What it is best to do with backyard waste
There’s a particular type of satisfaction that comes after an excellent weeding or pruning session. Raised beds are neat, foliage is now not attacking your guests as they head down your entrance path, and you are feeling that small sense of feat. That’s, till you flip round and face the sprawling mass of clippings, weeds, and branches you’ve got created.
So what to do with it? Possibly your first urge is to stuff all of it into bin luggage, set it alight or simply pile it behind the shed and neglect about it. However earlier than you do, contemplate that this inexperienced aftermath won’t be an issue in any respect. Actually, most of it has the potential to nourish your backyard and wildlife, saving you cash within the course of.
We have requested a few of our favorite backyard specialists for his or her tips about easy methods to use backyard waste for good, whereas saving it from landfill. And for those who actually haven’t got a use for it, we’ll clarify the foundations with regards to disposing of tree offcuts, lifeless crops, horsetail weeds and the like, to save lots of you any hassle.
1. Add it to a compost heap
“Composting is about turning on a regular basis backyard and kitchen waste into “black gold”, wealthy crumbly natural matter that feeds the soil and improves plant well being. We depend on it to open up heavy soils, enhance drainage and scale back waste,” says Josie Lewis, head gardener at Sarah Raven’s Perch Hill Farm.
“By composting at dwelling, gardeners can scale back waste, enhance their soil and create a pure, peat-free soil improver that’s kinder to the surroundings,” agrees Philip Newton, backyard care and upkeep purchaser at Hillier Backyard Centres. “Utilizing your individual compost additionally reduces the necessity for purchasing bagged compost, significantly peat-based merchandise.”
Philip is an skilled horticultural purchaser with a confirmed observe document in shaping and elevating backyard product ranges. At Hillier, he leads the choice and negotiation of key backyard classes, combining deep sector information with a robust business focus.
Starting his profession within the backyard centre trade over 35 years in the past, Philip progressed by management roles at a number of the UK’s main backyard centres earlier than shifting into on-line retailing with established heritage manufacturers.
A real plantsman at coronary heart, Philip brings an genuine ardour for horticulture to each determination he makes. He champions sustainability, high quality, and accountable sourcing whereas making certain a robust business return. His mix of experience, creativity, and strategic pondering continues to assist Hillier’s status for horticultural excellence.
So what backyard waste are you able to add to your compost heap?
“Most comfortable backyard waste is ideal for composting, together with grass clippings, fallen leaves, spent crops and prunings,” says Philip. “Vegetable peelings, fruit scraps, espresso grounds and crushed eggshells will also be added from the kitchen.”
“For the very best outcomes, it’s vital to steadiness inexperienced supplies, corresponding to contemporary grass clippings with brown supplies like dry leaves, cardboard woody stems. This helps maintain the compost wholesome and breaking down evenly.”
To compost efficiently, select a well-drained spot in your compost bin or heap, ideally in partial shade. Add supplies in layers, combine greens and browns collectively and switch the heap sometimes to introduce air and pace issues alongside. “Common turning retains oxygen flowing and speeds the method dramatically,” says Josie.
“You’ll know when your compost is prepared when it’s darkish, crumbly and smells pleasantly earthy,” says Philip. “It could actually then be used as a peat-free soil conditioner or mulch, serving to to enhance soil naturally throughout the backyard.”
Issues that ought to by no means go in a compost heap
“Keep away from including cooked meals, meat, dairy merchandise or diseased crops, as these can entice pests and unfold issues,” says Philip at Hillier. “Thick woody materials must be shredded first or reused elsewhere within the backyard.”
“Smelly compost is an indication it’s gone anaerobic, often from an excessive amount of inexperienced waste and never sufficient air, and should not be used,” provides Josie.
2. Use waste as mulch
“Mulching is the method of protecting soil with a layer of natural or inorganic materials to enhance soil well being, retain moisture, suppress weeds and regulate temperature,” explains Peter Chaloner, managing director at Cobra Backyard Equipment. “In garden care particularly, mulching refers to finely chopping grass clippings and returning them to the garden, offering a pure fertiliser impact.
“We suggest it as an eco-friendly solution to nourish your garden, because it recycles priceless vitamins like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium again into the soil, decreasing the necessity for artificial fertilisers,” he says. “It additionally promotes wholesome microbial exercise and improves soil construction, leading to a lusher, greener garden.”
Peter is the managing director of Cobra, one of many UK’s main manufacturers of backyard equipment, and Henton & Chattell, one of many largest backyard equipment distributors within the nation. With over 30 years of expertise within the trade, Peter has performed an important function within the success of Cobra Backyard Equipment, which was launched in 2013. Underneath Peter’s steerage, Cobra has develop into a trusted title within the UK’s backyard equipment and horticultural trade.
Peter is a passionate fanatic with regards to garden care and seasonal gardening duties. He takes nice delight in sustaining his personal garden and backyard to perfection and is educated about numerous strategies and instruments that can be utilized to realize the very best outcomes.
Store mulching mowers
This great-value mower by Cobra has gained a finest purchase award from our sister model T3 and is powered with a 40V battery. It has 5 minimize heights starting from 25mm as much as 75mm, and importantly it has a mulch mode that returns finely minimize grass clippings again into your garden.
“Mulching is a kind of actually easy duties that gives a complete host of advantages to your backyard, all for a small period of time, effort and cash,” agrees panorama architect Victoria Wade. “Firstly, and maybe most significantly, mulching helps to cut back water loss from the soil, so is particularly good for freer draining soils, or to make use of within the Spring time earlier than the hotter months.”
“In the event you’re utilizing a biodegradable mulch, which we’d suggest, it improves the soil’s fertility because the mulch breaks down much more and provides vitamins into the soil. It additionally encourages extra soil creatures, like worms, who’re drawn to the extra vitamins, and can drag it by the soil, serving to to unfold the vitamins round in addition to enhance the construction of the soil by aerating it with their tiny tunnels,” she says.
“It could actually additionally assist to suppress weed progress, although we do discover that loads of weed seeds are fairly glad rooting themselves within the mulch itself, so this isn’t (sadly) a idiot proof means of decreasing the necessity to ever weed once more,” Victoria continues. ” If utilized within the autumn, the additional layer helps to forestall a number of the worst damages of frost and chilly temperatures for the plant roots, performing a bit like a blanket excessive layer of soil and protecting it a bit of hotter.”
“And, lastly, most mulches look good too – leaving the beds wanting smarter than if they simply have uncovered patches of naked earth.”
With an MA in Panorama Structure, Victoria and her husband Joe established Victoria Wade Panorama Structure in 2013. The thriving Panorama Institute registered apply in Swansea in South Wales has gained a number of RHS Gold Medals for its panorama structure and backyard design.
The couple additionally runs a sustainable plant nursery primarily based in Gower in 2022, to provide the crops for his or her native tasks and enhance the effectivity and environmental affect of their provide chain.
Social and environmental sustainability and duty lies on the coronary heart of their strategy and as such they’re a BCorp Licensed organisation with a dedication to lively contribution to the 1% For The Planet initiative.
3. Make a leaf mould
For a wholesome garden come spring, clearing the leaves out of your grass must be a part of any autumn garden care routine. “It is going to assist stop fungal illnesses, and likewise to cease the garden suffocating beneath them,” says Paul Hicks, product and advertising and marketing supervisor at Stihl GB. “Relying on the dimensions of your garden, you may merely use a rake to collect the fallen leaves, or for bigger areas, a leaf blower will make fast work of the job.”
“When you’ve gathered your leaves don’t simply throw them away;” Paul provides. “Leaf mould is straightforward to create and is a wonderful soil conditioner. Add your shredded leaves to leaf luggage (or you may put them in a giant bag with air holes within the sides), add some water, and retailer in an space of your backyard which is open to the weather. After round a yr, they may have damaged down and can be utilized as a nutrient wealthy mulch to enhance your backyard’s well being.”
Paul recommends utilizing a leaf blower/vacuum combo. “In blower mode, it makes it easy to gather leaves from tricker spots, corresponding to round tree roots, or flower beds – and in vacuum mode, it may accumulate them within the hooked up bag for you, able to be become mould.”
Three of the very best leaf blowers
STIHL
Stihl Sha 56 36v Li-Ion Ak System Brushless Cordless Vacuum Shredder/Leaf Blower – Naked
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Bosch
Bosch Cordless Leaf Blower Universalleafblower 18v-130 (for Quick and Simple Out of doors Clearing; 18 Volt System; With out Battery)
In the event you’re searching for an inexpensive leaf blower, you can do lots worse than this Bosch starter mannequin. It’s miles from fancy, with simply two settings and a modest 22 minute battery life at finest, but it surely’s excellent for smaller gardens and is not too cumbersome to retailer. It takes a single 18V battery (not included) that’s appropriate with the Energy For All Alliance system, which can be utilized by Flymo, Gardena and Husqvarna. And the useful included attachments imply it may additionally blow up paddling swimming pools and inflatable dinghies and kayaks.
WORX
Worx Nitro Wg543e 18v(20v Max) Cordless Leaf Blower – Light-weight 20v Brushless Motor 2.0 Leafjet With 4.0ah Energy Share Battery and Charger
That is one other great-value blower that is tremendous light-weight and extremely simple to make use of. You get lots of energy for the cash, and the brushless motor guarantees to be each quiet and long-lasting. You may modify the facility between on, off and increase simply by urgent the button below your thumb.
“Including leaf mould additionally encourages extra soil creatures, like worms, who’re drawn to the extra vitamins, and can drag it by the soil, serving to to unfold the vitamins round in addition to enhance the construction of the soil by aerating it with their tiny tunnels,” says Victoria Wade. “Simply bear in mind that totally different leaves break down at totally different speeds, and particularly thick leaves may very well be shredded earlier than being added, to assist pace up their decomposition.”
High tip: “The one drawback with leaf mould is that it may fairly simply get full of weed seeds,” says Victoria. “The longer you allow it for, the larger the possibility of the seeds dying off.”
4. Arrange a no-dig backyard
The no-dig backyard precept of working with the soil, not in opposition to it has develop into massively in style in recent times amongst first-time gardeners and established specialists alike. “No-dig gardening avoids disturbing the soil construction and the advanced life inside it. As a substitute of digging, fertility is constructed from the highest utilizing natural matter,” explains Josie Lewis.
“This strategy reduces weed seed germination, protects soil organisms, and produces stronger, more healthy crops. The natural matter additionally holds onto moisture and so reduces the necessity to water. It’s additionally far much less labour-intensive. Merely unfold natural matter compost on the floor and plant straight into it. Earthworms then do the digging for you.”
Marco Maxia joined London-based Terra Firma Landscaping as Japanese Knotweed Professional in 2022 and specialises in invasive plant administration and comfortable landscaping. He leads web site assessments, develops remedy methods, and implements sustainable landscaping options, offering technical experience throughout the enterprise.
So how do you incorporate backyard waste into the no-dig approach?
“The most typical is the ‘cardboard technique’, the place you place wetted plain cardboard (no tape, shiny print, or plastic) over mow or flattened vegetation,” explains Marco Maxia, Head of Horticulture at Terra Firma Landscapes.
“You then add 5–10 cm (2–4 in) of compost and an non-compulsory mulch layer on prime, produced from current backyard waste.”
“You would additionally merely cease digging your current beds, including selfmade compost on prime a couple of times a yr in early spring and late autumn,” he says. “Mulch generously with leaf mould and skinny layers of grass clippings to suppress weeds, feed soil life and retain moisture.”
High tip: At all times resist the urge to dig. “Even occasional digging disrupts soil life and breaks fungal networks,” says Marco. “And do not introduce any plastic obstacles to the soil as this may stop water and root motion. Cardboard breaks down naturally—plastic doesn’t.”
5. Create a wildlife habitat
Some bigger items of backyard waste won’t be fairly proper in your compost heap, however they do have one other use.
“Piles of logs or offcut branches are nice locations for animals to make a house and so they can look actually enticing in a backyard, too,” says Victoria Wade. “You may merely stack up a pile of previous logs, sited someplace shady, and depart them to decay. It is going to quickly develop into a house to many bugs and bugs, which in flip will entice birds, frogs and perhaps even hedgehogs.”
Simply keep in mind that many of those creatures will want a protected entry and exit route. “Leaving a small hole below your fence will create a wildlife hall, permitting hedgehogs, frogs and even newts to wander from backyard to backyard,” Victoria suggests.
In the event you love this concept and would really like one thing on a much bigger scale, you can go a step additional and contemplate constructing a lifeless hedge – a type of home-made fence – along with your offcuts.
And logs aren’t the one backyard waste you should use to make a protected place for animals. “Leaves can be utilized for overwintering bugs, hedgehogs and frogs,” says Marco Maxia at Terra Firma Landscapes. “You may merely rake them into quiet corners, pile them below shrubs or timber or place them on flower beds as winter cowl. Simply watch out to not smother lawns excessively.”
“Useless stems and plant stalks will also be a haven for solitary bees and overwintering bugs,” Marco provides. “Reasonably than minimize every part again in autumn, depart stems standing over winter, bundling hole stems collectively.”
Marco additionally recommends leaving seed heads and spent flowers be over winter in order that birds and bugs can feed on them. “However no matter habitat you are making, by no means use pesticides or herbicides close by, do not disturb piles often, and by no means place habitats in very uncovered, dry places,” he warns.
6. Join inexperienced waste assortment
When you have massive portions of backyard waste or maybe not sufficient house to create your individual compost heap, you might want a extra nuclear possibility for eradicating your backyard waste. That is the place your native council comes into play.
Most councils now provide devoted companies for accumulating backyard waste. Whereas it my not be fairly as eco-friendly as utilizing these cuttings and leaves in your individual backyard as a result of carbon footprint created by the vans accumulating the waste, and the bins created to retailer it, your backyard detritus will nonetheless be utilized in optimistic methods. For instance, London Recycles works in collaboration with native London borough councils to make sure that backyard waste is become compost.
Usually, you may should pay a payment for this service. This author’s native council, Central Bedfordshire, costs £56.10 per bin for a fortnightly assortment. Subscriptions run from the start of April to the tip of March, with a break from December to February when gardens are usually dormant.
Somerset Council provides a fortnightly wheeled bin assortment subscription for £73.50. You may as well prepare for baggage of backyard waste to be collected for a payment.
There will probably be restrictions on what you may put in your backyard waste bin. A typical checklist could be:
- Flowers and crops
- Grass cuttings
- Hedge trimmings
- Leaves
- Small branches (lower than 15cm or 6 inches vast) and bark
- Straw or sawdust
You might be able to add bedding materials from pet cages, however often solely in small portions and solely in case you have family vegetarian pets, corresponding to rabbits and hamsters. Hen bedding will not be allowed.
Issues that will not rely as backyard waste embody plastics (together with plant pots and soil packaging); metallic, glass, stone, rubble, ceramics or clay flower pots; meals and animal waste; handled wooden and invasive crops like Japanese knotweed.
The one factor NOT to do…
Why you should not burn backyard waste
One tempting solution to eliminate backyard waste – significantly lifeless wooden or damaged fence panels – is to burn them in a backyard bonfire. However how to do that safely? We contacted fireplace brigades throughout the nation for his or her recommendation on the disposal of backyard waste by burning, and their recommendation was an virtually common ‘do not’.
“Our normal recommendation is to keep away from burning backyard waste,” says Kimberly Colclough, fireplace prevention officer, West Yorkshire Fireplace & Rescue Service. “A lot of these fires can simply get uncontrolled and unfold to fences, sheds, and properties – inflicting important injury and danger to life. We encourage individuals use cumbersome/backyard waste collections or recycling companies as a substitute.”
One other difficulty of burning even untreated wooden is that it releases dangerous particles, particularly wonderful particulate matter referred to as PM2.5, so it truly is finest prevented.
Kimberly Colclough
Kim is prevention assurance and enchancment crew coverage coordinator at West Yorkshire Fireplace & Rescue Service (WTFRS).
The WYFRS is certainly one of six metropolitan brigades in England and one of many busiest within the nation, protecting the districts of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield. Kim’s crew is answerable for working with communities and younger individuals to drive down accidents and accidents. Final yr, firefighters and specialist workers carried out 309,719 dwelling fireplace security checks.
Kimberly additionally advises to take away flamable objects, corresponding to broken fencing and cardboard, from outside areas promptly. “Retailer them safely or eliminate them by way of your native authority,” she says.
And when you could also be inside your authorized rights to burn backyard waste on personal land, that is not at all times the case. “Test native council steerage – backyard bonfires could also be restricted or topic to nuisance guidelines,” she says. “And for those who’re renting, overview your tenancy settlement. Many landlords prohibit burning backyard waste on rented properties.”
To conclude, there’s lots you are able to do with backyard waste as you clear a backyard for winter. However for those who’re clearing your backyard, be sure to do not hurt hedgehogs and different wildlife. We even have loads of methods to make your backyard extra eco-friendly.
To chop down on waste going ahead, look to our low-maintenance backyard concepts and easy-to-care-for gravel backyard.
