Stupid things we do

[Stacey Steve]

The hedge at the front of my house had been getting a little bigger each year despite me trimming it and it had grown to about 7 foot high, so I decided to cut it down to 4 foot today.

Now Berberis is a spikey SOB, at the best of times I end up looking like a pin cushion every time I tackle it.

Of course what I hadn't thought about was the amount of material that cutting this down would produce. lopping 3 foot off the top has created a pile as big as the hedge itself.

It's much too spikey to bag and I think it would take weeks to get rid of by filling the green wheelie bin we have for garden waste.

Have sent SOS to friends to borrow a garden shredder, still gives lots more light into the house.

[Two_Sheds]

Burn it.

Do it when your neighbours strike up the BBQ, so nobody can complain.

[Stacey Steve]

It would look like a Viking's funeral pyre

[SlugLobber]

Well, I can't supply a viking, but will Gordon Brown do?

[Mikey]

I used to have a similar pin cushion effect with the two rambling rector roses I planting around our front door in our last house. A good burn, seems fitting to me.

[Kristen]

"It would look like a Viking's funeral pyre"

How cool would that be!! You could sell front row tickets!!

[OverWyreGrower]

We've chopped loads of confier/Leylandii down in our front garden after it was vandalised, and we have a huge pile of stuff - 3 mature trees were vandalised and we've cut down a further 2....

Mr OWG is planning a lovely big bonfire, so has lugged all the wood/branches down to the bottom of the garden, ready for burning! We use the ash in our compost etc, so it's not too bad

[Kristen]

I am planning to chip mine (a bunch of Leylandii I cut down) for the paths between the raised beds

[lynda66]

i did the same with my hawthorn and some dead/nearly dead trees the other day, and left them in a big pile on the waste ground behind the garden, figured i'd have a bonfire, but today a big digger came along, and buried it all under a load of soil, wish i'd finished chopping the trees down now. ....... burning it is definitely the way to go

[Stacey Steve]

Must admit if I had logs from felled trees, then I would like to try these mushroom plugs or could make log piles for hedgehogs. Also been looking at these insect hibernation houses but sadly all I've got is a huge pile of spikey brush.

A friend is going to drop over a shredder on Friday but can't even use the result as a mulch as the thorns do you shred down enough.

Had the same problem when I took the Pyracantha out from the back garden.

[Mikey]

Must admit if I had logs from felled trees, then I would like to try these mushroom plugs or could make log piles for hedgehogs. Also been looking at these insect hibernation houses but sadly all I've got is a huge pile of spikey brush.

A friend is going to drop over a shredder on Friday but can't even use the result as a mulch as the thorns do you shred down enough.

Had the same problem when I took the Pyracantha out from the back garden.

Can you not mix it in with your compost once shredded?