've studied both chemistry and physiology, so I really can understand what you are saying; however, physiology is the one that makes sense in this case. We are talking about creatures that do not photosynthesize their own food. They have to "eat" food like us (more or less). Greens and browns and carbon and nitrogen are all esoteric ideas that really refer to food. Sugary food is mostly carbohydrates. Protein from plants is still mostly carbohydrates, but it also has enough protein to put it into a different category. Am I being helpful or hard headed? It could be that you are the kind of person who gets it when talking about C and N. I am not. Nothing about C and N made sense until I realized they were talking about carbohydrate and protein. Perhaps we could agree that there are two different ways to look at the same issue. You can be the one who explains it one way and I can explain it the other way. Rather than confronting each other when we see it, we can start out by saying, "An equally valid but different way to look at it is like this...." And I will admit that I confronted you first on this topic. I could have used different wording....See MoreSawdust killing lanw!?
Comments (11)Weeds will grow where conditions will favor their growth. Likewise, Turf will grow where conditions favor it. The conditions for one are not always the same conditions as the other. It really depends on the type of weed you are talking about and also the type of turf. Rather than going down that route (if weeds are growing will turf?) it would probably be easier to just analyze the conditions of the soil. A soil test can be performed and that will provide you with the current conditions. From there, you can amend as necessary to improve the soil for turf. That being said, you mentioned your St Augustine is dormant. It's winter so I would expect the turf to have some weed pressure until the spring and summer?...See MoreReseeding general lawn area covered in sawdust from tree stump removal
Comments (4)I had the same thing happen to me last year. Instead of removing the sawdust, I just used a broom and a rake and spread it around the entire yard as best as I could. Then I applied Milorganite. That part of the yard has the richest soil on my entire property. The Milorganite provided a boost of nitrogen to help the initial breakdown. I don't even see wood chips anymore. The nitrogen hogging issue only occurs if you let the wood chips and saw dust under the soil. That is, don't till it. The wood can pull nitrogen from the air to decompose. If it gets buried in the soil, it can only pull it from the soil itself. That's where you run into issues. If the wood chips and sawdust sit on top of the soil... It's actually one of the best things you can do for the soil. They will keep the soil moist and generally provide great food for the soil life to break down....See Morejeannie7
16 years agodchall_san_antonio
16 years agodeerslayer
16 years agowhip1 Zone 5 NE Ohio
16 years agolou_spicewood_tx
16 years agoronalawn82
16 years agodchall_san_antonio
16 years agolou_spicewood_tx
16 years ago
Related Stories
KIDS’ SPACESKids’ Room Colors and How They Can Affect Behavior
Find out how different hues can nurture sensitivity, counter restlessness and encourage confidence in children
Full StoryMOST POPULARWhen Does a House Become a Home?
Getting settled can take more than arranging all your stuff. Discover how to make a real connection with where you live
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESTree Care: Common Tree Diseases and What to Do About Them
Learn to recognize trees that may be affected by diseases or pests so you can quickly take action
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGN15 Great Ideas for a Lawn-Free Yard
End the turf war for good with hardscaping, native grasses and ground covers that save water and are easier to maintain
Full StoryBEFORE AND AFTERSSee 6 Yards Transformed by Losing Their Lawns
Wondering whether a turf lawn is the best use of your outdoor space? These homeowners did, and they found creative alternatives
Full StoryFRONT YARD IDEASBefore and After: Front Lawn to Prairie Garden
How they did it: Homeowners create a plan, stick to it and keep the neighbors (and wildlife) in mind
Full StoryMOST POPULARMeet a Lawn Alternative That Works Wonders
Carex can replace turfgrass in any spot, is low maintenance and adjusts easily. Add its good looks and you’ve got a ground cover winner
Full StoryLAWN ALTERNATIVESStop Fighting the Patchy Lawn!
Here are 3 situations where a garden may be a better idea than more turfgrass
Full StoryGROUND COVERSGive Your Lawn a Taste of the Wild
Consider the joys of an irregularly trimmed meadow lawn: It’s ecofriendly, visually interesting and still good for romping
Full StoryFALL GARDENING6 Trees You'll Fall For
Don’t put down that spade! Autumn is the perfect time for planting these trees
Full Story
ronalawn82