Add another item to the list of recyclables:
sawmill waste. A University of Georgia
horticulturist is seeing great results
using sawdust and pine bark as a growth medium for plants in
commercial nurseries.

"We’re testing the use of sawmill waste to
grow potted plants in
nurseries,"said Wayne
McLaurin, an Extension
Service horticulturist with the UGA College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. "What we’re
using is material that’s 20,
25 and 30 years old."

The sawmill waste has been lying around waiting
to be used. "It’s
already broken down, so the nitrogen levels aren’t too
high," McLaurin said.
"You wouldn’t want to use fresh sawdust."

McLaurin has also found a few surprises in the
decades-old sawmill waste.
"It’s a wonderful product, but we definitely have to sift
it," he
said."We’ve found everything from machinery parts to tin
cans in the piles of
sawdust."

Early research shows the product to be useful on
certain hollies. "We
aren’t seeing any performance differences between using this
product and current pine-bark
mixtures," McLaurin said. "It looks like it’s going to
be a very good product.
But we need to continue testing it to see how different plant
cultivars respond."

When the research project began in 1997,
McLaurin envisioned the product
for use in commercial greenhouses. Since then, he has thought of
many ways commercial
landscapers could use the product.

"We’re looking at it for commercial use
first," he said.
"But if it works well, I’m sure someone will pick up on it
and market it for
homeowner use."

McLaurin is excited about his newfound recycled
product. "We’re
always looking for new products and new techniques that will
benefit the public," he
said. "I think this one will be a winner."