Recently, I made my wife an oak desk, which created alot of sawdust. I used my shopvac to clean it up. I started to just throw the sawdust away in the trash can, but I wanted to ask around if sawdust harms lawn grass. I thought about sprinkling it around the yard to provide nutrients, but I'm cautious. It's mainly from red oak boards, so there's no pressure treated lumber. Any feedback?
Robin
FWIW the PO of my house had a friend that had a tree service, he'd have the friend just dump loads of shredded tree debris on the driveway and when it mulched down into something resembling topsoil he'd throw it on the yard. My neighbors are envious of my rich dark soil but I've never had it tested. The pokeweed sure love it though :)
nate
Compost it. Spreading wood over the lawn can encourage certain bugs, especially carpenter ants.
If it is all oak and no pine or other nasties, it is good for smoking meat on the grille too.
I have used sawdust from all types of wood as mulch. If it is fine enough to not pack donw on the lawn, I wouldn't hesitate to spread it very thinly. You have to pay to buy it at stores, so if you get it for free be happy and enjoy!
As the wood breaks down, it will tend to use up any free nitrogen, so you might want to provide some extra fertilizer.
Oak is also quite acidic. Weeds love acidic soil!
Trees have fallen in the woods for many centuries. Sawdust is essentially wood. I am guessing it will look like sawdust for a few days. Then it will darken, rot, and be just fine.
Spread it thin and it's great for the lawn although you may need some lime if your lawn is already on the acidic side.
I cant say it helps my lawn, I just do it to get rid of it. If it has been making it more acid I havent noticed, my yard is naturaly acidic anyway.
Jimmie
The sawdust from making one desk as the OP did should hardly be enough to acidify an entire lawn unless he lives on a postage stamp.
I suppose I read the post and figured if he made one oak desk, it won't be his last woodworking project.
Thanks everyone for the replies. I actually live on a third of an acre, so it probably won't acidify too much of the lawn. Of course, I sometime wish the lawn was somewhat smaller, (especially when mowing..lol), but I don't like the postage stamp sizes of the new developments. It seems everywhere I look, developers are putting 3000 sq ft. houses on 3500 sq ft lots. A homeowner doesn't need a lawnmower, just a pair of scissors.
Rob
I generate a LOT of sawdust. Pile it outdoors on the ground and allow it to sit there for 6 months, then use it as mulch on blueberry bushes, shrubs, lawn, etc. New sawdust will draw nitrogen from the soil, usually not a good thing for plants.
The new sawdust is likely quite acidic and that could be a problem too.
OTOH, if your soil is too alkaline (like So. Cal "adobe"), you might welcome acidic additive. Do you know the PH of your soil?
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