Composting weeds can make some gardeners nervous, thinking that they are going to end up spreading the weed all around their garden whenever they spread compost. Troublesome weeds such as couch grass, nettles, buttercups and ground elder, have large root systems. Their root systems are what makes them such prolific growers and so hard to eradicate from your garden. These roots absorb huge amounts of valuable nutrients from the soil.
What does that mean?
Don’t throw them away! Your garden can benefit from all of those extra nutrients. Leaves aren’t the only thing you should be composting from your yard!
By following these few simple tips you can compost weeds without the risk of spreading them throughout your garden.
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Remember: We will never eradicate weeds, they blow about, birds drop them and they can sleep in the soil for years then soil disturbance will set them off.
5 Ways to Compost Your Weeds
1. Using the Hot Compost Method
If your compost pile gets plenty of heat and is steaming to the touch, then weeds can compost in as little as 6 to 8 months. To get your compost piles hot enough requires a perfect mix of browns and greens, regular working and (ideally) a sunny location. The heat from your compost should damage and destroy roots and seeds so that your weeds will not propagate from the compost.
However, for most of us, it isn’t as easy as that. Unfortunately, most home compost bins do not get hot enough to destroy all seeds and roots. Smaller and slower acting compost piles may take up to two years to kill weeds. This does not fit in with most people’s annual rotations of their compost piles, so this method is out for many gardeners.
2. Rotting (Making Weed Soup)
If your compost pile doesn’t heat up enough — don’t worry, most domestic sized composters don’t — then you need to use a different approach. You need to make….weed soup!
How to Kill Weeds by Rotting
- Put the roots of your perennial weeds into a bucket.
- Fill the bucket with water and weigh down the weeds with a brick or stone. You want to ensure the roots remain below the surface of the water.
- Cover the bucket to keep out light, prevent evaporation and to stop rain making the bucket overflow.
- Leave for approximately 1 month. That should be long enough to drown even perennial weeds.
- The strained liquid makes a great liquid fertilizer. Dilute 5 parts water to 1 part weed liquid.
- The drowned roots can now be added to your compost pile and composted as normal.
During hot summers, you can take advantage of the sun’s heat to desiccate your weeds. Lay the roots of your perennial weeds on concrete or corrugated iron (keep them off the soil). Allow the summer sun to dry them out for 2 to 3 weeks. The roots should then be baked hard and are safe to add to your compost pile.
4. Bagging (Good for Large Quantities)
If you have a large quantity of weeds to get rid of then you can simply bag them in compostable bags (ideally paper yard waste bags). Find a convenient place to ‘hide’ these bags; such as behind your garden shed. Cover with black plastic, or carpet (something to exclude the light). Leave for 2 to 3 years.
This should be long enough to kill even the toughest weeds. You can then use the resulting compost on your garden.
5. Put in a Bokashi Composter
Bokashi composting is a popular method for composting food waste. Bokashi composting can also be used effectively to compost weeds. The bokashi composting process uses microbes to ferment organic material. This fermentation process creates an acidic environment which will kill seeds and roots of your weeds.
To compost weeds in a bokashi system:
- Add the roots and seeds from your weeds to your bokashi composter and sprinkle on the bokashi bran. The bran is inoculated with specially selected bokashi microbes which will get to work fermenting and killing your weeds.
- Layer your weeds with the bran. Add approximately 1 inch of weeds and then sprinkle with 1-2 heaping tablespoons of bokashi bran
- Repeat until your bin is full. Compact the weeds down really well; you’ll be amazed how much you can pack into one bin.
- Seal the lid and leave the bin to ferment for at least 2-4 weeks. Drain the liquid bokashi tea every 2-3 days and use as a liquid fertilizer. Make sure to dilute 1:100 before using as it is acidic. Alternatively, the bokashi tea can be used undiluted as a weedkiller!
- After fermentation is complete, you can add the bokashi bucket contents to your compost pile or bury them straight in your garden.
Learn more about how to compost with the bokashi method. Note that this link refers mainly to composting food waste, but the same methods can be applied to “bokashi’ing” weeds in your garden.
Disclaimer: Check your local regulations on disposing of certain invasive species (such as Japanese knotweed). Japanese Knotweed is a notifiable contaminated substance if removed from your garden. Both the weed and the surrounding earth should be removed.
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