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Old 27-03-2003, 01:32 PM
Joe Jamies
 
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Default Fresh sawdust as soil amendment???

Hi,

About 10 cubic metres of fresh fir sawdust was just delivered to my
garden site. The soil is basically clay and very hard to work with. I
would like to use this sawdust to improve the soil structure.

Should I compost the sawdust in a pile (or several piles), or can I
spread the sawdust over my soil so it can compost "in place" (due to
the large amount of sawdust)? As a nitrogen source, I am thinking of
using urea. How long before this soil is ready for planting
vegetables?

My vegetable garden will take up half the site, so I would like to
prepare that soil ASAP. I would like to use the other half of the site
for trying other ways of improving soil, eg. cover crops, etc. Can I
start some cover crops now in the area I will not be using for my
vegetable patch? Any suggestions on what a good combination of cover
crops would be?

Thanks
Joe
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Old 27-03-2003, 02:08 PM
Dwight Sipler
 
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Default Fresh sawdust as soil amendment???

Joe Jamies wrote:

Hi,

About 10 cubic metres of fresh fir sawdust was just delivered to my
garden site. The soil is basically clay and very hard to work with. I
would like to use this sawdust to improve the soil structure.

Should I compost the sawdust in a pile (or several piles), or can I
spread the sawdust over my soil so it can compost "in place" (due to
the large amount of sawdust)? As a nitrogen source, I am thinking of
using urea. How long before this soil is ready for planting
vegetables?



Your best bet for soil conditioning is to rototill the sawdust into the
soil rather than just spreading it on top. If you want to compost it you
will have to mix some of the urea into the sawdust, keep it moist and
turned for a few months.

It will compost in place, but since sawdust has a large surface area
(compared to an equal weight of chips or sticks) it will tie up nitrogen
while it is decomposing. You may have trouble with some plants under
these conditions.

If you are direct seeding, watch the seedlings to see whether or not
they are thriving. If transplanting, watch for yellowing leaves that
could signal a nitrogen deficiency. If you see problems, get the soil
tested rather than adding nitrogen blindly. Too much nitrogen can burn
the young plants. You might have to put up with limited productivity
this year.


My vegetable garden will take up half the site, so I would like to
prepare that soil ASAP. I would like to use the other half of the site
for trying other ways of improving soil, eg. cover crops, etc. Can I
start some cover crops now in the area I will not be using for my
vegetable patch? Any suggestions on what a good combination of cover
crops would be?



Depending on where you are, and assuming you can see the soil under the
snow, you can probably seed cover crops now. Most such crops will take
some cold weather.

Clover is good for breaking up soils. Get the field clover, not the low
growing lawn type clover. Buckwheat can be a good summer cover crop, but
don't let it go to seed or you will have it as weeds later. Late in the
summer you might consider oats and hairy vetch. The oats will winter
kill, but the vetch will fix nitrogen and provide some fertilizer as
well as organic soil amendments when you turn it under. Again, don't let
it go to seed.

There may be crops which are particularly well suited to your area. Ask
your state extension service for recommendations. After all, you're
paying them through your taxes, so you might as well get some
information out of them.
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Old 27-03-2003, 04:32 PM
Tim B
 
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Default Fresh sawdust as soil amendment???

As pointed, out, you should compost it ... you need relatively similar
amounts of brown matter and green matter for ideal composting, so some grass
clippings would, as pointed out, be good. Incorporate the two well, wet
them down, and turn often.

Make sure the grass clippings don't have weed killer on them.

If the sawdust happens to be willow, it is said that willow trees produce a
natural herbicide. There's also a tree that can sprout millions of sprouts
out of its own wood chips. But if you have lumberyard sawdust I think it's
not an issue as it's not that type of tree.

You'll have an excellent ammendment for clay soil.

For this year, while you're waiting for the compost to cook down, you can
add some peat and till it as best you can. Of the vegetables, carrots have
a hard time in clay, so you can use the shorter fatter types. For melons
you can enrich the soil around them and they will do well in clay.
Everything else, from my humble personal experience, grows without major
difficulties in a clayish soil as long as it has enough organic matter to
support life, and some fertilization.

A cover crop would be handy in the part you're not using, I take it the soil
is fallow. If it already has something other than weeds growing there I'd
tend to leave it there and turn it over when you add the compost.


"Joe Jamies" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

About 10 cubic metres of fresh fir sawdust was just delivered to my
garden site. The soil is basically clay and very hard to work with. I
would like to use this sawdust to improve the soil structure.

Should I compost the sawdust in a pile (or several piles), or can I
spread the sawdust over my soil so it can compost "in place" (due to
the large amount of sawdust)? As a nitrogen source, I am thinking of
using urea. How long before this soil is ready for planting
vegetables?

My vegetable garden will take up half the site, so I would like to
prepare that soil ASAP. I would like to use the other half of the site
for trying other ways of improving soil, eg. cover crops, etc. Can I
start some cover crops now in the area I will not be using for my
vegetable patch? Any suggestions on what a good combination of cover
crops would be?

Thanks
Joe



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Old 27-03-2003, 07:56 PM
simy1
 
Posts: n/a
Default Fresh sawdust as soil amendment???

(Joe Jamies) wrote in message . com...
Hi,

About 10 cubic metres of fresh fir sawdust was just delivered to my
garden site. The soil is basically clay and very hard to work with. I
would like to use this sawdust to improve the soil structure.

Should I compost the sawdust in a pile (or several piles), or can I
spread the sawdust over my soil so it can compost "in place" (due to
the large amount of sawdust)? As a nitrogen source, I am thinking of
using urea. How long before this soil is ready for planting
vegetables?


I would spread it because it is a lot less work, but do not expect it
to work this season. Sawdust is not optimal for the job, and clay
takes a long time to improve. Also sawdust will be acidic (great for
blueberries, but you may have to lime for cabbage or beet). If I were
you I would spread manure (2 inches), and then spread the sawdust on
top (4 inches, plant through it). Manure will allow you to work this
year (it is neutral, fertilizing, and will improve the soil somewhat),
and the sawdust will be gone by next year. No nitrogen needed then.

Your option is also viable - urea is cheap, abundant nitrogen, but
then you will be gardening in somewhat fertilized, structurally
unimproved soil this year.


My vegetable garden will take up half the site, so I would like to
prepare that soil ASAP. I would like to use the other half of the site
for trying other ways of improving soil, eg. cover crops, etc. Can I
start some cover crops now in the area I will not be using for my
vegetable patch? Any suggestions on what a good combination of cover
crops would be?


There are a lot of vegetables you can consider for their ability to
break the soil, or their ability to thrive in clay. I found mache to
be a good cover crop. It produces a matting cover, it has a strong
root system, and contributes N. It overwinters in Zone 5 without
cover. But you better like it, because it reseeds itself prodigiously
(I treat it like asparagus, with its own bed). Radicchios and
dandelions are excellent at breaking the soil too. You could also
consider potatoes, which will not come out big but will certainly
break the soil. All the veggies above will cope very well with the
probable acidity due to the sawdust.

You could also plant favas as a cover crop, and you should be able to
get a decent crop this year and plenty of N. I would take a chance
with collards, too, because I have seen them do well in clay.

Cover crops are nice but no soil is as good (texture-wise) as the soil
that you find under a pile of leaves that has been sitting there for
one year. Sawdust will do that for you as well but you will have to be
more patient and add lime from time to time.


Thanks
Joe

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