How to Recycle Sawdust as Mulch

During the growing season, weeds are the bane of gardeners as they poke through the soil and ruin the appearance of your vegetable garden or flower bed. Mulch can conserve moisture in the soil and reduce the problem of erosion due to rain. For an eco-friendly and cheap solution, recycle sawdust as mulch rather than buying expensive bags of premade mulch.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Collect sawdust from your home workbench area, or go to a local lumberyard and ask if you can have sawdust from the area where they make specialty cuts for customers.

2. Apply the sawdust at a depth of 1 to 2 inches around plants. Because sawdust is so fine and yet dense, you don't have to apply as deep a layer as other types of mulch.

3. Keep the sawdust away from flower beds around the foundations of buildings. As a wood product, it can attract termites unless you use cedar sawdust. Cedar repels insects.

4. Recycle sawdust as mulch mainly around acid-loving plants. Some examples of these are potatoes, rhubarb, evergreens, azaleas, heather and rhododendron.

Tips & Warnings

• If you recycle sawdust as mulch, the sawdust can tie up the nitrogen in the ground, leaving your plants yellow and stunted. Handle this by supplementing with ammonium nitrate or sodium nitrate, applying 1 lb. for each 100 square feet.
• Use sawdust only from untreated wood as mulch; avoid sawdust from treated wood. You don't want the chemicals from treated wood to get into your food supply.

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