I hate clay! Mulch with drywall ?

[Raddad]

My boys had a Landscape and rototilling business when in high school and college and told me stories about how gardeners would work with difficult soils. I have read posts where people are struggling to work with clay or sand, even if it's just to level out a field. Many gardeners with hard clay would mulch using drywall. Yes drywall! The boys would rototill the drywall, paper and all, into the clay in the fall. The gardeners said it breaks up the clay in a few years. It's main ingredient is gypsum. The scraps are free from building sites and make great mulch during the growing season.

Bark, sawdust, manure, compost, peat moss and soil mulches are often used for this purpose. Incidentally, if bark or sawdust are used they will leach nitrogen from the soil, as they decompose, so it's not good for grass or crops unless additional nitrogen is added on a seasonal basis. This nitrogen deficit will dissappear when everything is fully composted. Most tree services will dump wood chips for free.

I used tons of wood chips on about a 1/2 acre area. It was like a 1/2 acre compost pile 8" thick. I would rotitill the whole area every few months After a couple of years the soil was perfect for growing grass and holds up well when we don't get much rain. Grading and leveling soil with organic content is allot easier wheather it's clay or sand. This technique allows you to "grow" your own topsoil for use in other parts of your property.

 

[CharlieTR]

The drywall (Gypsum) does release nutrients in the soil and improves gives the clay a better structure. I don't think many people I know add it in.
But I want to add it in for a large garden next year. Where does one buy a truck load? Does it have to be tilled or can disc do the job?

 

[Farwell]

I had adobe soil on my place in Northern California and would work Sheetrock into my soil. It works to make the adobe more workable but using a small walk behind tiller is not the way to go. I gave up that idea and switched to buying gypsum from my local home and garden store. So much easier to work with and did a better job of keeping the adobe from hardening.
Farwell

 

[marimus]

Its the microorganisms in the soil that use nitrogen when they break down the bark mulches. You can make a cut stump decompose faster by adding nitrogen to feed them.

 

[Raddad]

I would go to construction sites and ask the contractors if you can scrounge the scraps. I work residential construction as a carpenter and we would be glad if you'll clean it up and get rid of the scraps. You could also call some drywall contractors and they can tell where they are working. It's hard to beat the price of free. I'm spoiled and have a Howard rototiller for my tractors. In Michigan the soil isn't as dry in the fall which helps mix it in with the clay, especialy if you spread it out and give it some time to hold the moisture in the ground after a few rains. I'm sure a disk will work fine just make a few of passes to chop and mix it well. Don't discount the value of adding organic material also.

 

[orgt]

I don't feel qualified to talk about sandy soil but I've gotten a lot of experience dealing with clay, it's what we have here and what's even worse is that in some areas we have some nasty shale a mere few inches below the surface.

I would not recommend using drywall for mulching, in fact if the mulched area is to be used for a garden it's a big no-no, the end result could be flat out unhealthy (drywall is not "just gypsum," in fact drywall plants are extremely toxic places for their workers.)

As an organic gardener I've turned that really awful clayish soil of ours into dark, loomy, incredible soil in just a few years. I was about to offer some tips but I see you'done some of that yourself using much safer ingredients so I'm not quite sure why the drywall... I'd say leave it where it belongs, in that special Construction Materials section at the dump. There are far better and safer choices.

 

[Inspector507]

I don't feel qualified to talk about sandy soil but I've gotten a lot of experience dealing with clay, it's what we have here and what's even worse is that in some areas we have some nasty shale a mere few inches below the surface.

I would not recommend using drywall for mulching, in fact if the mulched area is to be used for a garden it's a big no-no, the end result could be flat out unhealthy (drywall is not "just gypsum," in fact drywall plants are extremely toxic places for their workers.)

As an organic gardener I've turned that really awful clayish soil of ours into dark, loomy, incredible soil in just a few years. I was about to offer some tips but I see you'done some of that yourself using much safer ingredients so I'm not quite sure why the drywall... I'd say leave it where it belongs, in that special Construction Materials section at the dump. There are far better and safer choices.

This is from the USG MSDS sheet

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICITY: This product has no known adverse effect on the ecology. A large discharge directly
into waterways would not be expected to kill aquatic life.

The main problem with drywall/gypum dust is the silica in it. But only when breathed into the lungs.

 

[Doc_Bob]

I I was about to offer some tips but I see you'done some of that yourself using much safer ingredients

Offer some tips, we can all learn.
Bob

 

[Raddad]

Here is a paper published by the state of Vermont that highlights the current research on using drywall for soil amendment. There is a section on agricultural uses. After reading this doccument perhaps your opinion on environmental concerns might be lessened.

http://www.p2pays.org/ref/23/22738.pdf

 

[turnkey4099]

I had adobe soil on my place in Northern California and would work Sheetrock into my soil. It works to make the adobe more workable but using a small walk behind tiller is not the way to go. I gave up that idea and switched to buying gypsum from my local home and garden store. So much easier to work with and did a better job of keeping the adobe from hardening.
Farwell

I also tried working it in using a large front tine (Honda) tiller. While it did the job, it wasn't fun. The stuff doesn't break down in one season either.

DON'T DO THIS: Next drywall project I got a brain fever and fed the scraps through the shredder - bad idea. Works great but you won't see the machine from the time the first scrap hits until you quit feeding. You also wind up with a white machine. I washed it down while it was running blasting away with a hose.

Harry K

 

[orgt]

Here is a paper published by the state of Vermont that highlights the current research on using drywall for soil amendment. There is a section on agricultural uses. After reading this doccument perhaps your opinion on environmental concerns might be lessened.

http://www.p2pays.org/ref/23/22738.pdf

Thanks, nice paper. Results are a toss up though, see page 23...

For the record I'm all for recycling, we do that a lot ourselves. In this case it's better and safer done in a controlled environment with large (and very expensive) composting machines that can grind in the right amount of other materials with the drywall so as to avoid emissions of dust.

Remember also that for decades we were all told that there was no danger with pressure-treated lumber which was used by tons of gardeners and even playground manufacturers, YIKES! Now we know better, so I say, why not err on the side of caution, even more true when the are much easier and productive soil enrichment alternatives?

Anyway, I wouldn't mix drywall in my own soil, but it's a very personal choice, no doubt about it.

Great discussion.

 

[Doc_Bob]

After reading this doccument perhaps your opinion on environmental concerns might be lessened.

http://www.p2pays.org/ref/23/22738.pdf

They like it for use with clay!
Bob

 

[orgt]

Offer some tips, we can all learn.
Bob

Fill me in on your situation and I will be glad to help.

 

[RonR]

We have heavy clay here. I spoke to a landscape place 15 yrs ago and they said there were two solutions. Remove 12" of clay and backfill with topsoil, OR, add gypsum.

So for many years, I would spread a few hundred pounds of pellet gypsum on our 80x120 lawn. It MIGHT have helped, but it was not very noticable.

About 3 yrs ago, a buddy suggested that instead, I should add composted zoo doo, which he did for his lawn. That fall, we topdressed our lawn with 6,000 lbs of zoo doo and verticut while overseeding.

That made a world of difference. We did have some exotic weeds that we had to spray, but whereas before, walking across our lawn was like walking across concrete, now, you can feel the spring in the lawn.

Cost was very low, and it was easy to spread. This year, we spread another 2,000 lbs. Our lawn has never looked this good in the 20 yrs we've lived here.

I'd forgo gypsum and go for compost if I were doing it.

Ron

 

[Doc_Bob]

About 3 yrs ago, a buddy suggested that instead, I should add composted zoo doo, which he did for his lawn. That fall, we topdressed our lawn with 6,000 lbs of zoo doo and verticut while overseeding.

Who gave you the zoo doo? Cost if any??

Bob

 

[RonR]

We have a recycle place that gets the zoo doo, then composts it.

It wasn't free, but was cheap in my mind. About $20/ton. It was light and fluffly, didn't smell much, and REALLY made a difference.

Ron