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Removing muddy sludge from garden/water butts

jonathan.d.ocallaghanjKY2DtNajonathan.d.ocallaghanjKY2DtNa Posts: 6
in Problem solving
Hi all,

So, we had some water butts that had been down the end of our garden for years (we only bought the house two years ago, I presume they'd been there much longer). We tipped them out yesterday to get rid of the water and dispose of the butts, but there was also a lot of muddly sludge at the bottom...

We tipped this out into the garden too but now, well, it looks terrible. We're hosting our wedding reception in our garden in three weeks, so I want to get the situation sorted. Will the mud dry out, or do we need to do something?

I've got some fast-growing grass seed that I could sow into them. Not sure if it would grow in time though. Are there other solutions?

Thanks in advance!

Jonathan

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'm afraid sowing seed wouldn't make a decent enough difference in that space of time. It will gradually disperse and work it's way down into the ground, but that's likely to be over winter. Brushing it with a stiff broom to spread it, and using a hosepipe to disperse it might be worth a try, but it's difficult to say, and it could even make it worse, which isn't what you'd want to risk. 

    Might be better to position a few pots of annuals, or similar, over that as a temporary solution. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    Given a few dry , warm days it wikll dry out and you can rake it a bit thinner.
    I'm sure people will have plenty of more interesting things to talk about at your wedding reception than the state of your grass :D
  • jonathan.d.ocallaghanjKY2DtNajonathan.d.ocallaghanjKY2DtNa Posts: 6
    Ah! Okay. Should I just shovel the mud back into the water butts and dispose of it somewhere? I wasn't really sure where to do that...
  • jonathan.d.ocallaghanjKY2DtNajonathan.d.ocallaghanjKY2DtNa Posts: 6
    Buttercupdays said:
    Given a few dry , warm days it wikll dry out and you can rake it a bit thinner.
    I'm sure people will have plenty of more interesting things to talk about at your wedding reception than the state of your grass :D
    Ha fair, but it doesn't smell or look that great and there will be people sitting near it...! Anything we can do to make it look better?
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    You run the risk of being done for fly-tipping if you just dump it ... even if it's soil and you put it somewhere rural.  I would rake it out thinly and turn the hosepipe on it asap then it should disappear.  Put a garden seat and some pots of flowers around (or haybales if you're Boris and Carrie) and no one will notice.
    Have a lovely wedding  :D 🥂

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





  • jonathan.d.ocallaghanjKY2DtNajonathan.d.ocallaghanjKY2DtNa Posts: 6
    Dovefromabove said:
    You run the risk of being done for fly-tipping if you just dump it ... even if it's soil and you put it somewhere rural.  I would rake it out thinly and turn the hosepipe on it asap then it should disappear.  Put a garden seat and some pots of flowers around (or haybales if you're Boris and Carrie) and no one will notice.
    Have a lovely wedding  :D 🥂
    Ah yes, I didn't mean fly tip! I meant take it to the skip or something. But okay great, I'll do that. Thank you!
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    👍 Just thought I'd mention it ... someone not too far from here emptied the compost from their last year's tubs into an area of scrub ... and got fined a large amount.  They didn't realise that compost was regarded as litter. 

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





  • jonathan.d.ocallaghanjKY2DtNajonathan.d.ocallaghanjKY2DtNa Posts: 6
    Okay, I've raked it out/hosed it and this is what it looks like now. Is this going to look okay fairly soon?! If it wasn't obvious I am very much a gardening novice... (we'll put some hay bales at the end where the muddiest patch is).
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I think some of it will either get picked up or dispersed more when you cut the grass (assuming you use a mower that collects the clippings). And brushing it in when it's dried out so that it's crumbly rather than muddy will help.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • jonathan.d.ocallaghanjKY2DtNajonathan.d.ocallaghanjKY2DtNa Posts: 6
    Ah okay great. Thank you!
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