# Wood Shavings for Mulching Garden Paths?



## juniorjock (Feb 3, 2008)

I wanted to ask if anyone uses their shavings from their planer and jointer as mulch for garden paths? I guess my main concern would be if it would attract ants and termites, etc. I'm not sure but I think with the shavings being so fine, they'd be easily tracked into the house (especially when wet) I've been using cyprus mulch and it does great. No bugs and lasts a good amount of time. I'm just trying to find a use for the shavings instead of trashing them.


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

I tilled a bunch into my garden spot over a year ago and I let it sit fallow last year. I'm going to plant this year. I hope that it loosens up the soil a bit. We live in sandy Delaware. Where the whole state is a gigantic sandbar.


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## boboswin (May 23, 2007)

It certianly won't hurt anything if the pathway is to be more or less permanent.
The problem with wood chips/dust is that it takes a fair amount of nitrogen out of the soil in order to break down. (40 lbs of urea per 1000 lbs of sawdust.)
Karson, you may want to bump up the soil a bit with some urea to bring the nitrogen levels up for the planting season.
If you want to compost wood chips mix them with lots of vegetation. Grass clippings, leaves, peat moss if you can find it and a handfull of urea per wheelbarrow load. It will probably take at least a year and a couple of turnings to get that black gold but it's worth the effort.
If you use animal poop ( manure) stay away from pigs, dogs , cats etc as they can spread disease.
You must *carefully* "compost" this stuff to get rid of weed seeds and pathogens.
It should help bring your sawdust to completion though.

Good luck

Bob


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

I dump my shavings down the path that goes through the forest out back. It works great for the same reasons Bob#2 stated. The little red squirrels love it, as do the field mice and song birds…...............not much grows through it and it keeps the forest exactly where I want it…...........off of my path.


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

Bob Thanks for the info. I'd heard about the nitrogen problem. But, it's a great reinforcement for this growing season.


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## marcb (May 5, 2008)

Walnut works great as a vegetation killer. I like to sweep it into the cement seams.


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## boboswin (May 23, 2007)

I forgot to mention Black Walnut . Thanks Marc.
It contains a substance called "juglone" and is toxic to some animals ( e.g. horses) and several plants.
I would be keeping my walnut shavings separate from the other type you would spread around your gardens.
Cedar is not the best choice either but makes a great path lining.

Bob


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## Kindlingmaker (Sep 29, 2008)

Karson, Use some gypsum also, it prevents the clays from hardening. Wood shavings go into the compost bin when they do not have paint chips with them as well as straight into the fall tilling of the garden.


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## DannyBoy (Oct 26, 2007)

If you are using it just as a path, I wouldn't see that as being a problem since you probably don't want to grow things on your walk way. I've been using sawdust and shavings to cover the path my dog makes when he runs. This keeps the yard looking better (since it defines the path) and keeps him cleaner (since he isn't running through mud; dust I can deal with).

The nitrogen problem is a relevant one. However, if you use a good amount of other compostable materials you can add scraps and sawdust to your compost bins. The trick is to have multiple bins that you rotate through. Our set up is two bins, one that we use this year and one that we put things in to use next year. Due to the amount of stuff we add to them (because we compost a lot) we are thinking of adding another one.

A good mix with the scraps and dust should be green grass clippings, brown leaves (every fall!), and produce cut-offs (including egg shells). We've been doing this for a couple of years and have gone from clay that can't grow grass to a vegetable garden that we have to give away things from!

~DB


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## dhg (Mar 27, 2008)

Pretty much all my saw dust goes onto the garden and my neighbors garden to keep weeds down. a little of it gets turned in. i'll have to mention urea to the wife when planting is getting close.


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## jeffthewoodwacker (Dec 26, 2007)

All my shavings and chips go on mulched paths. If you give any shavings to folks that want to use as animal bedding do not give them walnut shavings - will cause serious issues with horses.


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## wwwlumberkingsbiz (May 7, 2009)

I need to convert wood shaving pounds to yards, can anyone assist me.

Joe


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Hey Joe
That will differ from one wood to another. If what your trying to do is to see how much sawdust you need to fill an area you measure your area and multiply width times length and then times thickness and the divide by 27 this gives you how many cubic feet you need.


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## juniorjock (Feb 3, 2008)

I'm not sure if this will help or not but it may give you a starting point.

http://www.blurtit.com/q403580.html


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## juniorjock (Feb 3, 2008)

yep, they're ok


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