Place wood shavings around your plants to prevent them from getting sandy from rain or watering. This also retains moisture, conserving water, and prevents weeds from growing through. Wood shavings can be bought at many garden shops. They may also be available from cabinet builders or wood workers.
I know that pine shavings will rob the soil of nitrogen, though the saw dust is awfully inviting to add to the compost ile. Also avoid treated wood for edible crops. Arsenic and old lace...remember the story?
My husband worked in wood for 20 years, and he said with the wood shavings idea, you need to beware of what kind of wood you use. Some wood, like Oak, has a lot of acid in it. He said that Walnut would be dangerous to use in your garden when around horses, they eat it, and become ill or die. I know with all the ice storm damage in KY we've got a lot of wood shavings now from cut up damaged trees. So, those folks would know what kind of wood they are using. Do the packaged wood shavings tell what kind of wood it is? Might need to research it first.
Second problem: your plants will turn yellow if you don't use extra nitrogen. As the wood decomposes it hogs all the nitrogen. Other than that, it is a pretty good mulch. It will weather to a nice gray.
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