Can I mulch my raised beds with shavings from my planer

Hi! I'm a carpenter living in Brooklyn and our neighbor tosses out bags and bags of planer shavings. I was hoping to repurpose them (mostly ash and maple right now) to mulch our raised beds over the winter.

Does this work? i am new to the game and don't even want the take a stab at the myriad things that I should consider or may be overlooking. Jus hoping to send the wood some place positive and not a landfill (though we have donated some to a friend doing backyard mushrooms).

Also there is a big patch of yard that is mostly construction fill dirt. It is currently home to some hardworking pioneer plants, but I'd give this dirt a good coat of wood duff too if that's useful.

Thanks! I'm open to any and all info.

Hi Daniel Burnam

Yeah, sure it would work like wood chips. let it sit a few months or mix it with manure\greenwaste and put it ontop of the last layer of mulch. If hes using wood for furniture its not likley treated with anything but you could ask to be safe.

Absolutely.  All carbon is good carbon. (Unless it's a oil spill washing up on your sea shore).

Mulch goes on top of the soil --- don't till it down into the soil profile.  As long as it stays on top of the soil, it will not tie up nitrogen.  With raised beds, it will be easy to rake the mulch layer back when you plant, and then put it back into place.

You'll find that the mulch will break down quickly as soil life increases.  You'll be mulching and remulching a couple of times a year as the population of worms, bacteria and other biota grows within your soil.

If you want to jumpstart that mulch a bit, pile it up, wet it well (and add some urine if you are so bold) turn it with a couple of big shovels of compost and let it sit in a pile for a month or two.  That will innoculate it with microbial life.  If you've got access to coffee grounds, mix those in as well, as it'll give some greens to your browns and some nitrogen to your carbon.

Walnut isn't the best choice for mulch, but other than that, the woods you've mentioned are great.