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Dahlia waste

martinjwoodsmartinjwoods Posts: 13
in Problem solving
Soon i will be digging up all my Dahlias, and was wondering if all the stems and leaves could be mulched and dug back in. Just to add i haven't got a compost heap.

Posts

  • Mike AllenMike Allen Posts: 208
    If you are hand digging.  As you lift and throw the spit forward.  You create a sligt trench.  Lay any vegetation in this trench and cover it over with the next row of digging.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Definitely chop them up as @philippasmith2 says, so that they'll break down more quickly.
    You wouldn't need to do much to them if you can do that  - just scrape a small amount of soil back and then cover, or lay them on top and add some compost, or similar, as a mulch to cover them  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • dpatel2130dpatel2130 Posts: 201
    For many years, Most of the softer flower and veg plants-leaves and stems I chopp off all in to small pieces and back straight in ground and cover with little soil and in no time it break down. I don't know if it does any good to soil or plants but one thing is for sure that it doesn't harm in any way. Orgenic materials help texture of soil. 
  • sgoscombesgoscombe Posts: 30
    @martinjwoods can I ask how you store your dahlia over winter? Its the first year I have grown them. Thanks :)
  • martinjwoodsmartinjwoods Posts: 13
    Never done it myself so cant comment, sorry.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I leave mine in the ground - I cut off the old growth after it's blackened, and stick something like dead leaves or shrub shreddings or coarse twiggy compost over them. We have well-drained sandy soil here though. It's better to lift them if you have wet claggy stuff. Someone who lifts them for storage will be along soon with their method, I'm sure.

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • 2 point 42 point 4 Posts: 60
    @sgoscombe - I lift and store my dahlias.  This is the method I use.

    Cut off any stalks to about 3 inches of the crown.  Don’t go too short as next year’s plants will grow from the eyes in the crown.  Roughly brush any loose soil off them.  (I don’t wash my dahlia tubers as some people think it removes their natural protection).  Check for any nasty diseases such as leaf and crown gall.  Any suspect ones should go in the council gardening bin.  Lightly trim any long straggly fibrous roots.

    The tubers are then placed upside down in order to allow any remaining moisture in the stems to drain out.  Leave them in a sheltered spot but preferably not on a concrete floor as it will suck the life out of them.  After about a week, cover them up with dry spent compost/vermiculite, etc. I store mine upside down but you then have to remember to right them in the spring before they start sprouting again.  It probably doesn’t matter which way up but they must be stored somewhere frost free.

    At intervals throughout the winter, I just have a quick check to make sure that everything seems ok and nothing is going rotten.

    I hope this helps.
  • sgoscombesgoscombe Posts: 30
    Hi @2 point 4, thats a great help thanks. I'm a little worried I will lose them after having spent so much money this year. Thanks for the advice
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