Skip it or keep it?

Hello,

I'm a new user and as I've said in the 'Tools' section I'm undertaking a huge garden clearance job. I've ordered a skip already, but if there nothing I hate more than waste. If possible, I will recycle everything I can.

I know absolutely nothing about Composting so i'm going to read up on it now. Can anyone recommend something I could buy to deal with a very large ammount of nettles, bushes, trees, long grass, etc?

I'm dreading starting this job, but at the same time I'm looking forward to taking photos of my progress and actually learning about what I'm doing.

Thank you.

JacksDad

 

Hi Jacksdad. There are many ways to make compost but from where you're starting from If you have the space I would just dump everything in a corner in a big heap rather than put it in a skip.
Come spring all the leafy material will have fallen off and rotted down and you'll be left with a nice bed of organic material and it will be quite easy to pick up the wooden bits left behind and burn them for wood ash.

If you have the space to do it you could keep a little patch of nettles - essential breeding ground for some kinds of butterflies.

Look forward to seeing how you get on. A pic would be great.

 

compost anything which is twiggy or smaller (its its wider than a finger it will take a long time)

a small garden shredder will deal with anything slightly larger (perhaps up to an inch or so). or you can collect the wood and build a woodpile as Alice suggests. it will take a long time to rot though.

a bonfire sounds like a good idea if you have lots of woody material and you don't want a skip (but please don't tell anyone I said so )

 

Good stuff, thanks.

I will try to save as much wood as I can because I want to get a fire pit or Chiminea or something. A nice feature for the garden and a way to use the wood without wasting it.

 

As Marley suggests, stacking any of the rotten logs somewhere damp and shady will also encourage Stag Beetles to come and live under them, which would be ding the environment a favour too, as they are endangered.

 

This is something I never even thought of. The 2nd garden I am doing is easily big enough to set aside an area for this type of thing when the rest of it is done.