A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2006 Cedar Shavings

I have access to a couple of tons of tons of cedar shavings, but I am not sure if this would be good in the garden.

I have a couple of tons of maple shavings I am using now.

cedar shavings are good. one good thing about them is that they repel bugs. i use them in my dog's house. but they are ok for the flower beds too as mulch. did that when i cut down a cedar tree that was growing too close to the house. the flower bed didn't mind at all.

one thought, just remember, they are wood shavings so if you want to turn them into the soil, you need to compost them first as they will suck nitrogen out while they are decomposing. but if you just put them on top as a top dressing/mulch, they are great!

Sorry for the late reply but just read vour query on wood shavings.
Jiffymouse is right in saying that you need to compost them first because they deplete the soil of nitrogen. On my first large veggie plot I dug bags and bags of shavings (mixture of soft and hardwoods from a friends woodshop) into the ground and found that they didn't rot down very well at all. I think they need to be aerated in the compost heap or they turn into a soggy mess.
Keep on using them though as it would be a shame to condemn them to the landfill site.