Bramble, bindweed and crouch grass roots

[CADS]

Hi

I have taken over an overgrown plot which is covered with bindweed, brambles, crouch grass and some other weeds that I don't know the names for.

I have been digging up loads of bindweed and crouch grass roots and by the time I have stopped digging I don't have the strength to take them to the tip. So my little plot is in threat over being taken over by large piles of bramble, bindweed and crouch grass roots!

I think I saw some where that you can drown the roots in water and then add to the compost heap. But my questions are:

1. How long to I need to drown the roots for?
2. After drowning for required period, do I add them to the compost heap as 'green' or 'brown' matter?
3. Can I 'drown' and add to the compost heap, the roots for the plants that have been previously been sprayed with Roundup?

Thanks. I have a lot to learning about GYO in an allotment enviroment. Container growing was a lot less complicated.

CADS

[zazen999]

At the moment, they might be better off being left to dry out in the sun and then once crispy, put them into a compost bin.

I have containers around the plot, and all the roots do into those [they fill with water over the winter] and when they are dead, I dig a hole, put the lot into the soil, fill back up and plant straight into the filled in area. This smelly rotting mush helps to water the roots of the plants that I've just planted!

Also, when we first started, we had loads of the roots that you have. We made a compost bin and chucked the lot in there. After 2 years, most of it didn't survive, so it can now go onto the beds as a mulch.

If you are infested with the roots that you describe, you might want to decide on a bed system, so that you walk on the paths, and concentrate on weeding the beds. These can be covered with cardboard whilst you are tackling smaller areas of beds.

Also, you don't have to have one compost bin - one roll of chicken wire and some canes can give you smaller bins all over your plot. If you make one in each area that you are working, you can sling all the weeds in there and when it has all rotted down, just remove the chicken wire and you can simply rake the compost straight onto the soil. Saves lugging it around the plot.