Mulch from sawmills and lumberyards

15 years ago

My local sawmill and lumberyard charges 9.50 for a pickup bed full of sawdust. Pretty good price for at least a yard of mulch! The waste treatment plant produces type 1 compost (good for universal use including food production) for 15$ a pickup load (again, at least a cubic yard)or 5$ a cy for a dump truck load. I got 2 dump truck loads, and including the rental price for the dump truck it was still less than I would have paid for the equiv volume by the truck load, and the dumptruck put my pile where I wanted it!

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Comments (3)

sylviatexas1
15 years ago
Good idea!

& it brings back some memories:

Years ago, an old friend was re-modelling Billy Bob's, a country western club in Arlington, building bars & tables from beautiful red cedar.

He was griping one day about all the shavings & sawdust he "needed to burn".

Eeeeek!

After he finished laughing at me & shaking his head, he brought me a bunch of lawn bags full of fragrant, beautiful cedar shavings, which provided mulch for one season before they decomposed into the earth.
puzzlefan
15 years ago
Saw dust and wood shavings are not friends to anyone's garden unless it has aged very well. It has to break down and in doing so will rob nutrients fromt he soil underneath. Too close to plantings encourages rodents too. Check out Mike Mcgrath's You Bet Your Garden site. Full details there.
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capoman
15 years ago
Actually, there have been recent studies showing that it doesn't use up your nitrogen if you use it as mulch only. It will if you dig it in though. For compost, mix with grass clippings. But for mulch it is fine. The biggest risk is it clumping or compacting if it's too fine.