If you allow the stems of the big Miscanthus to dry, they make fantastic fire lighters for our wood burning stove thing. BUT we have a lot of them! More than we can ever hope to burn.
Shredded stems make wonderful path mulch through our wood though.
I've had similar experience to NutC and FidgetB re: phormium leaves! A real xxxx pain-in-the-.... anywhere near the shredder!! Ditto goes for really long fibrous palm leaves (fronds?). Wet or dry spells CLOGGED BLADES!! I put mine into the garage/ glory hole (aka shed) until they are really dry then burn 'em to a frizzle in the jolly old incinerator - but be sure to pop the lid/chimney on smartly, otherwise the hot embers fly a mile into the air!
Would burn ours stuff, but I forgot to leave a space for a fire when I did the garden layout. Doh!
Not sure my machinery ability is good at the moment. The leaf blower will not work and I have had to buy a new chain saw as the old one has given up the ghost.
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I'm not good with machinery. I had smoke from a belt when I failed to turn the shredder off when it got grass-jammed. A new belt was required.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Whatever you do, dont try and shred phormium leaves. They just wrap around the blades and clog it up.
If you allow the stems of the big Miscanthus to dry, they make fantastic fire lighters for our wood burning stove thing. BUT we have a lot of them! More than we can ever hope to burn.
Shredded stems make wonderful path mulch through our wood though.
Phormium leaves are just about the worst thing for shredders.The flower stems go through OK though
In the sticks near Peterborough
Pampas grass leaves have barbs on them, they rip your hands to shreds when they are pulled into the machine.
It's a painful business altogether Berghill, with the grasses, blackthorn, hawthorn, berberis.....................................and the rest
Then there are some of the cotoneasters that get ripped out of your hands nearly breaking your wrist.
and the dried off eryngiums that leave prickly bits in clothes that dig into the flesh later.
and the stuff that's a bit wet and gets stuck so it has to be prodded,that's hard on the back and shoulders for one as short as me.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Let's just give up gardening and wrap ourselves in cotton wool and sit on the couch and watch Donty Mon do it.
And don't get me started on Rose prunings!
But we love it in spite of the pain
In the sticks near Peterborough
I've had similar experience to NutC and FidgetB re: phormium leaves! A real xxxx pain-in-the-.... anywhere near the shredder!! Ditto goes for really long fibrous palm leaves (fronds?). Wet or dry spells CLOGGED BLADES!! I put mine into the garage/ glory hole (aka shed) until they are really dry then burn 'em to a frizzle in the jolly old incinerator - but be sure to pop the lid/chimney on smartly, otherwise the hot embers fly a mile into the air!
Would burn ours stuff, but I forgot to leave a space for a fire when I did the garden layout. Doh!
Not sure my machinery ability is good at the moment. The leaf blower will not work and I have had to buy a new chain saw as the old one has given up the ghost.