Re: wood shavings

Keep them clean, which is to say as free as possible of dirt, bark and chunks, and they make decent animal bedding. You might want to hang them outdoors inside the old sheet you used to make cleaning the floor easier. That way they dry beyond mildew for easier storage. Chickens, rabbets and such are ideal occupants for shavings beds, because they add a lot of nitrogen which aids in decomposition. Be sure and ask for some shavings in return when you give them away, and your flowers and vegetables will love you.

Nasty acid woods like oak or cherry are great for killing the grass under electric fences. Thick light-excluding layer is aided by chemistry in keeping those weeds which might short the fence out of the way.

I use mine for a walk through the garden. It doesn't matter what kind of wood because it's not going near the flowers or vegetables. After digging up the grass, I put 3" or 4" of shavings then layed walking stones down. If you're in a dry spell, hose it down a few times each day or whenever and it will pack real nice.

Find people with animals like horses, goats, chickens; they like it for the bedding and nesting. No Black Walnut!

Lay it as mulch around shrubs, just don't work it into the soil (which you wouldn't do with a mulch anyway). Blueberries, raspberries, holly, pines, hemlocks, honeysuckle all love it. By the time the weather beats it into the ground, it's on its rotting cycle so it won't suck the nutrients out of the soil. And it keeps the weeds down as well as any mulch on the market.

If you start asking around, you'll be surprised at how many people will take it for various uses.

Check the archives for the group, this has been discussed many times and there are some unique and interesting uses for shavings.

Ruth

Woodturners Logo My shop and Turnings at

Depends on the type of wood. Fruitwoods and some hardwoods get added to the grilll or smoker for flavor, cedars and pines go to my daughter's rabbit house. Some get tossed because they kill plants and aren't safe to have around.

Dave in Fairfax

I use'em to soak up oil spills in my garage.

William

My parents' garden (I built my house on the same property) has really benefitted. The peas bore much longer into the heat with mulch. The prune tree bore the best crop of large prunes with no thinning. I also mulch all my plants along the driveway. Weeding is dramatically reduced and the irrigation water stays. This year we have had around 1/4" of rain since June 16.

Derek

Erosion and weed control.

Our town sells plastic compost bins at a reduced price and I mix the shavings with kitchen waste and green garden waste and add the compost to the garden.

Throw them in the garden.

Leslie Gossett

Does this really work? I would like to hear more. What kind of glue? How much pressure?

Leslie