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Skunk cabbage- can it go in the green waste bin?

ErgatesErgates Posts: 2,953
in Plants
I’ve just dug up over half the patch of skunk cabbage which has been thriving in the bog garden. Can I put it in the green waste bin or should  it be classed as a bio hazard? If so, how should I dispose of them? Presumably the rubbish bin contents will end up in landfill, and they are too green and fleshy at the moment to try burning them. The lovely green leaves do look as if they should be nice to eat though!

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It's a reportable,  invasive plant in the UK, so no - I wouldn't be putting it in the green waste. 
    Have you reported it?
    We've recently [last year] had an invasion of it locally, and it's adjacent to the small NT garden along the road from me. I reported it last year, after some difficulty, but we had an interesting thread recently on the forum
    https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1072412/skunk-cabbage-pollinators-in-the-uk/p1
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Bee witchedBee witched Posts: 1,295
    Hi @Ergates,

    Have you got anywhere that you can leave it to completely dry out?
    Then you'll be able to burn it.

    Bee x
    Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders  

    A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Sorry - I forgot you'd asked how to dispose of it.
    I think @Bee witched 's method is the best solution. Can't see how else you'd safely get rid of it. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    It isn't illegal to grow it, but you must not let it spread into the wild. I still have some in my pond and hopefully manage to cut of the seed heads before they form.
    The white form is still considered ok.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    That's good to know @punkdoc, re not being illegal to grow it. 
    Careful disposal would be the key factor.
    That stuff near me is all along the edges of the burn, for as far as I can see  [which is about a couple of hundred feet] and has possibly escaped from the NT garden, as the burn runs along the back of it.  I don't know if anything got done about it after I reported it though. Maybe I should go in there and ask....
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    @Ergates,  Our Council green waste gets composted to a very high temperature so anything would be unlikely to survive. The resultant green mulch gets bagged up and sold back to us I believe.

    Why not ring your local Council and ask?
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • ErgatesErgates Posts: 2,953
    I’ve looked up the local advice, and it doesn’t need to be reported unless seen in the wild. It is well contained in our garden, and I think I’ve got all the flowers out. Advice seems to be that it can be safely composted when dried, but I think I’ll try drying it and burning it to be on the safe side. 
    It sounds like it is spreading in several parts of Devon, but haven’t seen it in the wild round here. Loads of Himalayan balsam locally though, there are regular working parties organised to help reduce it
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    What's wrong with home composting?
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It's certainly spreading in lots of places @Ergates.   :/
    It's difficult to know how best to deal with it, but leaving it to dry completely [after removing the flowers] would certainly be the best method.
    Like you, I wouldn't risk having it in a home compost bin [mine stays too wet and cold for too long] so ideal for it to spring back to life if any was still viable at all. It doesn't just spread by seed, so you'd have to be very careful. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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