Do Not Throw: Benefits of Pencil Shavings For Plants

I am sure after reading this article and seeing this video below, you will never throw away Pencils Shavings or Pencil waste generated by your kid while sharpening pencils. Yes today we are gonna talk about the benefits of using pencil shavings or wood shavings in your garden and plants. Lastly two drawbacks of using pencil waste in garden.

Pencil shavings trash is actually really beneficial in the garden. I shall list out the Benefits first and then lastly one or two drawbacks of using pencil shavings or wood shavings in your garden.

1. MULCHING: For those who have not seen my video on mulching, mulching means applying some material to the surface of your garden soil to to retain soil moisture by preventing water evaporation specially in summer and also to suppress weed growth.

The scientific basis or the concept behind is simple. Pencils are made from cedar wood that insects hate and hence pests tend to avoid nearing to the plants.

And one more clarification for people who are think lead is toxic for plants. Pencil lead is a misnomer. Its actually not the element lead, its made of graphite and clay mix which is a source of carbon to plants and non-toxic.

1. COMPOSTING:  You can either mix them into the compost bin or even mix into the soil around plants. This will also thought to help keep bugs and other pests away.

So these were the beneficial and eco-friendly ways of recycling the home wastes like pencil shavings.

Now the rare Disadvantages:

1. Termite Problem: using wood shavings can attract termites but this is very rare.
2. On the other hand, white using it as a mulch,  it can block air flow, which traps too much moisture and leads to fungus growth and root rot. To counteract this problem, simply rake and fluff your wood shaving mulch from time to time.

Watch Video tutorial on using pencil shavings for plants.