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Garden Waste
Circus clown
Posts: 74
in Talkback
Hi, I live in Wiltshire- new council bright idea- you have to pay ??40 per month for garden waste collection. I have loads! at the moment like most of everyone with all the hedge trimming and tidying for winter. I called the council- suggestion- take it to your local waste recycling area- don't have a way of doing that- 1. I have thought about burning it- council has no problem with that but I do! I could keep the bon fire for Guy Fawkes Day 2. Creep around at night and put it in the paying customers bins 3. make a huge compost at the back of my shed- how? Any ideas? I live on housing estate- with a large back garden but neighbours on either side. Thank you for the feedback about my apple tree- I have the surgeon coming by the evening to give it a once over
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Make a compost heap.
Is it really £40 a month? it's around that for a year here.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I will take a look on the site about advice for creating a compost- can you do this with a lot of branches and soft wood from hedges?
Yes it is ??40 per month, can you believe it.
It used to be free and at the beginning of the year they started charging ??40 per month. I thought it was per year as well but it is per month.
Blimey! Ours is included in our council tax and they now collect it (brown wheelie bin) every week right through the year.
They don't fix the potholes though
...swings and roundabouts 
I'd agree with nut - make a compost bin. Old pallets, old fence planks, scaffold boards or bought timber depending on your budget. Loads of the plastic types available too. You probably need a couple of those as they're small and more awkward to manage than a traditional 'wooden box' type
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I will take your suggestion about the old fence planks and things- I cant afford any timber but can check that out too.
Question- how much do branches and hedge trimming break down? Or should I try to make some kind of toad house for the winter?
We pay for the year - that is expensive
you could check here as well for compost bins https://www.gumtree.com/search?q=compost+bins&tq=%7B%22i%22%3A%22compost+bins%22%2C%22s%22%3A%22compost+bins%22%2C%22p%22%3A0%2C%22t%22%3A12%7D&search_category=all&search_location=Wiltshire&distance=0.0001
Its a great day here in the SW so I am going out to do some surveying of my garden area- not sunny areas- shade - start keeping some kind of record while planning my garden for next year- hopeful
And admire the difficult chalk soil I have- rock/ alpine garden?
Is the soil the same in Hampshire?
I used to live on the other side of Wiltshire near Pewsey- really lovely soil.
Are you sure about the cost ? I just had a quick look at council site, it shows £40 pa. You usually pay it once a year not monthly like the council tax. I would check again in case i am wrong but you might save yourselves some work
Leave it in a field somewhere - it's biodegradable.
I'm not being flippant - honest. We have a thickly wooded very wide grass verge outside our close and I often cut up garden waste very small and spread it amongst the trees at night and in a couple of months it's gone, rotted down.
Soil in Hampshire in my area Southampton acid to neutral, well drained sandy ish, but have found a few large lime bricks under the ground far down when digging
Soil on my allotment well drained neutral has a bit of clay in some bits
If you do make compost remember to add brown material - like loo roll tubes ripped up, cardboard, newspapers and the green material - grass cutting hedge cuttings not too thick material