Cedar Shavings for Mulch?
andreakristen
7 years ago
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Labradors
7 years agoRelated Discussions
cedar shavings & stupidity killed my banty hen
Comments (12)amiz5904 What type cedar shaving were you using, the western red cedar seems to be the most toxic, more so than eastern red cedar. Most of the articles I have seen seem to involve sawdust, the shavings sold as bedding come from using a planer to smooth the board and are shavings without a lot of dust. Almost any dust from sawing or using a planer will be toxic to woodworkers, small particles lodge in the lungs  condition of wooden lung results. Sort of like black lung in the coal miners. I do a lot of woodwork, including eastern cedar, pine, oak, cherry, and hickory; I always wear a canister mask when working with wood that will produce dust. Guess it could be the same with small animals. I have also read that pine shavings are toxic to small animals about the same rate as western cedar, so if you had used the pine shavings the results might have been the same. As mommagoose said, it may have been what was wrong with your banty hen from the start, I am sure the stress of the storm didnÂt help any....See MoreParticulate Cedar Shavings?
Comments (3)When I took my Master Gardener training in RI, I was too embarrassed to admit I added wood mulch to my soil to loosen it up - till the instructors offered that that was what they did. No details on which woods were better or worse - I used mostly pine in NY and in NM I can only get cedar - it's just a matter of what I can get in the home centers. Soil is quite alkaline here, and no adverse reactions to the cedar....See MoreBest uses for raw cedar shavings?
Comments (4)I have seen a lot of nonsense posted on line about using various mulches and most of it is just that, nonsense. "Never put wood chips down as mulch because that will tie up Nitrogen." "Always remove the old mulch before putting new mulch down." "Mulch should never be deeper than two inches." Mulches can be as deep as 8 inches." "Never put down mulches that smell sour." However I have not yet seen anything about not using cedar as a mulch around Blueberries. What is the reasoning for that?...See MoreOak shavings mulch??
Comments (4)I cannot think of any reason why oak shavings will not work as mulch on the surface of the ground. Of course, if you wanted to mix them down into the soil as a soil amendment, you'd have to add extra nitrogen to make up for the nitrogen they were using up as they decomposed. That's not an issue if they are on the soil surface though. My theory is that any healthy organic matter is great for mulch or for the compost pile either one. Eventually the wood shavings will decompose and further enrich the soil as compost, so it is a win-win situation for you and your soil. What's not to like about that?...See Moreandreakristen
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5 years agodaninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
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5 years agodaninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agowolverine1012
5 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
5 years agodaninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
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