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Instead of burning pernicious weed roots on a bonfire, has anyone tried a smaller-scale approach?

elderberryelderberry Posts: 118
in Plants
I don't really want to have to start a whole bonfire for a few weeds, so I was thinking of boiling or roasting  them in the oven.
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  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
     If you collect them up, put in a bag and take to the tip, they will turn them into usable compost. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    Or - same principle - put them in an old compost bag, tie the neck tight and leave them in a corner for a year or so, they rot down to mush.
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    I drown mine, does that make me a bad person?  
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    herbaceous said:
    I drown mine, does that make me a bad person?  
    If it does, it makes two of us 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Mine go in the council garden waste bin. They're not on the list of things not allowed, so I guess their composting process is much hotter than mine.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    I do as Raisin Girl does. I have loads of animal feed bags full of ground elder roots (with a few nettles and docks thrown in) and leave them in a corner. They rot down quite quickly and I can put them to good use, much more satisfying!
    Only thing it doesn't work for is Yellow Flag Iris roots - they take about 3 years to decompose to a safe point, so I take those to the tip. There is very little soil wasted on them and they take up a lot of space!
  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    I am a bit suspicious of council recycling of any kind @JennyJ, as I'm not sure they do cook them properly, but I must admit in the spring I do resort to bags to the tip.
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    edited October 2018
    elderberry said:
    I don't really want to have to start a whole bonfire for a few weeds, so I was thinking of boiling or roasting  them in the oven.

    Only if my gas , and / or electricity were free. 
    Devon.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    herbaceous said:
    I drown mine, does that make me a bad person?  
    I can't imagine it's worse than suffocating them slowly in a bag.

    Now you've made me feel really guilty about my bags of bindweed
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    Sorry @raisingirl, I shouldn't let my twisted morality loose on the community. I have to admit that sometimes it's vengeance, I maybe shouldn't enjoy drowning bramble, bindweed and couch grass as much as I do.

    I have a pair of slug scissors too 
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
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