? on using cedar mulch in the veggie garden

I hav e tons of cedar mulch untreated, we're planing wood to go on the outside of a house,andit's all cedar, and untreated, can Iput this shavings on my veggie plants ? what about the strawberries and other plants? anybody know?

kathy

I have so much of it, we're running out of room to store the bags and we'renot even half finished yet. I have to find a use for this.

Cedar has a natural resin in it, if I'm not mistaken. I'm NO expert, but I would be hesitant putting it on any plant. It might nit hurt a thing, it DOES keep mothes away, you know!!
Audrey

Hummm... I bought some cedar shavings for my compost pile! It was hamster bedding. I know it sounds crazy, but I had too much green and needed something to smell good.. I only used a tiny bit and sprinkled the rest in the grass in the yard so it would repel fleas, etc. AND be in the grass when it's cut for the compost pile. I also sprinkled some in my flower beds...

Everything is fine.. and I've used the compost in the garden.. so ?? Who knows? My garden is "hecka" healthy. LOL

Putting it in the compost pile results in a change because of the heat it goes through. By the time it's rotted, the resin should be gone, I would think. I didn't think of using it in compost! I do know if you use pine on certain plants it'll kill them because of the "tar" from the pine.

I would try it, especially in the paths. I have natural cedar sofit and fascia on my house and the carpenter bees, wasp and dirt daubers seem to love it. Termites ate a large cedar trellis. I just don't see how the resin could be that strong and it seems it would make a good soil amendment especially if left to weather all season before it was tilled in.

Kathy,
Cedar mulch can be used anywhere as long as its not been treated and has had a year to do its thing. We use mulch here everywhere. Even for my prized tb's.
We also use it around the veggies as i have a roadside stand and sell veggies.
Mulch is wonderful for the moisture content in allows the soil to breath and weeding is a snap even in our hard clay soil.We do use meloganite or the leaves from comfry( as they have 100% nitrogin in them as a fertilizer to add to the soil for what the mulch would take away. Just my 2 cents.
If anyone wants comfry...boy do i have it!
Sandy

So if I let the cedar bags just sit there for a year they'd be ok to use in the garden and anywhere else?

cause the boards have been sitting for over a year but not the mulch.

Do I need to take it out of the bags and let it sit there piled up for a year?

We're going to have tons of this stuf before it's over with.

what about chicken pens and animal beds? is it bad

I did say once that this stuff has not been treated.

Have you ever looked inside a cedar chest that's unfinished? The sap (resin), will run down years later. Don't take my word for it, though, it may not hurt a thing!
Audrey

I've seen the inside of cedar chests, i've not seen that, my dh built one and I've seen them every weekend at flea markets, their not finished on the inside and i've still not seen the sap that runs out of them or resin or what ever it is. I don't know how they could sell the chest if it had that stuff running all over th einside of the chest. it would get all over everything.

What I'm talking about is dry. Several years old. But it seeped out after it was built.

Your boards need to be shredded and turned to mulch and let set for a year. The bag stuff should be allowed to dry throughly. Then use next year 2009.The mulch has a whole total new composition after it has been turned to mulch.But it all needs to sit out of the bags and allowed to do its thing. Or, cover with a tarp and allow to dry out good for that year. If using it on flower beds.
Sandy

I thought so Sandy, thanks, Dh is going to dump it ouside somewhere so it can compost, thanks for the help. least now we can get it out of the shop and out of the bags out of the way LOL