Compost material

I have just made 3 raised beds for my garden.

These are within me new garden and I have a question regarding the material to fill them with.

Essentailly, last October my garden was still 12x15meters of mud with lots of weeds growing [it's a newbuild]. So, having to bite the bullet I unfortunately had to weed killer it to get rid of the docks etc which had taken there toll since I moved in.

These have rotted away well over the winter and last week I raked over the whole garden taking with it the remains of the rotten weeds and the top inch of soil. I now have a weed free garden and a huge pile of well rotted weeds mixed in with soil.

My pertinent question; can I use this huge pile of excess mud/rotted organic material to fill the raised beds? I think the fertilizer will be degraded and the rotten weeds can only be like compost surely??

If this is not the case, then can someone suggest the cheapest alternative way to fill 3 6x3x1 foot beds and what to do with the huge mound of earth I have created? :lollol:

Many thanks,

Scott

 

They do say you should not use weeds treated with weed killer for compost. I expect because of residual effects. I never compost weeds as I have found there are always seeds remaining and they have the annoying habit of growing again when you use the compost. Perhaps someone with greater knowledge than I can answer.
I keep a colander in the sink and everything goes in there. Peelings egg shells paper bags from sugar tea bags etc. All that is dumped on the compost heap. Amazing how it piles up. I also use the paper from the shredder. I add a layer of cow manure every so often. I lovingly:skp: collect that when my local bovine friends go inside for the winter:hehe:

 

At the moment the mud looks quite organic like with all the decayed weeds in them. But it's all a bit too muddy to separate out and it's quite water logged in parts. The soil here in C a r s e [previousy edited because it thought I used a rude word..] of gowrie is quite clay like and so surface water is problematic.

Unsure what type of weedkiller it was. Got it from the man who was about to lay the turf in September. Then the weather turned so we're about to do it now.

Maybe I should just hire a small skip and dump the lot..? Then buy some top soil/compost mix?? (http://www.turfandstuff.com/product.php?xProd=112&xSec=7)

Some of the local farmers to give away manure each autumn. Is it going to be rotten enough and presumably this would need to be mixed with soil anyway? Also can't fresh manure be too 'strong' (not the smell!) when fresh. I don't have the room for a large compost heap to let it rot down... not sure my neighbours would appreciate it either lol.

Scott

 

I would stack the weeds in a pile somewhere else and let the rain wash the translocated sprays from the weeds. leave them to rot down naturally. I would not use them on the garden or compost heap.

 

My estate is still a bit of a building site...so should be able to find another pile off mud nearby to add my pile to.

What are peoples thoughts about putting some cardboard in the botton of the raised beds to keep any stray weeds a bay? This will then rot down itself.

The maybe just need to buy a few tonne of compost/top soil mix. Any idea how much i'd need to fill them? 1.9x0.95 x0.3x3 = 1.5m3 or 54ft3 Will 1 tonne be enough?

Scott

 

Hi sjam,

Welcome to the forum.


I don`t see the point in lining the beds with cardboard as it won`t stop any weeds-your weedkiller should have done that, especially if you are backfilling then mulching, the mulch will do it for you.

 

I find that most of the weeds come from the thousands upon thousands of seeds that are in the soil already, so a cardboard base would have precisely zero effect on the weeds. However it is not all bad, because weeds germinating from their seeds are easy to control as long as you pull them out while they are still seedlings. The trick there is to avoid sowing seeds directly onto that patch for a while, otherwise you won't be able to simply pull out everything green indiscriminately (cos you'd pull your plants out with the weeds).

As for using the pile of mud with weeds in it, I wouldn't yet. If the Dock roots are still recognisable, there is still a chance they could generate new growth given half a chance (ie they may not be completely dead), and as Dock is very deep rooted they can be a nightmare to get rid of once established.

It would have been useful to know what weedkiller was used. But also, was the ground disturbed in any way immediately after use? The reason I ask is that if it was a systemic herbicide like glyphosate (as found in Round-Up among others), it would have only got down to the roots that were still actively serving the foliage. Any roots broken off before the weedkiller had finished its deed would remain unaffected.

 

I won't bother with the cardboard idea then.

The weedkiller was applied and then it has been left for 3 months roughly. Then all the dead material (shriveled weeds) were raked up leaving pretty clean soil. Some dock roots are still in there. Will just treat them as the reappear.

So the consensus would be ditch the mud/weed mix I raked up and buy in topsoil/mushroom compost mix or topsoil/manure mix?

No need for cardboard.

Scott

 

"I won't bother with the cardboard idea then."

You could keep the cardboard for a surface mulch though.