Contents
Not everyone knows that sawdust can be used as fertilizer for vegetable gardens and orchards. But it is much easier to acquire them than horse manure, the benefits of which are so much talked about. Today we will consider how to use sawdust as a fertilizer, whether it is worth doing it or not.
The effect of sawdust on the soil
Sawdust added to the ground makes it lighter, looser, breathable, and does not retain excess moisture. Such soil resembles peat in its qualities, allows the root system of plants to develop better. A tree is an organic matter containing many useful substances, but even the process of its decay enriches the soil with beneficial bacteria, as carbon is released that activates the microflora.
But in all this there is one nuance that makes gardeners refuse cheap, healthy fertilizer: the tree significantly oxidizes the soil. And fresh sawdust takes nitrogen from the earth, which is very necessary for plants. To use sawdust as a fertilizer, they can be mixed with horse manure, mullein, bird droppings and let them rot. To use them with XNUMX% benefit, not to increase the acidity of the soil, and not to reduce the amount of nitrogen in it, you will need urea and lime. That’s when you get the perfect fertilizer.
Sawdust significantly enriches tired infertile soils, in which there are no useful substances necessary for the active growth and fruiting of crops. But this does not apply to pine waste. Coniferous trees contain resins with antibacterial action, which greatly slow down the decomposition process.
Application
If you have sawdust left after construction, there is no reason to get rid of them. They can be perfectly used with great benefits for the garden or garden. The soil is enriched with rotted wood waste, but they can bring many benefits even in the process of their decomposition – this is a significant plus of their use.
In the compost
Sawdust, simply left in the open, can rot for more than 10 years. The absence of moisture inside, the frozen crust on the outside – that’s why there is no decomposition process. And if you make a compost pit, then you can quickly prepare a wonderful top dressing for your dacha. First you need to lay out small wooden waste mixed with horse manure, then add plant remains – fallen leaves, mowed grass, vegetable tops and kitchen waste, if there are no bones, meat, fat. It would be nice to periodically water all this with hot water, cover it with a film from the cold – in a year you will have an excellent fertilizer that can be used for garden or vegetable garden plants. If you add at least a little earth with earthworms, the process will go much faster.
It is not easy to buy horse manure now, it is expensive, in a compost heap it can be replaced by mullein or bird droppings, it is better to dilute them with water and water sawdust with this slurry. But it is quite possible to buy urea – it will turn out cheaper, but the result will still be good. Completely prepared humus from a compost pit resembles greasy crumbly earth. So that there is no doubt about the acid balance of the soil, lime flour can be added to the sawdust. Thus, a universal organic fertilizer is prepared that will not take nitrogen, will not add acid, but will bring only useful substances that will make the soil fertile.
Video “On the use of wood tyrsa in the garden”
In this video, you can hear the possibilities of a wood stump for soil.
As a mulch
All plants in the garden can be mulched with sawdust. If from the beginning of summer to cover the ground in the garden with a layer of sawdust 2-3 cm thick, then this will save the vegetables from weeds, retain moisture, and relieve the owners of the need to often loosen the ground. And by the end of summer, sawdust will almost imperceptibly mix with the topsoil, making it lighter and more breathable. After harvesting vegetables, they usually dig up the ground – the sawdust will be evenly distributed and turn into fertilizer for the next plantings, you can also sprinkle it with lime flour to avoid acidification of the soil. Usually, at the beginning of summer, moisture must be retained, and later an excess of it can damage plants, so it is advisable to carry out such mulching no later than June.
If there were too many sawdust in the garden, and by the end of summer they had not mixed with the ground, it is better to remove them so that this excess does not prevent the ground from freezing in the spring.
Fresh sawdust around strawberry bushes will help it grow without weeds and pests, especially coniferous trees. She is also able to save potatoes from the Colorado potato beetle. If you spread the chopped parts of coniferous trees between the bushes, the Colorado potato beetle will not eat your potatoes. But you will have to change the sawdust at least three times during the summer.
Raspberries can be covered with a thick layer of sawdust – up to 20 cm. It is sprinkled with lime on top and spilled with a solution of urea. Such a mulch will protect the soil from moisture loss, make it looser and lighter, provide constant fertilizer to the roots, and rid the raspberries of pests.
For greenhouses
When preparing soil for greenhouses, a summer resident can mix sawdust with horse manure, chopped grass, leaves – this will warm it up perfectly. It is only necessary to use rotted sawdust with rotted horse manure (or mullein) and, accordingly, fresh sawdust with fresh manure. If you prepare a garden bed in the fall, then you can lay the plant residues before winter, and in the spring put horse manure on top, cover it with lime and tyrsa. Put some straw on all this, soil with mineral fertilizers. Such a bed will warm up quickly and will constantly keep the temperature.
In the beds
With the help of sawdust, beds are formed and the garden is rid of excess water. If the site is flooded with melt water (or showers), then it is very convenient to dig a groove along the perimeter with a depth of 20-25 cm and a width of 30-40 cm. This groove is filled with sawdust, and the soil is transferred to the beds – there will be no excess moisture, the edges will not dry out, and the path will always be dry. After 1-2 years, fertilizer will be made by itself, with which it will be possible to feed the soil during general digging.
Sometimes summer residents organize high beds for vegetables or flowers – this can also be done using carpentry waste. A trench is dug, on the bottom of which leaves, grass, sawdust, lime meal, urea (manure, if any) are laid. Then grass is laid on top again, the dug soil is returned. So that the edges do not dry out, they can be covered with turf, laid with a film. The process of overheating inside such beds occurs constantly, heating and nourishing the plants.
Video “Influence of tyrsa on soil acidity”
