Advice needed

[kyle7630]

I am new to this and have so many questions. Is it ok to put cedar shavings in your compost pile? I use cedar for bedding in my dog houses, and when i change it out I'm always tempted to put it in my pile. I have heard it can be toxic though so I never have. Any truth to this? How about the Christmas tree branches that I trimmed off?

I also planted several fruit trees last year, my dirt here in Northern NC is a sandy, clay mix, and I was wondering if this would be ok for fruit trees. I have 3 plum, 3 apple, two pear, and two peach. I am thinking some are not going to come back this spring because they look dry and brittle. Is this typical of new trees or typical of bad soil?

Any help would be great. I have a ton of questions yet.lol.

 

[hiker125]

I never compost the cedar shavings from my doggy beds. I am concerned about the oils from the shavings. I do however, chip up pine trees and put those in, but only if I have a lot of other "greens" and browns to balance out.

As for the fruit trees, I have never grown any so I can't say.


Welcome to TEG!

 

[bid]

Cedar is going to be slow to break down. Wood chips/shavings in general are slow to break down. You might consider using it as a mulch around some of your ornamentals or even better as a mulch path, maybe in an low lying area that gets muddy. Alternatively, if you have the room, you could create a long term compost pile where you just throw things like christmas tree trimmings, corn cobs/stalks, branches, dog bedding etc and eventually it will all break down.

A lot depends on how hot your pile is getting. Hot pile breaks materials down much more rapidly. Cold pile basically you are recreating a forest floor.

Don't give up on those fruit trees yet. You should see some buds starting to push in about 6-8 weeks or so if they have some life in them. When did you plant these trees?

And welcome to TEG!

 

[boggybranch]

Cedar shavings have a chemical that inhibits the growth of nearby plants much like walnuts do. Just to be on the safe side....I would steer clear, compost wise, and use them, instead, in the walkways

 

[kyle7630]

Cedar is going to be slow to break down. Wood chips/shavings in general are slow to break down. You might consider using it as a mulch around some of your ornamentals or even better as a mulch path, maybe in an low lying area that gets muddy. Alternatively, if you have the room, you could create a long term compost pile where you just throw things like christmas tree trimmings, corn cobs/stalks, branches, dog bedding etc and eventually it will all break down.

A lot depends on how hot your pile is getting. Hot pile breaks materials down much more rapidly. Cold pile basically you are recreating a forest floor.

Don't give up on those fruit trees yet. You should see some buds starting to push in about 6-8 weeks or so if they have some life in them. When did you plant these trees?

And welcome to TEG!

Thanks everyone. I do have a muddy spot in front of my shop door. I'll put the cedar shavings there. I planted the fruit trees last spring. One of the plum trees died right away. The rest seemed to do alright through the summer. I cut them back last week and some were flexible and seemed green. A few had dry brittle branches though. I'm hoping that they are green on the inside though. They have a one year waranty though, so I will exchange them if they don't come back. I heard it takes a few years to get fruit though and it will put me a year behind.

 

[journey11]

I don't put cedar in mine either.

If your ground is not frozen, you might want to give those new fruit trees a good soaking drink of water once a week. I almost killed my new apple tree last year the same way, and I would have blamed it on our horrible red clay, but after a few good waterings it perked right up. It takes a while for the roots to get established, especially in hard soil.

ETA: If your soil is poor and low in nutrients it wouldn't be a bad idea this spring to either put out a few fertilizer stakes (made for fruit trees) or what I do is bury a couple dead fish around the drip line. Sandy soil tends to be low in humus and nutrients.