Gypsum? Sheetrock questions

[Luther]

Hello, I am doing a little remodeling to my house and yard and I thought of a question about sheetrock. I think that the sheetrock that I'm using is made out of gypsum??, and I'm just wondering, if I'm wrong, what sheetrock is made out of. I need some extra dirt to use as fill in my yard for my project out there and I was wondering if it would be possible and alright for the earth if I broke down the sheetrock, took the paper off, and used the sheetrock rubble as fill in the ground as a method of "disposing" of it.

[RicodJour]

Gypsum is a naturally occurring mineral - hydrated calcium sulfate. I've never heard of using gypsum for gardening purposes, not being much of a gardener (okay, I kill plants! Happy, now?! ;) Anyway, after a quick search:

it does seem to have a potentially beneficial effect on plants. I would guess it would be like vitamins, though - too much would be bad. If you stripped the paper and kept the gypsum in a bag you could get use it as fertilizer and dispose of it that way.

R

[tinacci336]

Heck , just break it up in fairly small pieces, leave paper on it, fill in the hole and cover it a bit with top soil and water it down and forget about it. It will biodegrade in time and eventually you'll never know you put it there. Jack (an old timer of 89)

[Darrell Dorsey]

Gypsum is comminly used to help break up clay soils. I used bags of it at my old house when making flower beds. I tilled in gypsum into the soil.

As posted, why not just bury the pieces with the paper. The track builders do it all the time.

Darrell