FORUM MEMBER TERRYK IS SO RIGHT TO ASK: Whether or not we can add weeds to our compost heaps without risking weed-filled finished compost is a confusing topic. Won’t all their seeds sprout, or runners survive–especially in a slow-cook, not-so-hot heap? This week, we have the answer in the Urgent Garden Question Forum…thanks to some advice from our English gardening brethren (and a couple of giant plastic bags). Find out how it all works right here.
WHEN I TALKED to Doug Tallamy in February around the publication date of his latest book, “Nature’s Best Hope,” I didn’t want to go on and on about the advice in it regarding smart fall cleanup, which is one of the ways I know I’ve dramatically shifted the way I manage my own garden compared to 10 or even five years ago. But we were looking ahead to spring then, not fall.
I’m grateful that Doug returned to the podcast in autumn to do just that. Want to plan your most ecologically minded garden cleanup ever, and understand the consequences of each potential action you can take—including next spring?
The subtitle of University of Delaware professor Doug Tallamy’s recent book, “Nature’s Best Hope,” is “A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard.” Meaning: The choices we make all year-round, including the very important one of how we clean up, can help counteract an overdeveloped, fragmented landscape that puts the food web to the test. You and I are nature’s best hope, and I’m glad Doug joined me again to help us learn to support it.
(Stream it below, read the illustrated transcript or subscribe free.)
I’ve been busy back at wok but thanks for the info. The bagging method sounds great! I’ll put it facing a south wall and cook them to death for sure!
Thanks for this post. I’ve been wondering about this! I’ve been throwing my weeds out.
If I didn’t compost weeds, I would have very little compost. My “method” is to just pile it all up and let it sit. Weed seeds are not killed so I have to smother the compost with mulch when I use it, but I have never had a problem with Canada thistle growing from the compost, so it must rot well.
Do you put holes in the bags for water drainage or set them out as is to “cook”?