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What to do with weed mixture

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  • #1

    What to do with weed mixture

    Hi - newbie allotmenter here!

    I spent the last couple of weekends clearing and covering my overgrown allotment. I have strimmed all of the top vegetation, hacked back a lot of brambles, and started hand digging out the perennial weed roots.

    The result is that I have two big builders’ bags filled with a complete mixture of strimmed vegetation, branches and roots.

    In the mix are all the old favourites: bindweed, couch grass, marestail, docks, nettles, brambles, and a variety of annual grasses and weeds.

    There is no way to separate them out now. What should I do with them? I am considering hiring a waste shredder, cutting it all up, and letting it all compost in biodegradable bags under cover for a couple of years. But I’m wondering what quality compost that will produce. It might be full of bramble thorns or weeds/seeds that have survived. The alternative is to burn the lot. But that might be wasteful if composting can work and will take a lot of work.

    There is way too much to try to remove it from the site.

    Any thoughts/guidance would be appreciated!
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  • #2
    Welcome to the vine, if you are allowed, I would burn it, the ash is also good for the soil.

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    • #3
      If burning isn't an option, do you have a big enough receptacle to drown them? (Ie let them rot down under water and use the resulting "tea" as fertiliser).

      Or just put them in a green bin.

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      • #4
        It sounds like a big pile,don’t spend money on it hiring anything. Do some of those weeds regrow from bits of root,although weeds grow anyway whatever you do with the pile,have you got a corner you could let it rot down & covered with something incase it all carries on growing or carry on putting weeds on the pile to cover it with,worms would like that.
        Location : Essex

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        • #5
          Thanks all. We can burn things on site, so I’ll do that.

          How do I store and use the ash? I’m completely new to this game!

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          • #6
            In a bucket with a lid on, if outside... or in a bucket of any kind under cover Sprinkle a bit every so often on your compost heap - it'll thank you for it
            https://nodigadventures.blogspot.com/

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            • #7
              If you can burn, a couple of thoughts
              1) assuming there is no plastic etc in the burnables, pick a place where you are going to have a bed, it's a good way to clear the ground as well as getting rid of the rubbish
              2) the weeds will be wet and therefore be very smoky and slow to burn. A bit of dry wood will improve things no end. cardboard will do a bit, but it's the wood that will provide the heat and mass to keep things going. The alternative would be to get hold of an incinerator


              If it's forecast to be dry where you are, it would be a good idea to get as much sunlight on them as possible to dry them out. But not on the soil as they will drop seeds...

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