put it around a plant(s) of your choice, to replenish nutrients to the soil, aid in soil temperature control, and help retain moisture.

furthermore,

if you have done any fall planting, then mulching these plants might be a good thing, the soil is looser in the planting area that in more established plants in your yard, which means the soil is more open to the weather which is getting colder, so the mulch will protect it from that, and it may help prevent heaving, if you have several freezing and thawing spells this winter.

mulch has been one of the greatest tools at my disposal as a new gardener, it's great for weed suppression too!

If it's really ground up, like saw dust or nearly so, you should compost it a bit first. Those small particles could rob nitrogen from the soil for quite some time. With a little bit of 'help' from you, the sawdust would probably be ready to use as mulch in a few months.

If it's really ground up, like saw dust or nearly so, you should compost it a bit first. Those small particles could rob nitrogen from the soil for quite some time. With a little bit of 'help' from you, the sawdust would probably be ready to use as mulch in a few months.

Wood chips, or the residue from a tree stump, can be used as a mulch. That kind of material when used as mulch, not worked into the soil as a soil amendment would be, will not "rob" the soil of Nitrogen, that is an old myth that just will not die and is not supported by research.
You can put them on your soil as a mulch and it will do just what west stated.

Pee on it!

takadi were you addressing kimmsr or the OP? 8-o

kimmsr- I took rhizo's statement to mean the small particles could work their way into the soil easily rather than staying on top. Actually, with too fine of sawdust I'd be careful of it becoming hydrophobic or suffocating plants if over-used around them. Great for paths and between rows, though. And if they are just shavings and not sawdust, use them everywhere.

tj

It would be applied to anyone. When in doubt, pee on it!

In all the years that I have added sawdust to my sand, which should allow that sawdust to "sift" into the soil with greater ease than clay would allow, I have not seen any problem with soil or sawdust being anymore hydrophobic than other wise, nor have I seen that "suffocating" any plant. What I have seen is that the soil under that pile of sawdust is starting to become a bit better, and the number of earthworms found in that soil is increasing, indicating the Soil Food Web is growing.