8 Tips to Dispose of Garden Waste

Is your garden waste stopping you from working on your garden? Or, does numerous garden waste disposal questions pop into your mind whenever you’re outdoors? If yes, this post is for you.

From composting to skip beans, here are some excellent tips that you might want to follow in order to manage your garden waste.

Supplies Needed for Garden Waste Disposal

Now that you’ve finally decided that you want to take care of that mess in your garden; let’s look at some of the supplies you might need.

• Gloves
• Rubbish picker
• Garden rakes
• Broom and Dustpan
• Dustbins
• Weed Eater
• Spades and Hand Trowels
• Pruning Shears and Loppers
• Lawn Mowers
• Leaf Blowers

Tip on How to Get Rid of Garden Waste

Proper planning must be done for the disposal of garden waste. Moreover, you shall use proper safety gear and equipment prior to doing waste disposal work.

Let’s discuss a few tips for the disposal of garden waste. What’s more, you’ll even get to know what options are available for you when it comes to garden waste disposal.

1. Separate your garden waste

Before deciding on a way of garden waste disposal, make sure to separate the waste at first. You shall always remember that not all the waste is decomposable and recyclable.

Moreover, the disposal of recyclable green waste that includes grasses and twigs will cost you very little.

2. Composting

Composting is probably the best method of garden waste disposal. So, let’s discuss it in detail, shall we?

If you’ve decided to compost your garden wastes, there’s a specific procedure that you’ll need to follow. Remember that improper composting methods will give you a serious headache since the smell in your garden area will become unbearable.

Step 1: Selection your Compost Bin

Open pile or a combust bin; these are the two options you have to manage your waste. We’d suggest using bins rather than open piles as it is cleaner, preserves heat, and keeps pets out.

You can have your own compost bin made according to the size of the waste, or you can buy it from a garden shop.

Step 2: Select the best location

A flat, well-drained, and sunny area on bare soil makes a perfect location for composting. You shall choose the site in such a way that the new ingredients can easily be added and the compost can be easily got out.

If your site has a concrete or patio slab base, then you must add a layer of paper and twigs or the compost on the bottom before placing the compost bin on your site.

It would be best if you considered placing the compost bin on bare soil. The microorganisms and the insects present in the soil easily get access to the compost and helps in rotting material. This helps in proper composting as the aeration and drainage will be optimal.

Step 3: Add the right components

Besides garden waste, you can keep the plastic garbage can or kitchen caddy in your kitchen to collect the kitchen waste as well.

Step 4: Layer the waste components

In a compost bin, components must be added in layers. You can start the layer with twigs for proper drainage and aeration, followed by the layer of leaves.

The nitrogen-rich green materials and carbon-rich brown materials are layered alternatively. The mixture of 50-50 per cent of green and brown materials are ideal for the best compost manure.

If you forget to add the brown layer, your compost will decay more slowly and become wet. So, you can collect the dried leaves and store them in order to maintain the brown layer on the compost.

If you’re not sure what the green and brown materials are, here is a general list for you.

Greens	Browns
Flowers	Dried leaves/ grass clippings
Vegetables	Coffee filter
Fruit peels	Bark
Scraps	Straw
Egg Shells	Napkins/ paper towels
Coffee Grounds	Brown paper bags
Teabags	Small pieces of cardboard/ Newspaper
	Sawdust
	Evergreen needles
	Paper egg cartons

Not all garden wastes are decomposable. Make sure you’re not adding any of the below-mentioned items to your compost bin:

• Charcoal
• Cooked food, meat, fish, fatty items and bones
• Dairy products
• Pet waste
• Toxic materials
• Chemical logs

Step 5: Have patience

Though composting is beneficial for the environment and your garden, it takes about a year to be ready to use. Keep adding the waste to the bin and let the breakdown of the waste to be done naturally.

To maintain the quality of the compost, you must also maintain the layers of ingredients. The moisture level should be maintained either by adding solid waste or water according to the need.

Step 6: Harvest your compost

The ready compost manure will be dark, crumbly, and gives off an earthy aroma. Make sure that your compost is ready to use before you harvest it. If not, it may affect the growth of the plants.

3. Use a worm bin

You can buy or build your own worm bin.  It is similar to composting, but here, only food waste and green waste such as grass clippings are decomposed by using worms. This bin can be kept near your kitchen to dispose of your food scraps.

You shall keep the bin in a neither too hot nor too cold place to prevent both bin and worms. The nutrient-dense worm castings can be later used on your plants.

4. Recycle or Reuse if Possible

You shall always keep in mind that disposing of the recyclable item present on your garden waste is not quite preferable. Twigs and tree branches can be interestingly reused to DIY brilliant decorative items such as wreaths.

However, if you are unknown about such uses, it’s better to give these to the person who loves recycling and reusing and make something beautiful out of the waste.

Similarly, you can also reuse the construction waste like old concrete, bricks, stones, lumbers, and others to redecorate your garden at a very efficient cost.

5. Hire a Skip Bin

You can hire a skip bin for disposing of the garden waste from the nearest service provider, which will be at your house on the same day. Though not very cheap, it is one of the easiest and fastest methods for managing garden waste.

What’s more, if you hire a large skip bin, you are not limited to the amount of waste. You will have specific days as per the provider’s policy to fill up the bin. After that, the removal experts will collect the bin and dispose of the waste in a safe place.

You need to select the best design of skip for your garden waste disposal. And finally, you shall be careful about disposing only of such waste that is recommended by the company.

6. Drop the waste at a local landfill or a household waste recycling centre

For this method, all you need to do is collect your non-decomposable waste, keep it in disposable bags, and drop those bags at the nearest recycling centre via an appropriate transportation medium.

This method is much cheaper, and you don’t have to keep the waste in your garden, waiting for the collection day as well. In this method, you only need to bear the cost of transportation, in case you don’t have one.

As many people don’t have this idea, they end up disposing waste on open lands, inviting environmental as well as health hazards.

7. Order a green recycling bin

Though this garden waste disposal method is very cheap and easy, it is not very applicable if your garden produces waste in a larger quantity.

You can order a green recycling bin from your local council. After that, all that you’ll have to do is collect and dispose garden waste in the bin, and wait for the collection day.

8. Bonfire and Incinerators

Bonfires and incinerators should never be the first option to manage your garden waste. However, if these are your last available options, make sure you’re compliant with your community rules and regulations.

In general, you’re allowed to use these methods of waste disposal as long as these don’t create any nuisance. Moreover, you shall be aware that garden waste must be dry before burning so that less smoke is produced.

Incinerators are used to burn garden waste such as weeds, lawn cuttings, twigs, leaves, and hedge trimmings. They burn the waste at a very high temperature and produce less smoke, so they are safer than bonfires.

Summary

If you have a proper garden waste disposal routine, garden waste is not very difficult to take care of. We’ve provided you with not one but eight such brilliant garden waste disposal ideas. So, select a perfect plan for you and get your supplies ready!

Moreover, you can select any two or three garden waste disposal ideas mentioned above to keep that garden of yours fresh and beautiful at all times. If you have any queries regarding this topic, we’re just a comment away.