I make trash cans full of planer shavings and usually throw them away. Anyone know what types of wood are safe to throw in a garden bed? Or could I even use them as bedding for our hamster?
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Replies
I can speak to UNsafe: don't put walnut in a garden, don't put it in the compost heap, don't use it for animal bedding. I can't remember the name of the compound but it's got some chemical in it that will make you regret just about anything other than throwing it away. For domestic woods I have never heard similar warnings for anything else which doesn't mean they are safe, and I'm quite sure some tropical exotics would come with similar warnings.
the chemicals name is juglone, or something close to that.
The chemical in walnut is called "juglone" since the genus of walnut is Juglans, i.e black walnut is Juglans Nigra. The juglone is a growth inhibitor, that's why the grass won't grow much under the ol' walnut tree. The chemical is in the wood, bark, leaves and nut outer husks.
Re the exotic species, I have no specific info but consider that the cashew tree is in the poison ivy family and beware.Temperate species are generally safe except for yew (Taxus species) which contain taxol, a toxin being investigated for cancer treatment.
A pro wood turner told me just last week that he throws 55 gal. drums of turning shavings around trees and shrubs--makes good mulch, he says. Just add extra nitrogen when you fertilize.
Bob
I Keep one bag of shavings in the shop for spills of a non flamable nature. Its great, spill and toss. leave untill you are ready for days end clean-up. Also for rabbit he loves pine.
I have 2 trash bags of Cherry. Can that be used for animal bedding or mulch?
Hi Bill, I Am not sure about bedding for animals, it is not bad as mulch. Shavings used for mulch chews up alot of nitrogen in its decomposition so you will need replace the nitrogen.
I have a commercial composter that I use for household and shop compost. I add about 15% of mulch to the normal amount of house generated scraps and the plants love it.
As for animals I dont see that thwey would chemicaly have problems w/ the cherry. But like humans they are sensitive (even more so ) to aromas and cherry has a strong oder when you chip it up into tiny, tiny pieces. Save some for your fireplace and sprinkle a small pinch or two on occasionally for some aromatherepy.
jah
The suspected toxic compound in walnut is called Juglone. Is can cause founder in horses if used for bedding, and it can restrict or stunt the growth of some plants. It is called this because the latin name for the various walnuts is Juglans. I pass on the following tidbit from Wikipedia without comment:"The Latin name Juglans derives from Jovis glans, "Jupiter's nuts"I am not sure about cherry shavings, but would caution that green cherry and apple among others contain small quantities of cyanide. I have never heard that the dry wood does, but it would be worth checking. Softwood shavings are in temendous demand as animal bedding.
I feel terrible for poor Jupiter -- imagine if what is done to his are done to yours!
My neighbor has chickens and I give my shavings to her. Makes good bedding for the hens.
Maybe you could find someone with chickens. Possibly swap for some eggs.
J.P.
I burn all of my waste wood and chips next to the garden and then spread the ashes over the garden. The third ingredient in the 10-10-10 labeling on fertilizer bags, Potash.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Many years ago in Wisconsin there was a problem with dairy cows bedded on cedar shavings. The developed asthma and became quite ill.
And if you know very many woodworkers (like me) who have done too much interior woodwork in western red cedar (like back in the 1970's when it was so popular in Oregon), you will probably know someone that is allegic to cedar. It causes asthma or sinus infections that can actually kill a cow or human.
I would guess that African Mahogany would do the same thing, based on the reaction I have seen some woodworkers get from it.
Also, Cocobolo is very toxic, but I don't know that it would hurt plants. Maybe just your fingers if you were to pull weeds in it.
Hal
http://www.rivercitywoodworks.com
Instead of a cot - I keep bags of it to use as my own bedding for sleeping in the shop when I get kicked out of the house... (for spending too much time in the shop...)...
We use ours in the garden for mulch, and mixed with some diesel, it makes great fire starter!!!
If you can find someone who boards horses, they will take all the shavings you can generate -- excepting walnut.
********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Folks are on target with cautions about walnut. You never want to see a horse with laminitis (founder). It's a sad, sad picture.
Keep in mind when using uncomposted wood in the garden, as it decomposes you will lose nitrogen in the soil. As a mulch on top it's probably OK, but if you were to mix it in around growing plants they might suffer.
We have several trees in our "field" of a front yard here in Western Washington. I lay cardboard around the base up to 1 ft or 1.5 ft and then cover it with shavings. Helps keep the grass and weeds away from the base of the trees. If you compost your kitchen scraps, shavings are great for the dry matter that helps in that process. Worms love 'em.
Problem is, if you're producing them in any quantity, a family of 10 has trouble keeping up, finding uses, LOL.
As far as the ashes, potash, etc., all elements of a fertilizer must be in balance, and the balance changes somewhat depending on the plant, so caution is in order.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Following the cautions, the last 5 years I have dumped my walnut shavings out in my woods where the thistles grow thinking that I had an elegant solution - kill the thistles while keeping the walnut out of the landfill (or my garden). The thistles are thriving of course, they just love the walnut. How ironic!
Norse
Yeah, you can never kill the things you want to kill! Try mixing 'em in with your vegetable garden soil or hasta plantings. If you're a glutton for punishment..... Thistles didn't get to be so obnoxious by giving in to such threats as julgone, LOL!
Apparently, Black Walnut is the one to be most concerned about.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG,
Oh yeah, ailanthus (stinkwood, tree of heaven??!!) just thrives under walnut trees, too. Another obnoxious weed that won't take no for an answer!
Ray
Bill, I have the same problem with excess shavings. If Pine I will use it as a mulch. Working with Mahogany, Cherry, and Black Walnut creates a problem. Do I throw those shavings away and fill up the local landfill? No! If you have old varnish that has been sitting around and not being used and you don"t want to toss it, use it to bind the shavings together and then flatten it out to make a table top with real character. You can make outdoor table-tops of the same shavings with unused paint of various colors. Rather than using as mulch, compost, landfill, use the shavings for something else like I do. Think outside of the box and get creative.
I use mostly in the garden, noting the need for more nitrogen. However, found another good use recently. I needed to get rid of about a dozen half-empty cans of latex house paint, and used shavings and sawdust to mix and stabilize the paint in the cans so they could be disposed of.
I have a compost pile that I dump shavings and sawdust into. I also grind leaves and whatever else and mix the mess together. Right now there is more shavings than leaves in the pile. After a year or two it's nice compost.
One day I was turning some "mountain cedar" (as we call it here in Texas) and when I was finished the cat came into the shop and started eating the shavings off the floor. So maybe mix shavings in the cat food.
notatexan said...
One day I was turning some "mountain cedar" (as we call it here in Texas) and when I was finished the cat came into the shop and started eating the shavings off the floor. So maybe mix shavings in the cat food.
ROFL.... OMG I'm still cracking up!
Rob
Can't be any worse than the current pet food scare. Better watch out if the cat starts sneezing though. Then again think how much you could save on scented kitty litter!
Now I'm cracking up!
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 3/20/2007 9:32 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
Lets see, some go into paper egg crates with old candles melted and poured into them to make fire starters, some shavings go into the hourseshoe pits to keep grass from growing, some go into the compost pile, some go onto garden paths where I don't want weeds to grow. You get the idea --- there are a bunch of uses that with a little thijnking will come to mind. I agree about walnut and the nitrogen depleting properties others have discussed. Dan Carroll
Every time my dog comes into the shop he starts tasting the sawdust on the floor. The other day I heard a crunch and he was trying to eat a piece of oak about 1" x 1/2" that fell on the floor. Of course, he's half nuts anyway. I guess a little fiber won't hurt him.
Make heat with them in an air-tight wood stove.
Gary W
gwwoodworking.com
I was born and still live in Bayonne,NJ, 54yrs. This was an industrial town,known for it's refineries. Texaco,Standard,Esso(before Exxon)Getty,and most guys worked for them. We were also known for having a bar(s) on almost every block. Back then they were called saloons,gin mills and shot&beer joints.The most popular drink was the boilermaker(a shot & a beer),and after each shift these joints were packed and enough BM's were consumed to fill Lake Erie. Because of the oil and gasoline they worked with guys couldn't smoke so most of them chewed instead. I'm gettin' to it! After a &*%$load of boilermakers you wouldn't find anyone who could hit a spitoon let alone see one. Sawdust/shavings were THE floor covering in these places. Guys at the bar would just turn around and spit. With about a dozen lumber yard/mills in town back then there was an ample suppy of floor covering. And the professional shot&beer drinkers would just turn around and vomit on the fc to make room for more. Also most of these joints sold bar food usually pizza and mussels. Being catholic meant no meat on Fridays, so my father looked forward to Friday and his jaunt to a joint to pick up dinner AND his share of shots&beers while waiting. My mom always made him take me along so dinner would actually get home.So that was ONE use for shavings. True story!
Classic!!!
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"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that...."
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Bill,
Since embarking on a journey down that slippery slope in pursuit of neanderthalic ways, I've been generating a lot more shavings than before.
Last night I was preparing a gunstock for finishing and there was a pile on the bench. Just spread them around and placed the stock on top. Made a nice bed and kept it from getting dinged, whilst I worked on the forearm piece.
I like the crunch sound thay make on the floor too.
Afraid that slope has another one,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
On the rare occasion when you want to strip paint from something, they work well to scrub the stuff off with.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Billgiblin,
I too generate trash cans full every week. I have three 40 gallon garbage cans filled up two or three days before the trash man comes. I have the biggest can the company has and still it's full. Seldom is it nice wood that has a purpose, it's usually black walnut or white oak. neither of which anybody wants..
Compost heap? How tall?I'm sure the city has some ordinance about 40 foot tall "compost heaps" Put some in egg cartons with a little candle wax? Who has 30,000 gallons of candle wax (not to mention 150,000 egg cartons)
So every couple of weeks I stay home on trash day and slide the trash guy a few bucks to look the other way while I dump another three garbage cans full of sawdust in.
Edited 3/26/2007 12:31 pm ET by frenchy
frenchy,
I'm appalled. Shellacing wood is one thing but the trash man! :-) Are you not beyond reproach! :-) :-)
Did you know that pine and cedar shavings are toxic to rats? http://www.ratfanclub.org/litters.html
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
A friend of mine grew up in Kingsford MI, where his father ran a hardwood mill for Ford, back in the days when station wagons were "woodies".
They produced mountains of shavings there and one day Henry Ford told my friend's dad to find a use for all that waste. After some trial and error, he figured out how to press the shavings into little bricks, roast them into charcoal and burn them in place of coal to fire the boilers.
Trouble was, they couldn't burn nearly enough to make a dent in those mountains of shavings, so they started to package the excess for sale - as Kingsford Charcoal Brickettes.
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