peach orchard mulch

[nellynelly]

i have an endless supply of sawdust from a furniture factory. it is a mixture of wood, including pine, teak, eucalyptus and acacia.

i would like to use this to mulch the garden and peach orchard. i have read the peaches like a slightly acidic soil. what do you'll think?

 

[mickey328]

Sawdust will decompose fairly quickly, so that'll help condition the soil. It might blow in winds, though. Still, I'd use it if I could get that much of it!

 

[nellynelly]

should i be concerned about the type of wood?

 

[mickey328]

Just to be sure, I would do some online research to see if any of it has toxins that could be detrimental.

 

[nellynelly]

a few on-line resources stated that sawdust can become overly compacted, preventing water penetration. do you think mixing the material with grass clipping would help this problem (or would it juts make the material break down faster). any other additive that you can think of that may help?

i read nothing in regards to the type of wood being a problem.

thanks.

 

[wyoDreamer]

My husband does woodworking occationally, so when he ended up with a huge bag of sawdust from a cedar project we were doing, I used it to mulch around a couple of our little pine trees.
It blew away really fast (Wyoming winds), but the stuff that stayed lasted about a year and a half before I couldn't see it anymore. It didn't really seem to cause a problem with watering, but I can see where that may be a problem if you put it down as a thick mulch ( like 3 - 4 inches). I only had it about an inch thick.

 

[WillsC]

Nelly,

Be careful with the grass clippings as they tend to mat down and will shed water away from the plants. I do quite a bit of wood working and some plants really like the sawdust, like blueberries. I have 140+ blueberry plants so all my saw dust goes to them but I don't think it would hurt your peach trees. For my peaches I just use tree company trims which is basically the same thing just larger. Just don't till in the sawdust as it will rob nitrogen.

 

[nellynelly]

have you experienced the saw dust compacting and preventing water penetration? how thick do you use it for mulch?

thank you.

 

[WillsC]

Nelly,

I probably would not go over 4 inches thick. Keep it away from the trunk itself and probably not a bad idea after a hard rain to check and make sure the water is penetrating.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I would not put eucalyptus sawdust underneath fruit trees.

I suggest that you compost the sawdust with a mixture of other things and then it will be excellent mulch. If nothing else, pile it up for a year or so to let it mellow and them place it around your trees.