have I ruined my compost heap?

[purpleR]

I'm a bit of a novice at gardening... but it was a really nice day today and I was stuck indoors all morning.

Got outdoors after lunch, started weeding in the shared garden at the back. I must have pulled up ten buckets of ground elder and I shoved it all in my compost bin (roots and all).

I've since noticed warnings against this, , not sure why and I'm now wondering if I need to remove it from my compost bin? Anyone know?

 

[Johnny Thin]

I had a load in my garden too. There's no way you'll have pulled up all the roots so it will be back in the beds anyway. I've covered over some of mine for a year now, any planting I do will be through the mulch until they're definitely all dead.

The Romans introduced this to Britain as a salad plant, so try nibbling at it!

 

[Amanda P]

It's bloody difficult to get rid of once you've got it. Yes, it might end up growing in your compost, or wherever you put the compost after it's rotted down unless you do somthing to stop it.

The best thing is to cook it. Do this by putting grass cuttings in the compost, preferably with anything like ground elder or bindweed roots in the middle of a layer of cuttings (not just on top or underneath). Then keep the whole thing warm with a bit of carpet on top.

Grass cuttings can get really hot in the first couple of days. Hopefully, the heat will kill the nasty roots so that they don't end up growing out of your compost.

It works for me anyway. Fortunately, I don't have ground elder - just bindweeed. Grrr.

 

[Keith Oates]

My gosh, this gardening lark is complicated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[sheddy]

Best take it out. Burn it or give it to the dustmen. Then you can sleep again at night.

 

[Aint Skeered]

Hideous stuff, ground elder. I've had a 10year running battle with it in my garden, but at last we are getting rid of it. We're moving house

They call the roots 'devils guts' in these parts

 

[Globalti]

We went on holiday and lent our goat to somebody who had nothing but ground elder; when we got her back she had gone almost bald. A salt lick soon restored her hair though.

 

[Fnaar]

We went on holiday and lent our goat to somebody who had nothing but ground elder; when we got her back she had gone almost bald. A salt lick soon restored her hair though.

Aha... the bloke from Durham in the other thread?

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

With weeds like ground elder, I compost the tops but burn the roots. The bonfire area is next to the compost heaps, so it's pretty easy.