Making compost (as silage) from weeds

[Storm]

Has anyone ever tried making compost/mulch from weeds?? does it work well?

We have been clearing our plot of the pernicious weeds (nettles, snitch, docks etc.) that had over run it for the last decage as it lay untended.

The amount of weed material is staggering with a couple of 1.5 x 5m beds yielding full dustbin bags that number into double figures. our plot is 22 x 14m so there will be far more to come!!

Rather than just burn the weeds, I was wondering if it were possible to leave them to convert to "silage" in the bags and then stick them on the compost heap or directly on the ground in autumn? Storage space on such a big plot is not a problem but there are insufficient water resources/large containers to drown them in first.

My main concern is that the weeds are thorougly killed by the process.

Has anyone ever tried this? How long were the weeds left to decompose? Were there any problems with weeds surviving/spreading when the compost was used?

This is the first year with this plot so we have nothing for compost for next year and it seems a shame to burn/dump what could be a valuable organic resource....

Any help appreciated!!

[snuffer]

Composting Weeds

I'm not sure if this will be of any help but here goes.

Most of the above ground stuff can be composted (but not seed heads) the problem comes from the roots of perenial weeds. It is not something I do myself but I know of one guy on our allotment site who spreads out the roots thinly on top of polythene and cooks them in the sun until they are bone dry and desicated. He then adds them to his heap. Seems to work for him but how long you'd have to store them in the bin bags before we get the kind of weather that might dry them out is anyones guess.

Raining again here in Edingley and it looks like there's more to come.

I have no doubt that someone else, more kowledgable, will come along and give you valid reasons why this should not be done. I am only reporting what I have seen others do but have never tried it myself.

[Two_Sheds]

I have done all this, and it all works:

• dry them in the sun/open air until brown & crispy. Then add to compost
• drown them in a water butt until stinky & no green shoots are showing
• cover with carpet in situ for 6 months to a year. Virtually all weeds will be gone
• leave weeds in black bags until rotted (6 months+)
• burn them, add ash to compost

It all depends on how much space and time you have

[Storm]

Most of the above ground stuff can be composted (but not seed heads) the problem comes from the roots of perenial weeds. It is not something I do myself but I know of one guy on our allotment site who spreads out the roots thinly on top of polythene and cooks them in the sun until they are bone dry and desicated. .

I have done all this, and it all works:

• dry them in the sun/open air until brown & crispy. Then add to compost
• drown them in a water butt until stinky & no green shoots are showing
• cover with carpet in situ for 6 months to a year. Virtually all weeds will be gone
• leave weeds in black bags until rotted (6 months+)
• burn them, add ash to compost

It all depends on how much space and time you have

thanks for the suggestions! Snuffer and Two_sheds!

we don't have seed heads as all weeds were cut in winter and burned. these are the roots and new spring shoots that, as Snuffer said, will spread again if put back in the ground with any life in them. our lottie is *very* windy and dry - i think the former would probably scatter the weeds again and we don't have water enough to drown the quantity of weeds that have come up.

i think that we will have to go down the route of leaving the weeds in plastic bags for 6 months - we're in the process of putting weedtex down and planting things through holes... but there are already weeds squeezing through with our fruit bushes....Grrrrrrr!!!!

[Sue]

Storm
When I took over my allotment it was the usual dense weedfilled area and I'm on heavy clay and with the rain or as I started in the drought year, there's very little time when the ground is ideal for digging. So my weeds, couch, bindweed, docks etc all came up with clods of earth ie mud. This has filled 6 compost bins. I've left them for two years and am now in the process of sieving them out. The earth is workable and I'm reclaiming all that was once mud and clods, Currently reclaimed 200 litres of soil to go back on the allotment, stones for the path to my shed and the weed roots that are left like couch and bindweed are going in the waterbutt to rot down. So that's gradually getting rid of the problem.
Hope that helps
Sue