Woody material should be chopped up or crushed, shredding will speed up the process but is not necessary. Modern herbals still recommend ground elder as a treatment for gout, sciatica, rheumatism, haemorrhoids, inflammation, and water retention. Don't ever use a rotavator on it, you will just chop up the roots into more pieces and it will spread even more. A Ground elder, introduced by the Romans as a vegetable, is difficult to get rid of because it regrows from the smallest trace of root. Clippings from lawns treated with herbicide, as residues can persist in the compost. In particular, avoid adding any dandelions, bindweed, couch grass, Japanese knotweed, creeping buttercup, horsetail, ground elder or lesser celandine to your compost. If your heap is cold move it to a sunnier place, if you can, or add regular 15cm (6 inch) layers of grass mowing. Log in or register to join the conversation. The situation is different in some parts of North America and Australia where it is legally controlled as an invasive weed. You can still recognize what they are. Ground elder, Aegopodium podagraria, is an invasive perennial weed that quickly forms a mass of leaves that out-competes other plants growing nearby. “Can I compost perennial weeds, like ground elder and docks?” These weeds take longer to … Can … You can compost coffee grounds on any scale. image: Normanack You can compost coffee grounds in a container on your balcony or even donate to a friend, neighbor or local community garden who could benefit from adding extra nutrients to their soil. Because raised-bed soil is usually soft, holes take little time to dig. Don't ever put ground elder in the bin as even half inch of root will grow. MY compost bins are double the size of your average bath and I have two of them, both homemade. The situation is different in some parts of North America and Australia where it is legally controlled as an invasive weed. Japanese Knotweed Hummus. Why make Compost? Have you had a problem with ground elder growing inside the compost bin ? As a result of this practice the survey found that the allotment soil was significantly healthier than surrounding arable fields. I am preparing to do raised bed gardening for the first time ever. If a clump is so badly infested that you can't easily get the weed roots out, then bin it. Fruit suffering from brown rot can be buried at least 30cm deep, burn or dispose of infected wood. Gardening magazine trialled methods of controlling ground elder, we found that spraying the ground elder under our hedge with carefully directed glyphosate was the quickest and easiest method of reducing the time we spent controlling it. Any suggestions? If there is a vermin problem on the site it is wise to put metal mesh at the bottom of the heap, over the bare earth. Ground elder, Aegopodium podagraria, is an invasive perennial weed that quickly forms a mass of leaves that out-competes other plants growing nearby.It’s particularly hard to remove as its roots can creep between other plants. The compost can also be used as an ingredient in home- made seed and potting compost. Turning the heap will also increase the heat. I encountered it first when I worked at a garden center in Manhattan. Obviously they will be no good if they are growing up through the bin as the Ground elder in Poochmads case. The green material provides nutrients and moisture whilst the browns decompose more slowly and provide the energy source for the microbes that carry out the composting process. Your plot will inevitably generate green waste, from weeds to old crops and spent compost, but please do not be tempted to dispose of it at your local tip. “I am not lost, for I know where I am. Thankfully some weeds, like Ground Elder, can be composted, provided we take one of the following extra steps before adding them. : For more of Marie’s favorite weeds you can eat, see: Raw Purslane, 10 Ways. The aim is to prevent light from reaching the ground elder. Yes. Problem is - alot of it is intertwined with the snowdrops and stuff which I don't want to dig up at the moment but I expect that it's going to be inevitable eventually. Yes. The brown material also absorbs excess moisture and facilitates air-flow within the heap. What to do with weeds All weed tops apart from bindweed, ground elder or those with seeds can be added to the compost heap; send those to your council green waste service. N.B. Caption: Ground elder can quickly take over borders . Yes. The former is described by Nick Noyes in Easy Composters You Can Build.Directions for the latter, which requires a tiller, may be found Stu Campbell’s Let It Rot!) Store the leaves for at least twelve months to allow them to break down sufficiently. The liquid can be diluted and used as a plant feed. It's then safe to compost them and nettles in particular contain lots of goodies for feeding your garden. Very slow. Horrible stuff. Wild Foods: 9 Weeds to Keep (and Eat). It can also be unknowingly introduced with new plants if pieces of its fleshy, white rhizome are hidden within the compost of the rootball or are tucked away among the roots of the plant. Think they are in the soil attached to the weeds. Can I take materials to the plot to compost? You may need to water in dry spells. Bins come in many shapes and sizes. One corner of my garden is infested with ground elder. Compost various weeds from dandelions and buttercups to horsetail and ground elder in the HOTBIN. Little and often with the weeding. Can you compost them? More details of a low effort hot compost technique suitable for an allotment and information on other forms of composting can be found at www.carryoncomposting.com. Even while the items are decomposing, it shouldn’t produce a bad smell. I had been composting in our community bins for nearly 10 years—and for several years before that at my house—but decided to start a rogue pile in my yard several months ago. I - or should I say my husband - turns the compost and we have never had any trouble with them being on concrete. We want to start a new compost bin but a concrete base is the only thing we can think of. Do not put the roots and stems of ground elder on the compost heap. Yes. Compost large quantities separately; even unshredded they will compost eventually. They're also hands down the easiest and least expensive way home gardeners can amend the soil on a regular basis. Our compost bins are on soil and we have a ground elder problem which of course will spread if we use the compost. You can make small, 60cm mounds of rotting wood right on the ground. A 2014 Report from Dr Jill Edmondson at Sheffield University found that 95% of plot-holders in their study composted their allotment waste, recycling nutrients and carbon back to their soil effectively. You can collect food waste in a covered bucket in your kitchen, then start a compost pile on bare earth (or purchase a composting bin similar to the one at the People’s Garden) with leaves, yard waste, food waste (egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags), and wood ashes. Place the wood like a puzzle, allowing as few gaps as possible. 11144R VAT No. I suppose people buy worms, but I don't. Meat, fish and cooked food scraps – these may attract rats. Cat and dog waste may pose health risks. Many materials can be put in compost piles, including: Kitchen scraps.Fruit and vegetable trimmings, coffee grounds and filters, and eggshells are great items for the compost pile. Jessica says: February 27, 2012 at 7:07 pm Hi! Marie Viljoen August 2, 2017. Other than myself no one sees any there. I wouldn't advise compost bins on concrete, they work best when worms can come up from the bottom and have a good old munch at the stuff you put in. After all, you don’t want to be introducing weeds to your flower beds by using your compost. Powdery mildew and rust are less persistent and if the disease has been caught early, material could be added to the heap, otherwise dispose of at your council facilities. For this reason, the plant was also known as goutwort. I make my claim that although by Summer 2017 some remain it is no extra inconvenience to my routine and very speedy weed control. I take it you can cut and compost non flowering stems, putting any roots and flowers out for the council to take away. at the moment I am just digging up what I can and burning the results in my husbands garage stove (I don't compost the ash from that). You Can Definitely Dig It. See the advice sheet Keeping your bin working. 1212930 14, Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | Contact us, Increase water–holding capacity of the soil, Feed micro- organisms that keep soil healthy. Tread down the heap, then cover. Your “black gold” will. Greens (nitrogen) grass – in moderation, fruit and vegetables (raw), tea leaves and coffee grounds, pea and bean-tops, manure, bedding plants, urine – male only, young weeds, flowers, comfrey / nettles. In anything from a few months to a few years you will have a coarse mulch which can be used on perennial beds. You can, if you must, plant trees through the plastic, but a frill of "liberated" ground elder will appear around the base of each, and will have to be carefully weed-killed. There are a few exceptions, where the heat produced may not be high enough to kill off all the weed seeds. The containers could be wooden bins (with a cover) or plastic composters, whatever suits your space. When you have dug up or sprayed the ground elder do not put the plant remains in the compost heap! It is held each year at the beginning of May. Allotment soil had 32% more organic carbon, 36% higher carbon to nitrogen ratios, 25% higher nitrogen, and was significantly less compacted. If you don’t have access to chain link fencing material, you can also use wooden slats, like those on a shipping crate. Other roots can be rotted down in a bucket of water for a few weeks and then added to the heap. Would that still work or can someone think of a good alternative idea? Follow the manufacturers instructions. Not to be included cooked food or bread, meat or fish, coal and coke ash, cat litter or dog faeces, glossy magazines, plastics, metal and glass. Beautiful Aegopodium podagraria, native to Eurasia but invasive in the United States, has a flock of common names. Fill the chain bin with the ground leaves and grass bits. VA Tech Extension has information on Making Compost from Yard Waste. “Can I compost perennial weeds, like ground elder and docks?” These weeds take longer to break down, at least 2 years. See the advice sheet on Perennial Weeds and Weeds. Can be hard to break down - we recommend adding dried and roughly shredded autumn leaves in small handfuls each week. Either dispose in a bin, or to be sure put it all in sealed black plastic bag, then place it in a sunny position for a few weeks! Not only can you compost coffee grounds, but you can also compost coffee filters, and is as easy as throwing the used coffee grounds onto your compost pile. However, if you drink a lot of coffee, you will want to watch how much you add to your pile, as coffee grounds should only make up 10 to 20 percent of your total compost volume. Yes you can, in fact, the safest way to use coffee grounds in the garden is by adding them to your compost pile. Their root systems are what makes them such prolific growers and so hard to eradicate from your garden. Yes. What to do with diseased material Plant materials infected with club root or sclerotina (onion white rot etc) should be disposed of offsite, temperatures at the council green waste facilities will get high enough to kill these pathogens, your cool compost heap will not. Susanna. With these units, you put them where you want them. I have 2 compost bins, both on concrete behind my shed. Leafmould Store collected leaves in wire containers or sealed black plastic bags, add some grass clippings or coffee grounds for nitrogen and ensure they remain damp. Branches. Don't know about the compost issue as mine goes straight into the general bin or is burned. Troublesome weeds such as couch grass, nettles, buttercups and ground elder, have large root systems. You can then compost these weeds, or burn the worst ones, but did you know that some of the most common garden weeds are edible? Ground elder is the bane of my life!! Most plot-holders follow this cool composting regime; hot composting takes much less time to produce compost but is more labour intensive. Roots can … Drowning: Place all of the plant, roots and leaves, in a bucket of water and weigh them down, so they are fully submerged, exclude light and leave for four weeks. Spreading by rhizomes, ground elder can easily creep in from a neighbouring garden or nearby wasteland. Ideally, they should be collected with a mower on a high cut to shred them. Choose a hand-triggered spray if y Some councils will offer a green waste collection service to allotment sites. It’s important to make sure you never eat anything you’re not one hundred percent sure of, as some weeds are poisonous or can be easily confused for poisonous species. Spreading by rhizomes, ground elder can easily creep in from a neighbouring garden or nearby wasteland. There is plenty to go around. Check the allotment site rules to see if it is permitted to bring green garden waste or vegetable and fruit peelings from your kitchen to the site; some authorities permit this, many do not. I suppose people buy worms, but I don't. It’s also capable of re-growing from only small pieces of root, making weeding it out even more tricky. A pile in the shade may stay a bit cooler, which will result in slower but still effective decomposition. The aim is to prevent light from reaching the ground elder. What you need. Other roots can be rotted down in a bucket of water for a few weeks and then added to the heap. Just make sure you are hot composting first to ensure the weed seeds are killed off. You can add all your weeds to the Compostabin, but you should remember that ground elder roots or nettle roots will still be able to cause you grief in 9-12 months when you come to harvest your compost. Put in a … Purchased composters are usually a round container with holes drilled throughout, placed on a stand so it can be turned, and are usually smaller in size. Compost holes are a simple form of in-ground composting. Browns (carbon) dead leaves, old straw/hay, dry plant stems, sawdust in small amounts, shredded paper in moderation, wood ash, torn cardboard – small pieces. Yeh, try blasting the area with weed killer and repeat the process if need be. The volume of your container should be ideally be 1 cubic metre, any less will still work but may take longer. What to do with weeds All weed tops apart from bindweed, ground elder or those with seeds can be added to the compost heap; send those to your council green waste service. ... You can then use the resulting compost on your garden. To create good compost, you should mix carbon-based waste (browns) half and half by volume with the nitrogen- based plant (greens) remains. Again, this applies to the Big Three of weeds: ground elder, bindweed and couch grass. I think a lot of people are plagued with ground elder, your not alone in this, I have loads of it, and am just taking it steady and digging it out. If you follow a no-dig regime the compost can be used as a mulch in late winter or early spring, this will help to conserve soil moisture and inhibit weed growth. Once you've dug it over try putting some plastic over the ground to kill off things due to lack of light. Do not try to compost celandine and Japanese knotweed. How do you know if things are going right in your compost pile? Compost Awareness Week aims to raise the awareness of the public regarding the benefits of using compost to improve or maintain high quality soil, to grow healthy plants, reduce the use of fertilizer and pesticides, improve water quality and protect the environment. You will only kill the ground elder once every scrap of it is removed from your garden. Bird Feathers. You can also set your compost bin in a shady place in your yard. Also,  in the past I've 'painted' the ground elder leaves with a systemic weedkiller .. this kills a lot of it after a few months . How to Compost using the "Cool" Method Compost production works best when there are a couple of heaps on the go at the same time; one that you are adding to and another that you have filled and left to decompose; a process that can take up to a year. Advertisement. Pokeweed Sloppy Joes. In one of my bins, you can still see pretty much the pine shavings, which take some time to break down. If you notice a smell, take another look at what you’re including in the mix. Once a year the contents of both are emptied and any roots I find are removed. Add grass clippings and other finer nitrogen-rich organic matter to fill the gaps left between the logs. These can help speed up composting. There is a slight risk of inhaling harmful spores whilst aerating so make sure the heap is damp and if you have health problems wear a mask. I can start planting some things in mid-February. So, plot-holders - keep on composting! Absolutely! What to do with your compost Well -rotted compost can be dug in to your plot at any time (depending on soil type) other than summer - when the warm soil will break down the nutrients to be washed out by winter rains. However, most people use a container as it is neater, easier to manage and speeds up the process. Either material will … You can purchase them or you can make them yourself. The main benefits of leaf-mould are that it contains twice as many minerals as manure and retains 3-5 times its weight in water, making it an excellent choice for improving your soil structure. Just make sure you are hot composting first to ensure the weed seeds are killed off. My compost base is heavy duty weed membrane, not the cheap stuff you can buy from wilkos/poundshop. What to do with weeds All weed tops apart from bindweed, ground elder or those with seeds can be added to the compost heap; send those to your council green waste service. Ground elder was once used as a medicinal plant for various ailments, but its primary purpose was as a cure for gout and to relieve pain and swelling. Not with the roots still attached? Compost can be made in a simple heap on the ground covered with old carpet to keep it moist. After you enjoy your morning coffee, what do you do with your spent coffee grounds? Fast. A When Which? Roots can also be crushed and then baked in the sun on a metal sheet or inside a black bag to desiccate. Other roots can be rotted down in a bucket of water for a few weeks and then added to the heap. I was told nettles make wonderful compost. (Other types include the two-hole method and trench composting. Note! The larger the branches, the slower they are to compost. I wanted concrete but based on the comments above, this doesn't seem to be a good idea! I do find some in there but think they just get in there from when I add weeds etc. The shade-loving perennial I call ground elder is also known as bishop’s weed, goutweed, and snow-on-the-mountain, among others. Yes. My dalek bins are on very compacted earth, but also I add a shovel of horse manure at the start of a new bin, that seems to supply those little red worms. The liquid can be diluted and used as a plant feed. Yes. Q What is the best method for controlling ground elder? It sucks carbon dioxide out of the air and not only that, a half-inch layer of this black gold can still increase yields six years after its application.. 5. My claim for eliminating ground elder is bit of a cheat in that the two year period in which I claim to have slayed it includes several months of its third Summer season of growth and even now some are still there. Yes. You can use a compost bin. They can also be standing stall type units that sit on the ground. And you can in-ground compost all year round, so long as the ground isn't frozen. It can also be unknowingly introduced with new plants if pieces of its fleshy, white rhizome are hidden within the compost of the rootball or are tucked away among the roots of the plant. My problem is that my compost is not ready yet. Control. Weeds You Can Eat: Ground Elder. I would suggest digging it out, by hand, tedious , but the only thing I find that works, then make sure you don't transfer any of it to your beds. Animal manures. The stuff that last for years, as opposed to months. After it cools you can pour the ground and water into your compost pile. Some councils will offer a green waste collection service to allotment sites. Cut or bruised comfrey leaves layered through your heap will encourage bacterial activity and speed up decomposition. It’s also capable of re-growing from only small pieces of root, making weeding it out even more tricky. Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. I would be interested in what ideas people have for compost bin bases - we don't have any compost bins yet but will be putting some in in the next couple of weeks. Your local green waste disposal will take ground elder (in the UK). With good nutrient ratios, compost breaks down quickly without intense odors. Or lay membrane over the whole area. Your compost heap may also remain a bit damper in the shade relative to a bin in the sun. I have very little experience with gardening. So if you don’t have to have a large acreage or a fully developed compost pile, don’t worry. Most experts recommend a carbon to nitrogen ratio of 25 or 30 to 1 for the best compost. Turning the heap now and again or mixing with a fork or compost aerator will introduce oxygen and help the materials to break down. Thankfully some weeds, like Ground Elder, can be composted, provided we take one of the following extra steps before adding them. Although it doesn't stop the bindweed and marestail, it does help to reduce the level of attack. This “waste” is actually a tremendous resource, as a large percentage of it can be recycled into compost that will enhance the fertility of your allotment garden. We end up with lovely compost. Avoid roots of ground elder, bindweed and other tough weeds. The trouble is it does come back as once its there its there for good ! Reply. I wouldn't advise compost bins on concrete, they work best when worms can come up from the bottom and have a good old munch at the stuff you put in. Leaf mould makes an excellent mulch and is a key ingredient when making homemade potting and seed composts. Don't ever put ground elder in the bin as even half inch of root will grow. Yes. National Society of Allotment & Leisure Gardeners Ltd, Registered in 1930 under the Industrial & Provident Societies Acts no. Compost holes are also a super-easy method for building up the soil in raised beds. Nail the slats together into a 3 ft × 3 ft (0.91 m × 0.91 m) square. The acid can actually kill the good bacteria that your compost grows. The roots will still be white (ground elder or bindweed) or yellow (nettles) and so quite obvious; Shake off as much soil as you can, and gently pull the weed roots through and out. In future, when you pull up the nastier weeds like ground elder and bind weed and nettles and couch grass, leave them out in teh sun to dry completely and die. Do not use animal products such as grease, fat or meat trimmings, or dairy products because they break down very slowly, attract rodents and other pests, and have an unpleasant odor when they decompose. For good compost you will need: Green materials for nitrogen; Brown materials for carbon; Air; Water; Setting up your compost heap. Most garden compost bins don't get hot enough to kill off weeds, and I know I don't have space to allow my bin to stand for two years. It’s particularly hard to remove as its roots can creep between other plants. You're not adding perennial weeds to your compost bin are you? 1a) have r… Your local green waste disposal will take ground elder (in the UK). The odor could attract pests. Slow . There is only one thing you should not do with ground elder: plant it. Avoid picking them from areas that have been sprayed with chemicals or are close to sources … Mix with grass or other activating material; water well. Bone Meal/ Blood Meal. But however, where I am may be lost.”. It's awful how many roots it has - it's never ending  I'm trying the roundup gel on the stuff this year. Weeds are a pain. My other bin has new leaves and kitchen scraps that haven't decompost. Some councils will offer a green waste collection service to allotment sites. Therefore, you may need to add extra carbon material and turn it more often to Find ground elder on. When you have dug up or sprayed the ground elder do not put the plant remains in the compost heap! Compost can save the world! No - no worms. Grass clippings.Grass clippings (Fig. Sun on a high cut to shred them have n't decompost thing you should not do with elder! Of water for a few months to a bin in the HOTBIN even while items... 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