A few of you have added Sawdust (or sawdust pellets) to your regimen this year.

Any insights to add to what I have written in the past? Do you agree with my observation that they break down slowly at first, and speed up with repeated applications? What would you advise we tell a person that asks about the use of Sawdust next year?

I would add lots of water and a green (nitrogen) to help it break down faster at first.

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Expect to see little tan sawdust mounds for over a month the first time you use the pellets! I thought they would never disappear- second app disappeared at least twice as fast.

I was in Tractor supply yesterday, they had wood stove pellets,hardwood based and said it contained black walnut wood and may not be suitable for equine bedding.....how about for lawn use?? seems you can purchase these "stove pellets" for much less than the equine pine many of us tried?

Might as well give it a shot.

Click here for more information stove pellets#p62399

*EDIT* Nevermind the link. Its yours anyway. Didn't notice the OP.

I'm not personally thrilled about using Black Walnut sawdust due to the presence of Juglone, with its effects on some plants, but some articles say it's good for KBG. Unfortunately, KBG is not the only plant growing in a yard.

Black Walnut/Juglone Sawdust

andy10917 wrote:I'm not personally thrilled about using Black Walnut sawdust due to the presence of Juglone, with its effects on some plants, but some articles say it's good for KBG. Unfortunately, KBG is not the only plant growing in a yard.

Black Walnut/Juglone Sawdust

Holy crap!

Chemical warfare with plant life is very intriguing to me.

Great to know. Scratching black walnut pellets OFF the list.

Wow,guess that stove pellets,despite the attractive price,are not a viable option.

I tried it, mostly as mulching over the worst part of summer. It seemed to help, and the sawdust was long gone by September. Hopefully, over the course of years, that will improve those not so hot areas.

With only one shot I didn't have a good feel for if it accelerates, but once it falls under the grass I don't see it anyway.

HanLawn wrote:Expect to see little tan sawdust mounds for over a month the first time you use the pellets! I thought they would never disappear- second app disappeared at least twice as fast.

I was in Tractor supply yesterday, they had wood stove pellets,hardwood based and said it contained black walnut wood and may not be suitable for equine bedding.....how about for lawn use?? seems you can purchase these "stove pellets" for much less than the equine pine many of us tried?

I'd avoid it. Black walnuts emit a substance which kills nearby plants.

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andy10917 wrote:A few of you have added Sawdust (or sawdust pellets) to your regimen this year.

Any insights to add to what I have written in the past? Do you agree with my observation that they break down slowly at first, and speed up with repeated applications? What would you advise we tell a person that asks about the use of Sawdust next year?

First time they took forever and I overdid it because I had trouble spreading them. May have contributed to some fungal issues where I had small piles. After the second time I would pour them into my chipper/shredder which make real saw dust out of them; they then broke down much faster and were easier to spread. I'd say I put them down every 3/4 weeks and by the last time they only hung around (what I could see) for about 2 weeks.

My armchair scientist observation thinks they might have something to do with the dramatic consumption of leaf mulch this year; the lawn is devouring it. I think leaves are relatively close to wood in their structure and perhaps the little dudes that each the sawdust also go for leaf mulch.

I'm curious as to what next April's soil test will show for OM.

That's my experience, too - the sawdust guys are the same ones that eat leaves up. Keep them fed and they're ready for the leaves when they start falling.

Ok, this has peeked my curiosity. There is a saw mill only a few miles from me. I have been there a number of times but never considered asking for saw dust. If what I read elsewhere here, saw dust is a good organic fertilizer. The only Tractor Supply is miles and a world away from me. I was able to find alfalfa (rabbit food) but not much else there. Not even sure what forms Sbm comes in. So, if I go with saw dust, what should I expect. I am very new to organics.

GeorgiaDad wrote:Ok, this has peeked my curiosity. There is a saw mill only a few miles from me. I have been there a number of times but never considered asking for saw dust. If what I read elsewhere here, saw dust is a good organic fertilizer. The only Tractor Supply is miles and a world away from me. I was able to find alfalfa (rabbit food) but not much else there. Not even sure what forms Sbm comes in. So, if I go with saw dust, what should I expect. I am very new to organics.

Long term it helps soil tilth and is very high in carbon. It takes a long time to break down (at first) as you have to build up the fungi that eat it. If you overdo it you it may trap a lot of moisture, which might not be the best idea in the heat of the summer if you have high humidity.

Sawdust breaks down better than the pellets; the pellets have to get wet, then expand, then breakdown. It is one of the least expensive ways to add OM, but you have to do it slowly. I think Andy puts down pellets 1x/month. I probably put them down 5x this year, the first time I did waaay too much and they were a pain to spread.

At what rate were you applying the pellets?

Seven333 wrote:At what rate were you applying the pellets?

First time I tried to about 250 lbs on 5,500 sq. ft., waaay too high.

Towards the end of the summer I was doing 80 lbs on the same sq. ft. but ran them through my chipper/shredder so they were easier to spread (and break down). That is a good rate for my soil, they broke down in about 2-3 weeks. Add another week or so if not pre-shredded.

Besides black walnuts, is there any other type of wood sawdust I should avoid? If the saw mill had only a very small percentage of black walnut, would that be a problem?

None that I can think of quickly. And a very small amount of Black Walnut is probably OK.

GeorgiaDad wrote:Ok, this has peeked my curiosity. There is a saw mill only a few miles from me. I have been there a number of times but never considered asking for saw dust. If what I read elsewhere here, saw dust is a good organic fertilizer. The only Tractor Supply is miles and a world away from me. I was able to find alfalfa (rabbit food) but not much else there. Not even sure what forms Sbm comes in. So, if I go with saw dust, what should I expect. I am very new to organics.

I would not go so far as to say sawdust is a good organic fertilizer. It is a good mulch and provides a lot of carbohydrate, but it has very little protein or other nitrogen all by itself. Having said that, the fungus that breaks it down will become part of your soil food web and will bring its organic content to the soil as well as a bunch of nitrogen from the air. That nitrogen is required by the fungus to survive while it is decomposing the wood. In that sense wood dust might be called a fertilizer attractant. It is not quite a catalyst because the wood is consumed in the conversion.

+10 David. I use it a lot, but consider it a "soil tilth amendment" and don't even add it into any fertilization calculations.