[Robin Redbreast]

just wondering if while i am clearing my allotment i can use all the weed and brambles as compost or am i better just burning the lot?  so far i have jus been clearing the tops and burning the brambles and such like, some of whick have been around 17ft long and painful to my face so they deserved to be burned but i dont want to be wastin valuable compost material if i dont have too i have chosen not to use chemicals so there will be no residue or anything!??

[peapod]

If it was me Id burn it (and do burn my perennials),it saves room, gets rid of the nasty thorns too and you can add the ash to the compost bins anyway

[paintedlady]

I save all my old compost bags (the heavy duty/inside black plastic) and bung all the perennial weeds in them and leave them in a  corner to die.  By the time the bag starts to degrade (maybe in a couple of years), they can be scattered on the compost heap to rot down with the rest and add some valuable nutrients (we are not allowed bonfires on my site so this works for me  )

[RichardA]

I have just cleared some very neglected land I bought recently. Lots of new and old brambles some of which got raked up onto compost heap. Big mistake -- compost was good but every so often a bramble piece covered in thorns would survive and lead to a scratch or cut. Luckily I have space so all hard stuff now finishes up on a pile (I call it a habitat pile so I can justify having it) with soft stuff in the compost heap. I drown perennial roots and then add to compost heap when rotted.
R

[Babstreefern]

When I took over my first plot, it was covered in brambles and bindweed.  I burnt the lot, I didn't compost.  When I swapped it for another plot, the bloke he had this one, composted the brambles and believe me, they don't.  Compost that is.  And I never ever put weeds, especially the root part, in for compost as no matter what, you'll still get them coming up. 

The only things I compost are disease free veg/fruit bushes, etc, teabags (plenty of these with cups of tea on the allotment), coffee grounds, and kitchen waste, ie, peelings, fruit cores, etc.

[Trillium]

I'm of the same mind. While I have roses rather than brambles, the thorns just don't seem to break down and I painfully find where every one hides so I no longer compost them. We have a burn bin and that's where they go. As for weeds, my biggest worry is that if the compost pile doesn't get hot enough, then any weed seeds won't die off and I'd only spread my problem further. And yes, some pernicious roots like bindweed can survive nicely in a compost heap to spread havoc later. 

[diggerjoe]

I still have some clearing to do on my plot which is mainly couch grass and some perennials. When I took it over two years ago I dug up a lot of the grass and made a big heap till I was told off about its position and height . This is now crumbly soil though I do have to riddle out some of the grass roots. I still have an area to clear but as I had to dig a sump drain due to waterloging I have put strong netting over the stone filled drain and put on top one of those builders bags that sand comes in and all my rubbishy grass stuff is going in there. It keeps it neat thres a couple of holes for drainage and as I can't grow anything there it makes use of space. I think its always a case of if you have space give it a home of its own and don't mix it with you ususal compost.

[Trillium]

There is a way to be rid of all the nuisance plants, seeds and roots....by making a special 'mush' barrel. You'd half fill it or so with water and push down all the pernicious weeds inside. Use a block to weight it all so it stays underwater (adding more water if necesssary). Let it sit for a month or so so that it turns into a mush which can then be added to a watering can and used to fertilize plants. Pernicious roots hold tremendous amounts of nutrients so its a good way to reuse them. For further info, see Bob Flowerdew's No Work Gardener (can't remember the page number).