[halogirl5]

Hi! My allotment has strict rules about bonfires( basically no more allowed until the autumn now).  I don't want to put the weeds into the compost because some of them are persistent like horsetail and dandelion.  So I threw them into a waterbutt that has not been used for a very long time in the hope they would rot down and disintegrate over time.  was that OK to do, or has anyone got any other ideas?  I don't really fancy carrying a carrier back full of weeds to the nearest bin (not near at all) every time I go to the allotment.

[senrab_nhoj]

drown them for a month then throw them on the compost

[mumofstig]

Or you can keep them all summer in a black sack then forget about them over winter. will be rotted by next year

[celjaci]

Beware -buttercups don't drown - they thrive on water and will even grow in a pond.

Drowning can work for other weeds but it can get very smelly!

You can also set up a seperate perennial weed composter - black bags as suggested or a builders bag. If all light is excluded they will die and rot down. They will eventually make valuable compost if you have the space to keep them for at least a year.

[AndyRVTR]

Why not put them in a black bin liner then put them in the bin at home for the binmen to take away??

[halogirl5]

thanks folks!  I don't think I had any buttercups.  I must be one of those strange people cos I adore weeding-it's so satisfying pulling out a big old taproot!

[shaun]

I throw mine on next doors plot  only joking I throw docks dandilions etc on the paving path to shrivel up and die

[savbo]

i picked up a sheet of wire mesh the other day - thinking of making a sort of shelf above the compost heap to put weeds on to dry out and die... wildly optimistic perhaps?

M

[shaun]

i picked up a sheet of wire mesh the other day - thinking of making a sort of shelf above the compost heap to put weeds on to dry out and die... wildly optimistic perhaps?

M

sounds good to me 

[harrymac]

For large perennials like dandelion and dock I bash the roots with a hammer or brick, then throw them on the compost heap.

Re killing weeds by drying them, I'm not convinced that will work. I've heard that Geoff Hamilton tried that by hanging a dandelion root on his shed door for a couple of years, but it still grew when planted!