Plaster Waste bad for garden?

vikingking · 22 Jul 2011

Hi,

Calling all knowledgable gardeners or plasterers!

I've got a rennovation project on and the plasterers have chucked their waste at the end of each day in the garden on the lawn. I think it's basically from cleaning their buckets out. There is now a big patch of plastery sludge stretching over about 2x1 meters.

I was going to lay new turf down and was wondering whether..

a) I could just turn the plaster waste into the soil and give it all a good rake to level the garden, then lay down new turf.

Or,

b) Whether the plaster waste is toxic and needs to actually be dug up and disposed of elsewhere.

Thanks in advance, Bernard.

PS. Have been a lurker on these boards for a while and I really appreciate the work put in, its a great community.

NickB_99 · 22 Jul 2011

vikingking said:
I was going to lay new turf down and was wondering whether..

a) I could just turn the plaster waste into the soil and give it all a good rake to level the garden, then lay down new turf.

Or,

b) Whether the plaster waste is toxic and needs to actually be dug up and disposed of elsewhere.

I think you're fine with (a).
Topic has come up before, and the consensus seemed it was not harmful, and possibly even of some benefit!

misterhelpful · 22 Jul 2011

I'm certainly not green fingered but the plasterer that did my house disposed of the 'sludge' in the corner of my garden a few years back. All I did was dig it over and strangely enough that area seems to be where the plants grow best (might be down to the type of plant but don't ask me about that

). Grass is pretty hardy so I imagine it will be fine, as DIYnewbee99 suggests.

vikingking · 22 Jul 2011

Great, thanks for your responses.

Sounds like the plasterers out there should be bagging their end of day sludge and selling it as fertiliser!

Bernard.

londonpuma · 22 Jul 2011

a lot better than putting it down ur drains,eek

JohnD · 22 Jul 2011

plaster rubble is good on a clay soil, as it coagulates it into crumbs, and makes it less heavy.

The lumps of plaster will break down in time, due to being wet, but if you can break it up or dig it in, so much the better. I throw mine on the compost heap, and it mixes in when turned.

Alastairreid · 22 Jul 2011

Gypsum

Some gardeners swear by adding gypsum to the soil. This works by inserting itself between the clay particles (aggregation actually). The recommendation is to add 20 to 30 pounds per 100 square feet to establish a new garden and a yearly topup thereafter of 50 pounds per 1000 square feet. Gypsum does not change the pH of the soil so it is safe to use around the acid-lovers like Rhododendrons. Gypsum is a “hydrated” product and you may have trouble finding it in garden centers. Go to a home building store and purchase “pure” builders plaster. Make sure it has nothing in it other than plaster (some contain cement). It is not hydrated but it will work just the same.

Note that simply “spreading” the gypsum isn’t going to do anything. You have to dig this stuff into the soil so it will mix with the clay particles. Ah, digging. Here's that word again - and you can't get away from it in clay soil gardening.

Read more: http://www.beginner-gardening.com/claysoilgardening.html#ixzz1SrdAWck7

Micilin · 22 Jul 2011

Plaster is alkaline so will affect the soil in a similar way to lime, won't harm it as such . I rang BG tech line last year on this issue - it is not a 'contaminant' as such

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Plaster Waste bad for garden?

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