Garden Waste can be a major problem in an average-sized garden. This is especially true at this time.
Five ways to get rid of it
- If available, local bin collection services can be run.
- Take your garden wastes to a local recycling center
- Bonfires
- Composting your garden waste
- Use a shredder for your garden to speed up the composting process or use it as mulch to cover borders.
You may have enough space to put several compost bins in your garden, store a shredder, and maybe even have room for a bonfire.
If your garden is small – say less than 50ft and the size of your home – you may be able to use council bins for garden waste, if they are available. This is usually accompanied by an additional fee.
You will probably need only a couple of trips to the recycling center each year if you have only a small amount of garden waste. If you’ve had a few trees trimmed or hedges trimmed professionally, you may want to add on the costs of disposal.
All of these choices are expensive and require varying time.
A garden of a medium size has too many garden wastes to be recycled in a standard bin. We don’t have enough space to store compost bins or machinery. The cost to dispose of tree and hedge clippings is a significant increase in the price of professional trimming.
The garden measures 100ft in length and is L-shaped. The garden is 80ft at its largest and 40ft near the house. There are eleven trees, and many more climbers and shrubs. All of them need to be pruned annually. There are also a number of weeds.
Bring garden waste to a recycling center
Every six weeks, Mr Middlesize brings a large mound of yard waste to the recycling center. The process takes about two hours, and it has caused him some back pain. We have a growing mound of garden trimmings and uprooted plants outside our back door between visits.
Our recycling center was closed during lockdown. You have to make a booking and you are limited to one visit per month. As a result, fly-tipping is on the rise.
You need to use good bags if you are going to recycle your waste. Garden manure used to be delivered in bags of one tonne. We used them for our garden waste. They were heavy, and they hurt Mr M.’s back.
The Large garden waste bags were slightly smaller and held more clippings. They also made it easier to transport. The bags had 3 handles. One was on the bottom. This made it easy to lift the bag. They are great. Please note that links to Amazon may be affiliate links, meaning I could receive a fee for purchases. It doesn’t change the price, I only recommend products that I have personally used and purchased.
We still had bags of waste garden material piled up at the rear door. The space in a middle-sized garden is not enough for the waste to accumulate.
You could recycle after each major cutting experience if you were more efficient than we are. This would require a great deal of driving, and the vehicle could become cluttered. The recycling center would have to be available for frequent visits.、
You can burn garden waste.
In a city or town, bonfires may not be the best way to dispose of your garden waste.
Bonfires in the UK are not illegal, despite what many people believe. There may however be restrictions in place locally, which prohibit the burning of certain materials, like rubber or plastic. Local regulations may apply.
In dry summers bonfires can be a serious fire risk. There are strict laws in countries like Australia where there is a risk of wildfires. These include when, how and if you are allowed to burn your garden waste.
Safety must always come before anything else, even if you’re allowed to have a bonfire. Find a place in the garden that will not allow flames to accidentally ignite a shed, fence or other property. Keep a few watering cans with water nearby in case sparks are blown away by the wind.
Mr Middlesize made a DIY incinerator using galvanised, welded mesh fence panels. This is stronger than chicken-wire. We still needed to let the waste garden dry. We had to choose a sunny day that wasn’t windy or too humid.
The garden was a good place to burn the flames.