We are able to use last years calf shed shavings on our garden. These are fine wood chips put new into the calf shed before calving and the calves use these for their bed for some months after which they are taken out until fresh shavings are laid for next season. Are these good for the garden? Is anything else needed to be added? They look good and top up the garden.
serf407,
Sep 19, 10:37am
Be careful somtimes there are treated shavings that have wood preservatives that are not good for gardens.
woody89,
Sep 19, 11:11am
Calf shavings are unlikely to be treated wood, treated is no good for the calves & as rearers most are particular about that. I have used calf shavings for years & found them great for building up the soil, worm numbers & holding moisture while suppressing weeds. I put it on quite thickly & sometimes put down blood & bone first. One area that was mostly clay I added gypsum first, it is now rich & loamy soil.
skyline26,
Sep 19, 7:21pm
Shavings are none treated for calf pens.
The wood is work at mills be for it is treated.
arabelle,
Sep 20, 1:11am
Ive used them for years as such, and really great. they do disappear over the summer months so if you have a raised vege bed it suddenly seems to drop down. the nitrogen levels will be lower than normal compost being considered 'brown matter' [poop n woodshavings] so if growing green leaf you will need to at the "n" but if mixed with general compost or lawn clippings then that balances it out. Carrots etc do well in year 2 when the soil has become fine again
ianab,
Sep 20, 1:19am
Ideally you would want to compost it (along with your regular compost mix) and then use the resulting compost next year.
There isn't anything really harmful about it as it is now, but as it breaks down it uses Nitrogen from the soil. So watch for that. Once the breakdown is complete the nitrogen is freed up again, so if you get into a regular cycle of adding it to the garden, last years wood is releasing nitrogen to make up for what's used by the new stuff.
smallwoods,
Sep 24, 10:08pm
This.
I supply lots of shavings and recommend NOT to put it on straight away. A year of being mixed with some dirt will help break down the wood. It will act as a mulch if applied first year, but more beneficial the next year.
My raised gardens have 200-300 mm deep bed of this at the bottom with 150-200 mm of bedding mix on top, which get topped up each year as the garden sinks. Weeding is a breeze. The wood holds plenty of water deep down and encourages long root systems.
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