Category: Composting

Weeds - dispose or use?

If clients don't mind, we leave weeds onsite to let them to rot down as compost, smother existing weeds, and to save labour and costs in removing them. Anything we can do to improve the soil’s structure and microbe population is a win.

Woolsacks full of weeds for green waste at the tip.

Here's how
Here’s how you can reuse organic matter (anything that once grew) and save yourself effort and money.
Learn to identify the pest, or invasive plants, (ideally when they are small) versus the less nasty weeds that will curl up and die without a fight.
It’s fine to leave the less nasty weeds on top of garden beds or around plants to rot down to improve the soil, which helps hold water and nutrients on your land.

A different approach is needed for the baddies, those that reproduce like crazy using a variety of cunning tricks. For these, you can:

Dig or pull them out or rake up (eg tradescantia) and pile in a corner or in a contained compost area. You can cover them with black polythene to speed decomposition and reduce chances of regrowth. If they do regrow, you can spray herbicide on regrowth or manage the edges of the pile while the bulk rots down. You can use on garden once they are definitely dead.
Put them in a waterproof container, add water (or wait for rain) and put the lid on. Once they’ve rotted down, you can water the garden with the resulting soup. There’s no guarantee on nutrient value, but there’s nothing to lose.
Bag them up and take to green waste

To avoid spreading the types of pest plants you have, have separate piles in each garden area, eg front and back.

More info
To identify pest plants see Weedbusters.
Pests in Wellington region and more general info see, Greater Wellington Regional Council Pest Plants.

Ivy is one of the most common pest plants we come across. It grows up trees and shrubs and smothers them. Birds eat the ripe berries and drop the seeds in the bush with a dollop of fertiliser.

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First reccy on a new job

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A very large house with a small garden area, embedded on a densely housed hill in CBD.
The first job was to see what was involved in refreshing the garden area. We took photos of the various areas, cleared the weeds, pruned the very old rose right back and created a large compost pile.
Hover over the photos for explanations.

Weeds in area in front of house. Left of upward path. Not sure if this is client's property

Area between our property and next door. No-one's land?

Still behind the house, looking along the wall

Ivy growing over shed can get into cracks and affect building integrity

View from behind the house. Large dead tree

The very very old climbing rose is now cut back.

Area on rhs facing house. Has an olive tree and rosemary in it. We're considering creating a Mediterranean garden here as it already has suitable plants and is very dry.

The rhs area from the deck. Imagine this with no weeds and some colour

The compost pile we started under the stairs. we're looking at options to contain this.

Looking down to utility area. Weeds to be sprayed

The lhs garden has some natives in it, though they are very leggy as haven't been trimmed for some time.
We'll add to these.

Another view of lhs bed with rengas along the border and a straggly hebe, we cut several dead branches off it.

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Lazy compost

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Here's how I whip up some compost - it's the simplest recipe.

Find a spot in the garden to build your compost pile. It needs to get some rain and some sun.

Lay some cardboard on the area. It doesn’t need to cover the whole area. Earthworms like cardboard, and we want earthworms.

Then, add any of these things over the next few months:

Kitchen scraps: fruit and vege, cooking water, egg shells, serviettes, coffee grounds, tea bags. Pretty much anything you’d eat, except meat.
Weeds – not pest plants, see Weedbusters
Twigs (help aerate the pile)
Leaves
Earth clods to introduce some microorganisms
Wood ash. You can chuck meat bones on the fire
Cardboard, paper
Vacuum cleaner dust, pet fur.

Every month or so, visit the beach (not a marine reserve) and fill a wool bag or two with any types of seaweed. Chuck it on the heap.

Continue building the pile.

Nasturtium seeds thrown on the pile have grown. They too will be compost when they get in the way of my garden plan

After a few months, or when it gets high (as in tall - not stinky), turn it over. I move the pile to a space next to it (remember it’s lazy compost), using the biggest garden fork.

As you do this, you will see all the critters hard at work turning your waste into beautiful soil: black beetles, centipedes, hoppers, slaters, many red worms, and more.

Only a few of the hundreds of worms in the compost

Where the heap was, you now have a weed-free patch ready to plant. And, you can use the healthy soil from the bottom of the compost pile. Win-win!

That’s lazy compost. Easy peasy! When you've used it you can plant where it was.

Waste has decomposed nicely. And a bonus avocado plant.

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Garden blog

Weeds - dispose or use?

First reccy on a new job

Lazy compost

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