Sawdust is one of the most common organic fertilizers used by summer residents. However, many believe that if they do not know and do not follow certain rules of application, this cheap, environmentally friendly and practical material can significantly damage plants. To prevent this from happening, you should first figure out how to use sawdust in the garden, and only then proceed to actions in your summer cottage.

Sawdust for the garden: benefits and harms, safe methods of use

Let's figure out how to use sawdust correctly so that they will surely be beneficial. Sawdust is really good as a fertilizer for the garden and vegetable garden, but there are some nuances. You should not wait for a rich harvest if they were simply thoughtlessly scattered along the garden bed until a stable microbial community was created.

1st method: sawdust as compost

This is the way it is, and everyone has been scared for a long time not to use fresh sawdust for any crops. When decomposing, they will consume the nitrogen supply available in the soil, while expelling toxic substances. It would be much more rational to make compost from sawdust.

To do this, first the bottom layer of grass or hay is laid out in the compost container, and then sawdust is tamped in layers of 10-15 cm. Each layer is noticeably filled with a solution of water with urea, made in proportions of 200 grams of this substance per bucket of water.

Of course, mineral water can be replaced with weed infusion (there are more nettles and dandelions there, yes with roots) or bird droppings can be diluted. It's good to layer each layer of 10-15 cm with earth to populate the compost with useful microbes.

When the whole pile is ready, it should be covered with plastic or any material that does not dry out. After two weeks, the pile must be poured with a shovel (to make a transfer). After two months, the sawdust will completely darken and the safe organic fertilizer for the garden is ready.

Method 2: nitrogen-enriched sawdust - quick mix for the lazy

There is not always time and patience to make a complete compost fertilizer. Not a problem. Plants will get an excellent feed from untreated wood sawdust mixed with nitrogen fertilizer, prepared by any of the following methods:

• 20 grams of carbamide per kilo of wood chips;
• 0.5 liters of poultry manure solution per bucket of water;
• 3 liters of weed infusion for 7 liters of water.

You can mix dry sawdust with urea in advance, or first sprinkle them on an empty garden bed and spill it with a solution - no difference. After a while, the soil covered with sawdust can be processed as usual. Enriched sawdust is great to use when laying high beds - they give looseness to the soil, improve moisture holding capacity.

Those who have little sawdust can enrich them with home remedies - rinse the bowl from under the preparation of the jellied pie dough (another name "charlotte") and soak the sawdust. The washout from the dough contains everything you need - egg leftovers, flour, sugar. The soil biota will definitely be delighted with such a freebie. By the way, it is not a sin to sprinkle the soil in pots of home flowers with such sawdust - evaporation from the soil surface will decrease, and the transpiration surges will be smoothed out.

3rd method: enrichment of fresh sawdust with EM crops

Wood sawdust as fertilizer for the garden can be enriched with EM-kami. It doesn't matter - purchased or homemade. We also cook like OFEM in this video of the charming Valeria Zashchitina:

4th method: a mixture of fresh sawdust with compost or manure

Potatoes, tomatoes, and carrots can be fertilized with sawdust and organic fertilizers. In this case, it is better to shower the ground with them in autumn.

As for cucumbers, cabbage, melons, they should be fertilized in this way, preferably in the spring, mixing with animal manure and ash.

5th method: mulching the soil with sawdust

As already mentioned, due to the many publications, novice summer residents doubt whether it is possible to mulch with fresh sawdust. It seems to us that such articles are incomplete and frighten beginners in vain. Sawdust is a wonderful natural material, and it is simply a sin to refuse such cheap organic matter. By the way, such a wonderful fertilizer as lingogumate is obtained from wood waste. Have you tried it? Try at least on seedlings.

As mulch, sawdust will remarkably protect the soil from adverse weather conditions and drying out, because they perfectly retain moisture. In addition, many rooted weeds will not be able to break through layers.

After a year, the sawdust will rot without a trace, nourishing the soil with nutrients during this process, which will ensure a good harvest. In the next season, it is advisable to take care of the plants by soaking the sawdust mulch with aerated compost tea or weed solution.

So that there is no trouble

And, as usual, having considered all the advantages, one must nevertheless recall the harm of sawdust to the soil. There are not so many cons. For example, there is no need to sprinkle the soil around the plants with sawdust of unknown origin. Varnishes, glue, carcinogens and other chemicals in them can kill crops or spoil the expected harvest. If a mistake has already been made, all the beds should be generously watered with rotted humus. It will gradually clear the soil of unwanted substances.

The second warning is also quite simple - coniferous sawdust contains organic resins, and they acidify the soil. It is advisable to use them to mulch the soil near rhododendrons, blueberries and heathers. Or add deoxidizers - dolomite flour, ground eggshells and / or wood ash.

Third, sawdust of poplar, oak, walnut is known to be allelopathic. That is, their excretion suppresses the growth of many cultivated plants. But do not throw away such organic matter! It is better to accumulate sawdust, shavings and foliage of these tree species somewhere separately (bag, box, etc.), spill them with EMs or urea and calmly use it after a year or two.

By this time, natural colins will disappear, the waste will be saturated with natural organic acids, saprophytes will develop in it, and the entire armada of soil biota will pounce on these sawdust when you distribute it in the garden and vegetable garden.

These are the ways to use sawdust in the garden and vegetable garden. So do not be intimidated by incomplete publications, and do not try to collect and export sawdust somewhere in the country, and even more so to burn it - this is blasphemy! We hope that the excessive emotionality of the article did not prevent you from figuring out how you can use sawdust for the garden - the benefits and harms of their use in the country became obvious.

30 09.18

Got some sawdust? How to use them more efficiently in the country

The use of sawdust in the garden is quite common. However, there is no consensus on the benefits of their use. Some gardeners say that sawdust can improve the composition of the soil, while others are at risk of using sawdust. True, probably somewhere in the middle, but you probably need to study the properties of sawdust and the ways of their possible use at their summer cottage.

The benefits and harms of using sawdust

The main benefits from the use of sawdust include:

• looseness of the soil - sawdust makes the soil "fluffy", does not allow a crust to form on its surface;
• preservation of moisture in the soil is achieved through the use of sawdust, which absorb water;
• the ability to fight weeds;
• fertilizing the soil - sawdust will become fertilizer only after it has rotted.

The disadvantages of sawdust include:

• acidification of the soil - complaints from summer residents are not uncommon that after the use of sawdust crops in the soil do not grow well. This is due to their ability to absorb alkali;
• nitrogen consumption - sawdust takes nitrogen both from the soil and from the plants themselves. However, understanding the nuances of such a process, this minus can easily be turned into a positive factor.

How to use sawdust in a summer cottage

Sawdust is such a versatile material that it can be used in any kind of activity in the country.

So, they can be used as:

• mulching material, in order to retain moisture, protect the soil from overheating, weeds and various diseases. In order for sawdust mulch to bring maximum benefit, they need to be poured into a bucket of water and 200 g of urea added. Such a composition will be of great benefit to the soil;
• fertilizing plants. To maximize the benefits of sawdust for horticultural crops, they must be mixed with manure and left to re-heat during the season. Periodically, this mixture should be spilled with water. For the next season, the organic fertilizer will be ready for planting;
• material for filling tracks. Due to the property of sawdust to absorb water, the paths between the beds will always be dry and tidy, and you can walk along them even in late autumn. Also, sawdust will prevent weeds from growing on the paths, and the edges of the beds will be protected from drying out and the formation of a crust of the earth;
• material with which the level of the beds on the site is increased. To do this, you need to remove the top layer of the earth, fill it with sawdust, prepared by analogy with the mulching composition, and pour a layer of previously removed sod on top;
• a soil substitute during the period of germination of seeds of garden crops. This is done this way: sawdust is poured into a special container, on top of which the seed is laid out, cover this container with a film and placed in a warm place (the temperature should be about +30 degrees). After a real leaf appears at the shoots, they need to be dived into separate pots;
• a potato crop accelerator. To do this, you need to pour sawdust into the box, spill them with water, put the previously sprouted potatoes on top and sprinkle them with another layer of sawdust. When the sprouts reach 10 cm, the potatoes need to be planted in the holes. This method allows you to harvest 1-2 weeks earlier than usual;
• insulation for plants. To do this, you can spread sawdust around the plants, which will be packed in bags. The material itself will not absorb moisture and will not freeze, and due to its high heat transfer it will warm the plants during the cold season;
• household material. With the help of sawdust, ceilings are insulated and walls are plastered, vegetables and root crops are stored in them. Sawdust is great as fuel for a smokehouse or as bedding for pets.

On the garden plot, you can use materials that at first glance seem useless. In fact, they have interesting properties, thanks to which a vegetable grower can save hundreds and thousands of rubles.

Such materials include sawdust, which is found in large quantities in woodworking enterprises.

Useful properties and harm

In the garden and vegetable garden, sawdust is beneficial due to its ability to improve the structure of the soil, and this is all that most summer residents know about them. Few people know that wood waste has other positive features. So, using them as mulch, you can keep moisture in the ground. This is especially important when it comes to an arid region.

Biomaterial releases carbon when decomposingthat stimulates the vital activity of microorganisms that inhabit the soil. As a result, vegetables grow and develop better. In settlements where floods are frequent, a barrier is made from sawdust to prevent water from reaching the roots of coniferous trees. To do this, a ditch is dug around the plantings and filled to the top with sawdust.

The gardener should take into account that it is best to add sawmill waste to acidic soil in a mixture with peat. If it is not there, first lay out sawdust and mix them with the soil, then limestone flour or ash is scattered over the surface.

Wood waste is distinguished by its rich chemical composition, which makes it possible to use it as a complex fertilizer, only not fresh, but rotted. All types of wood are suitable, except pine. The latter contains a lot of resinous substances, so it not only rots slowly, but also slows down the decomposition of everything that is nearby.

Until now, gardeners have not come to a consensus on whether it is necessary to use sawdust in the country. The use of this material can be both beneficial and harmful. The advantages include good heat transfer, the ability to use in combination with organic and mineral fertilizers, the ability of sawdust to retain moisture and improve the structure of the soil.

It is also important that wood waste is affordable and can repel some harmful insects.

Disadvantages of sawdust:

• when applied together with manure, there is a risk that organic matter, overcooking, will pull nitrogen out of the soil, so it will not be enough for cultivated plants;
• in arid regions, the material should be used with caution, because it absorbs moisture, which is already insufficient in the soil;
• when stored together with fresh manure (if the heap is not shoveled), a fungus is formed, which will subsequently infect vegetables and flowers.

Solution of problems

Most often, gardeners who use sawmill waste are faced with two problems: soil acidification and nitrogen "pull-back". Knowing how to use sawdust in the garden and vegetable garden, you can avoid these difficulties.

Such substances will help to cope with acidification:

• peat or wood ash;
• dolomite flour;
• special deoxidizer (sold in the same place as fertilizers);
• ordinary lime;
• crushed chalk;
• ammonium or potassium sulfate;
• superphosphate;
• potassium chloride;
• sodium or calcium nitrate.

Any of these alkalis can be added with sawdust... It should only be borne in mind that for some plants, for example, for rhododendrons, conifers and blueberries, acidified soil is even useful, so no alkali is added under them. If dolomite flour or lime is used, you will additionally have to enrich the soil with manganese and boron.

To understand the role that alkalis play, it is enough to recall the well-known culinary technique - extinguishing soda with vinegar. By the same principle, substances interact in the garden. Acid and alkali, reacting, neutralize each other. But before you add something, you should stock up on litmus tests and check the acidity level in different parts of the garden. These tests are sold at garden supply stores.

The problem with nitrogen deficiency is also easy to solve. When the sawdust is already scattered over the site, they need to be watered with an aqueous solution of carbamide or calcium nitrate. It is impractical to sprinkle dry fertilizer, as the wood particles must be saturated with the solution.

Preparation of seeds and tubers

You can germinate potato tubers and seeds in sawdust, but you cannot keep them there for too long, since the sprouts still need land for proper nutrition. Vegetable and flower seeds are germinated in this way:

• a thin layer of sawdust is poured into a plastic container;
• lay out the seeds;
• moisten from a spray bottle;
• a layer of sawdust of a minimum thickness is poured, only to cover the seeds;
• moisturize regularly, not allowing the substrate to dry out.

The top layer of sawdust need not be poured, but then you have to especially carefully monitor the humidity. The container is covered with plastic wrap and kept at temperatures from +25 to +27 degrees. When sprouts appear, they make sure that the air is warmed up to +23 degrees, adjusted for what the culture demands. At this time, the polyethylene is removed, and a layer of soil is scattered over the sawdust. It should not be too thick so that the sprouts do not die. When a single true leaf appears (not to be confused with cotyledons!), The seedlings are planted in cups or peat pots.

In this way, you can germinate the seeds of the following crops:

The method is not suitable for seeds of dill, parsley and other crops, which are usually sown immediately in a permanent place. In addition to seeds, potato tubers germinate well in sawdust. With a little time, you can ensure a good run in the development of the culture, which will allow you to get an earlier harvest in the future.

Germination should take place in the light, and it is advisable to take planting material of early varieties ... Sequencing:

• 10 cm of wet sawdust is poured onto the bottom of the wooden box;
• tubers are laid in 1 row, turning them so that the sprouts are facing up;
• sprinkle with a layer of raw sawdust 3-4 cm thick;
• moistened regularly with water.

When the sprouts grow to 8-9 cm, the potatoes are carefully removed and planted in the holes, as usual. On top of the beds, you can spread straw, dry grass or film. Such a measure will save the tubers from the cold and will allow them not to stop growing. Thanks to the germination of tubers in wood waste, gardeners are able to harvest potatoes 2-3 weeks earlier than a conventional planting.

Warming plants for the winter

Plants prone to freezing can be insulated using the same sawdust. The main thing is to understand that you can't just scatter them around a bush or trunk. So the material will immediately absorb moisture, and in winter it will turn into a solidified lump, and there will be no benefit from such insulation. The easiest way is to fill plastic bags with oak or pine material and place them around the plants. This use of sawdust has only one drawback: the bags can be gnawed by mice.

Experienced gardeners insulate the vine like this:

• knock down a box without a bottom from the racks;
• put it on the plant;
• fill with sawdust;
• cover the top and cracks with polyethylene where water can get;
• cover the entire structure with earth.

It is important not to forget about protection from moisture and rodents. Using the poison is not recommended, as cats can accidentally try it.

Mulching material

Another area of \u200b\u200bapplication of wood waste in the garden and vegetable garden is soil mulching. Loose material prevents evaporation of moisture from the upper layers of the soil, prevents overheating, erosion and weathering. In winter, sawdust prevents the ground from freezing, and in spring, summer and autumn it prevents the growth of weeds. In addition, the fine substance stimulates the growth of additional roots.

For use as mulch, sawdust is prepared as follows:

This completes the preparation, the resulting material is a full-fledged mulch. It is suitable even for strawberries: when the berries lie on sawdust, they remain clean, do not rot and are less damaged by slugs.

Fertilizer for plants

The use of fresh manure in its pure form is a waste, if we are not talking about pumpkins or cucumbers. For most crops, a rotted mullein and sawdust mixture is more suitable. It is prepared in advance, about 12 months before introduction.

For 1 cubic meter m of wood waste take 100 kg of mullein (can be replaced with horse or goat manure) and 10 kg of duck or chicken dung. Everything is mixed and stacked tightly in a heap. Before laying, it is advisable to moisten the sawdust with a weak solution of chicken manure or urea, and if none of this is available, pour it with infusion of green nettle. It is useful to add 2-3 buckets of fertile soil so that worms begin to multiply faster in the compost.

In the future, the pile is regularly moistened with water and small portions of organic matter are added. Leaves, weed tops before flowering, vegetable peels, husks and other household waste that can rot are suitable. It is desirable to protect the heap from precipitation, otherwise the nutrients will be washed out. This method of processing allows you to make sawdust as fertilizer in the fall for digging (plowing) or in the spring in the holes (when planting potatoes, seedlings, berries).

Application on the farm

Thrifty owners have a use for everything, including wood waste. Small shavings and sawdust are versatile materials. They can be both insulation, fuel, and the basis for creating crafts. Here are some examples of how you can use sawdust on your farm:

• Heat insulating material. The raw materials are mixed with clay and coated over the ceiling, walls and floor.
• Fuel. Compressed briquettes are made from woodworking waste, which burn well and give a lot of heat.
• Warm plaster. By mixing dry raw materials with cement or clay, an inexpensive plaster mixture is obtained that retains heat.
• Material for creativity. Sawdust can be painted in different colors using a solution of gouache paint. You will get a bright material from which the child can make an application picture. In order for the colored particles to stick to the base, it is coated with clerical glue.
• Maintaining the microclimate in the cellar. In this case, the ability of wood to absorb moisture is used. If boxes with dry sawdust are placed in different places in the basement, it will not be damp, which means the vegetables will not rot.
• Filler. Pillows, soft toys and even parts of a garden scarecrow are stuffed with small sawdust of hardwood. Junipers can be folded into a linen bag and hung in the kitchen cabinet to always have a pleasant scent.
• Litter. Large sawdust from fruit trees is suitable for this purpose. Do not use walnut and coniferous.

Finally, the sawdust is used to raise the beds when the site is in the lowlands. For this purpose, they dig a trench 25 cm deep and 50 cm wide. The earth is folded side by side. The trench is covered with hay and filled with sawdust, tamped, and earth is poured on top. It turns out a high bed. The next year, the procedure is repeated, only now the trench is being dug in the place where there was a row spacing.

Should I use sawdust in the country? This question is asked by many, let's find out the opinion of those who used sawdust in practice.

Question: How useful or not useful are sawdust on the site? Where and how can they be used? Or maybe it's better not to use it at all?

We've got several bags of sawdust. A neighbor asked us and scattered it on her site. The mother-in-law wants to fall asleep with them under raspberries - I don't know if this is right or not?

ABOUT.: I have a bad review on them. They acidify the soil terribly. And spilled urea, it's still bad.
The raspberries did not even gather foliage, and the lawn did not grow at all, or rather, in terrible shreds. And poured, and whatever she did. All that season, where there was sawdust, down the drain.

ABOUT.:The paths between the beds are covered with sawdust, they are watered all summer long so that they are quail, in the spring they are embedded in the beds, something like that.

ABOUT.: Sawdust is excellent at loosening soil and making an excellent mulch. But! If yours is not blueberries, rhododendrons or needles, which require acidic soils, then add dolomite flour along with sawdust to alkalize the soil.

ABOUT.: Sawdust can be taken free of charge from wood sawing companies. In Berdsk, I know what is being handed out, my brother drove around like that, collected sawdust to fill the roof of the bathhouse.
Sawdust should be used with caution, because, on the one hand, sawdust loosen the soil, and on the other hand, very acidify it.
Therefore, our parents and grandmothers advised us to pour sawdust on the paths so that there was less dirt, and in the fall, add slaked lime to the soil, just scattering it around the garden, in the spring the whole thing is dug up.
Sawdust is also used when processing onions, kerosene is diluted in water and sawdust is added there, infused a bit and then scattered over the onion bed - not very densely, of course.

ABOUT.: Sawdust actually greatly increase the acidity. Together with the ashes, I pour them into the beds and dig them up, they neutralize each other, otherwise I have solid clay in my garden.

ABOUT.:Girls, I do not advise using sawdust anywhere in the garden, because of them a wireworm appears, which begins to devour everything, and it is very difficult to get it out. I did not listen to the advice of friends, now I’m looking on the Internet how to get rid of it, it appeared there where I sprinkled the sawdust.

ABOUT.:For one year I poured sawdust into the aisle of strawberries ... Then I had to cut them down, they caked so much over the winter that they crusted. And the weeds grow very splendidly on them.

ABOUT.: And we have been using sawdust for 3 years in a row. The husband has his own sawmill. I sprinkle all the paths between the beds, the grass grows much less, and sometimes I sprinkle it under the bushes, it is better, of course, not to sprinkle it fresh. No worms or animals. Everything looks great and beautiful, like a snowball on the ground. And in the spring we dig up all this with a motor-cultivator.

ABOUT.: And we also love sawdust, only we have them with chicken droppings. Sawdust och. loosen the soil, and, so that it does not acidify, you first need to fill the bucket with sawdust with water. And I make a warm bed for cucumbers - in the center of the bed I bury sawdust with chicken droppings, and cucumbers around the edges, and they always grow very well. well.

ABOUT.: Girls, you know everything yourself. Cons: sawdust acidifies the soil, sawdust removes nitrogen from the soil. Now we change the minuses to the pluses.
It acidifies - it means that you need to alkalize it, mix it with ash, and where they were used, in the fall we add lime to the fluff (now a special deoxidizing lime is sold in garden stores, by the way, it is great to use it when growing clematis).
It takes nitrogen - it means that we do not pour it dry, but soak it in a bucket with urea, and even better with calcium nitrate - this is nitrogen + calcium, which also alkalizes (deacidifies the soil).
I take a bucket, dry the sawdust and ash and pour 2-3 tablespoons of calcium nitrate into a bucket of water. I use it as a mulch for both raspberries and strawberries.
Thus, any minus can be changed to a plus.

Here you can see that the strawberries are mulched with sawdust, they are grayish from ash, in the fall of 2012 they were fresh, right from the sawmill. Then I can show which berries will grow with these "sour" sawdust.
Yes, conifers, hydrangeas, rhododendron, blueberries in general say "thank you" for the mulch with sawdust.

ABOUT.:101 times I sing the hymn to sawdust, well, and any other organic matter to boot. This time I photographed the obligatory companions of sawdust when mulching.
I remind you:

• ash and lime for alkalinization, so that the soil does not acidify when using sawdust,
• urea (calcium nitrate) so that sawdust decomposes faster and does not take nitrogen from the soil,
• water to dissolve the urea and it is evenly saturated with the fertilizer,
• Sawdust, to make the earth lighter, thicker, looser.

As a result, we draw the following conclusion: you can use sawdust, but correctly. To benefit from them, you must follow the rules described above.

Gardeners have been arguing about the benefits and dangers of sawdust at their summer cottage for a long time. Someone is categorically against their use, and someone regularly pours a thick layer in the garden and claims that this improves the structure of the soil and fertilizes it.

Who is right? We'll figure out!

But first, let's talk about the properties of sawdust.

Properties useful and not so

1. Sawdust makes the soil looser

They help her breathe, prevent the formation of a crust on the surface of the earth, so it is not necessary to loosen the plantings so often.

2. Sawdust absorbs and retains moisture

For plants, this feature is, of course, only a plus.

3. Weeds do not break through the sawdust layer

A controversial fact ... But this is partly true. In any case, not everyone will make it through.

4. Sawdust fertilizes the soil

But this is only true if they have rotted well and if they have been introduced into the soil correctly.

5. Wood chips acidify the soil

And this is a minus. Some gardeners received negative experience and say that even fertilizers do not help later - almost nothing grows in the garden. Let's talk about this too.

6. Sawdust takes nitrogen from the soil

They "steal" it from plants, and this is also a minus. However, any minus can be turned into a plus if you know how to do it.

Problems and solutions

So, problem number 1 - soil acidification. If you mulch blueberries, conifers or rhododendrons with sawdust, then there is no problem at all - they love "sour". For most other plants, acidification is detrimental.

Decision: If you remember from the course of chemistry, alkalis and acids neutralize each other by reacting. Remember how long ago you "extinguished" soda with vinegar when making dough? The same can be done in the garden area. Only instead of soda you need to use:

• ash (peat or wood);
• ordinary lime or special deoxidizing lime (sold in stores);
• dolomite flour;
• fertilizers (potassium chloride, potassium or ammonium sulfate, calcium or sodium nitrate, superphosphate);
• crushed chalk.

Generally, make alkalis with sawdust... The main thing is to observe the dose and the rules. So, with lime and dolomite flour, fertilizers enriched with boron and manganese must be added to the soil.

To find out the acidity of your soil, use special litmus tests. They are also sold in garden shops and are very easy to use (no chemistry knowledge needed).

Problem # 2 - nitrogen pull-back. And with a lack of nitrogen, as we know, plants do not develop well.

Decision: urea (calcium nitrate). In this case, it is imperative to use water so that the fertilizer dissolves and the sawdust is saturated with it.

Now let's move on directly to the methods of using sawdust in the country.

Spheres of application of sawdust at their summer cottage

1. Sawdust - mulching material

The tasks of any mulching material:

• retain water in the soil;
• reduce the amount of weeds;
• prevent erosion, soil erosion;
• prevent the soil from overheating in summer and freezing in winter;
• keep the soil loose;
• prevent crust formation on the soil surface;
• protect plants from pathogens present in the soil and falling on the leaves during watering;
• stimulate the formation of adventitious roots.

To make sawdust a good mulch, you need to prepare them.

Here's one way:

• Spread a plastic wrap on the ground and put a bucket of sawdust on it. Distribute them.
• Sprinkle with 200 g of urea.
• Pour 10 liters of water.
• Cover with plastic on top, press down with stones and leave for 2 weeks.

After the sawdust "ripen", sprinkle them on the ground with a layer of 3-5 cm, mixing with ash. And you can mix it with alkali at the first stage. I will notice right away that it is not necessary to cook rotted sawdust like that, but fresh ones in any case need to be “marinated”.

Gardeners who grow strawberries are especially fond of this mulch - the berries are always clean and do not rot in contact with the soil. At the end of the season, sawdust is dug up with the ground.

2. Sawdust + manure \u003d good fertilizer

Manure is not a cheap pleasure. To fertilize the entire area abundantly, mix the manure with sawdust and let it grind well. The worms will do their job, and the sawdust will quickly become safe for your garden.

The ratio is as follows: 1 cubic meter of sawdust requires 100 kg of manure (preferably cow) and 10 kg of bird droppings. This mixture should last for a whole year. Periodically, the compost heap should be spilled with water, "flavored" with hay, grass, leaves and waste from the kitchen. It is better to cover the pile on top so that the rains do not wash out the useful elements. Instead of manure, you can use urea alone, mullein, or bird droppings solution.

Remember to moisten the sawdust with plenty of water before laying the compost heap. Slurry or liquid waste from the kitchen is also suitable. In addition, ordinary earth will be useful in the compost heap, at the rate of 2-3 buckets per cubic meter of sawdust - this is necessary for the worms to get down to business faster.

3. Sawdust for tracks

Firstly, it looks nice and neat. You can even walk along such paths in late autumn without risking getting your shoes dirty.

Secondly, less grass grows on such paths. The sawdust is compressed and prevents the growth of weeds.

AND, third, sawdust, poured on the aisles, protect the edges of the beds from drying out. Do not forget that fresh sawdust must be prepared in any case.

4. Sawdust for garden beds

If your plot is located in a low area, you can use sawdust to raise the level of the beds. To do this, dig a trench 25 cm deep, line it with straw or hay and cover it with sawdust (naturally, with urea and alkali). We put the dug soil - the most fertile top layer - on top, thereby raising the level of the beds. Place the sawdust between the beds immediately. When they rot, they can fertilize the plantings.

5. Sawdust for seed germination

Sawdust can easily replace soil, but only for the period as long as the seed contains nutrients. If the plant is not transplanted into the ground in time, it will die.

To germinate seeds in sawdust, you need to do the following:

• We put a thin layer of sawdust into the container and spread the seeds on them.
• Sprinkle the seeds with another layer of sawdust, lightly. You may not need to sprinkle it, but you will need to check the humidity often. So it's better to sprinkle.
• We cover the container with polyethylene and put it in a warm place (+25 ... + 30 degrees). When shoots appear, the container must be removed to a cooler place, the polyethylene must be removed, and the sawdust must be sprinkled on top with soil.
• As soon as the seedlings have the first true leaf, we plant them in the ground, in separate containers.

Almost any seed can be germinated this way.

6. Sawdust and early harvest of potatoes

Do you want to eat young potatoes before all your neighbors? Use sawdust!

What do we do:

• Sprout early tubers in the light.
• Moisten sawdust with water and pour them into the box with a layer of 10 cm.
• Put the potatoes on top, sprouts up, sprinkle them with another layer of sawdust (2-3 cm).
• Keep the sawdust moist. When the length of the shoots reaches 6-8 cm, we plant the potatoes in the holes and completely cover them with earth. You need to lay straw or hay on top, you can cover it with foil for the first time (if it's still cold).

This method of preparing planting material allows you to harvest a few weeks earlier than usual.

7. Sawdust and plant insulation

The safest way is to fill bags with sawdust and lay them around the plants. In this case, the sawdust does not get wet during bad weather, does not freeze, does not become a habitat for mice. However, there is also a more reliable way. So, the vine is often insulated as follows: a frame is hammered from the boards (like a box without a bottom), put on a plant, covered with sawdust on top and covered with polyethylene. A layer of earth is also thrown on top. With such protection, the plant is not afraid of any frosts.

Insulate the plants with sawdust carefully. If you just pour the sawdust, they will get wet and then turn into an ice ball. In addition, as already mentioned, mice and other rodents can "entertain" in them. Therefore, it is better to use a dry method of warming with sawdust, be sure to cover them on top with polyethylene and something inaccessible to mouse teeth.

8. Sawdust on the farm

What else can you do with sawdust in the country?

Here are some possible areas of their application:

Ceiling insulation

Of course, now there are more modern and safe materials - for example, ecowool - but you can use sawdust in the old fashioned way. And if you mix them with clay and apply on the floor of the attic, then you will not only insulate the ceiling, but also take care of fire safety.

Heating the room

There are even heating boilers that work specifically on compressed sawdust.

Plaster for walls

Previously, this was the only thing they plastered: they would mix clay with sawdust - here's the plaster. Cement can be used instead of clay. The method is suitable, for example, for plastering a garden house or gazebo.

Sawdust in children's art

Children actually love them as much as sand! Did you know that you can even make colored applications from sawdust? To do this, they need to be painted in a gouache solution and dried in the sun. Then draw a contour on the cardboard, spread it with clerical glue and sprinkle colored sawdust on it, creating applications.

Storing vegetables in the cellar

As you know, sawdust absorbs water well. Therefore, feel free to use them if the cellar is too damp: excess moisture will be absorbed by sawdust, and fruits and vegetables will not rot.

Firing clay products

If you are fond of sculpting, you should know: beautiful glaze on the products appears during repeated firing using sawdust, when burned, the product quickly heats up and cools.

Sawdust as a printed material

Making toys, decorative cushions for the garden or dolls? You can fill them with sawdust. By the way, now is the time to make a garden scarecrow for the new summer cottage season.

Sachet bags

Juniper sawdust can be used to make cabinet scent. Put them in a cloth bag and hang them in the closet.

Litter for animals

In this case, sawdust plays 2 roles: insulation for the floor and hygiene products (absorb slurry, waste). However, not all are worth using. Of course, sawdust from fruit trees is best - they have less resin. Pine - you can, but it is advisable to dry them well first. But from sawdust in horses, hoof inflammation can even happen.

Sawdust when smoking

They smolder slowly, give a lot of smoke, and this is what you need when smoking.

Sawdust on ice

Sprinkle them on icy paths. Safe and environmentally friendly!