Yard waste

[Stlbroke]

We are stopping yard waste pickup for the winter months. Ive been thinking of next year just having a compost bin instead of paying for removal.  I plan on mulching most of my lawn anyway as it is healthy for it.  For any sticks that fall I'll just collect for my fireplace and I won't have to buy those stupid bags anymore.  This sounds too easy to me.  I'm wondering if the smell of the decaying grass and probably some food waste will be unbearable? Or any thing else I'm not thinking of?

[The_path_less_taken]

Compost needs to be turned regularly and have the correct ratio of green to brown to not smell. The hand crank kinds seem to do the best/easiest jobs, for homeowners. (I use a tractor because I've got a lot to turn here.)

But if you're basically mulching it in around tree rings and such there will be no problem: try and leave 3 inches bare around the trunk to discourage mice/voles from camping right against it.

[MDM]

Dump the yard waste (grass and leaves, not big sticks) into your vegetable garden as mulch to suppress weeds? 

[RetiredAt63]

Leave the grass where it falls and it will decompose in place.  I have been doing that for the lawn on top of my septic field for 5 summers, and what was almost sand is now a semi-decent soil.  You do have to cut it often enough that the grass doesn't make big solid clumps, because those will kill the grass underneath.  Otherwise *dry* grass clippings and chopped up leaves make great mulch.  If you have hedges, just pile it up at the base of the hedge (not too close to the trunks) and your hedge will be happy and your yard will be tidy.  Twigs - compost under a hedge.  Branches  - burn.

And read this for a different take on yard care ;-)
http://www.comptechdoc.org/humor/garden/

[highcountry]

If you've got the right C:N ratio (brown to green, except that grass clippings are sort of brown, and manure is green...) the compost doesn't need to be turned. Most yard waste is way too high in the C though, so it won't break down unless you add manure. 

Grass clippings in the garden bed are a bad idea unless you really like pulling weeds.

I compost pretty intensively at home (composting toilet), but do not generate yard waste where I am at.  I also garden for one of my clients, and I use her yard waste bin for leaves, twigs, pruning debris, and grass clippings.  She has a small compost bin for food scraps, but if we put yard waste in it it gets bogged down and stops doing it's thing.  I suppose I could haul it all home and use it in my bin, but that would be a major hassle.

edited to add:  unless you are burying bodies in your compost pile it shouldn't smell.  If it does, add more carbon.

[NaturallyHappier]

People pay to have their yard waste picked up?

[MDM]

Grass clippings in the garden bed are a bad idea unless you really like pulling weeds.

I guess YMMV - our experience has been that dumping grass clippings around the plants suppresses weeds very well.  Maybe because we have a high ratio of lawn to garden area so the clippings become somewhat thick in the garden...?

[RetiredAt63]

Same here - as long as there are no seeds in the lawn clippings they are not bringing in new seeds.  The clippings need to be dry, or they will heat up too much.  But a good thick layer of dry grass is a great mulch - at least in my climate.

I guess YMMV - our experience has been that dumping grass clippings around the plants suppresses weeds very well.  Maybe because we have a high ratio of lawn to garden area so the clippings become somewhat thick in the garden...?

[MayDay]

My lawn clippings always have seeds because I have a lot of weeds.  So it doesn't work well for garden compost.  We just mulch it into the yard. 

I trim back my perennials every fall (not shrubs, just ones like day lilies that die over the winter) and I use them to layer with food scraps in my compost.  I also collect leaves in the fall to layer in my compost.  Leaves are probably the biggest issue to dispose of if you have mature trees, as they will quickly overwhelm a mulching mower. 

For sticks and odds and ends, I just shove a few in with the trash every week until they are gone.  That might not work for a major tree trimming but it sounds like you have a fire place anyway.  I do have a bit of troupe let with this extremely painfully poke-y every green shrub that needs an aggressive trimming annually, and that doesn't break down fast.  Again, I meter it into the regular trash. 

[RetiredAt63]

Mayday, just out of curiosity, which weeds are going to seed?  I have more non-grass plants than grass in my lawns, but I try to keep them from setting seed.  Except dandelions, they can set and spread seed faster than I can cut, but most of their seed is sterile.  The others don't get a chance.

My biggest lawn problems are weeds that spread by runner (creeping Charlie), or come in from nearby fields and ditches (burdock).

And Stlbroke, we don't have separate municipal yard waste pickup - it can go with the regular garbage/recycling pickup, but big stuff (branches) has to be a reasonable size.  Mostly that never gets to the street - in a rural area we mulch, compost, and burn (outdoor fireplaces).  Organic material only smells if it is decomposing anaerobically (think of a swamp).  If you have a compost that smells, turn it to get air into it.  It may also be too wet so air can't get in - so let it dry out a bit.  Knowing this can happen means you can plan so it doesn't, I have been making compost for years and never had a bad smell.  Of course it has to be damp enough, dry stuff just sits there.

My lawn clippings always have seeds because I have a lot of weeds.

[SpinGeek]

We aren't allowed to have a compost bin (or a clothesline) per our HOA rules unless we want to pay for a six-foot-tall privacy fence. So we've been collecting bags of yard waste and hauling it to my parents' house out in the country. Problem is, in the summer the bags accumulate faster than our visits. We used to have an electric shredder that could handle up to an inch-thick branch; my dad burned it up gettting rid of gumballs from his maple trees. I'm giving serious thought to buying another one. We always need more mulch for the planting beds, so it would solve two problems.

I was very grateful for our annual free yard waste pickup two weeks ago; got rid of 12 bags at once! It's safe to walk in our garage again.

[Rezdent]

If you don't want to pay but don't want to compost consider Craigslist or something similar.  Other people may need more yard waste than they can self - generate and may be happy to take it off your hands.  In our area there's lots of gardeners competing for bags of grass, leaves.  I would imagine that there are folks who would like the sticks too.

[RetiredAt63]

What is your yard waste? You seem to be generating a lot.
Getting a new shredder (or one from CL) sounds like a god idea for branches.  For grass clippings, just leave them lie or (dried) use as mulch.  For garden waste (non-woody prunings), do "sheet composting" - i.e. chop up a bit and use as mulch.
I am on an acre and I never have enough material to feed my compost bin - but then I don't collect my grass clippings.

[SpinGeek]

We generate a lot of thorny rose branch clippings. If I don't beat them back at least twice a year, they try to take over the front yard. I'm not sure how well they will shred, but I do know they take too long to break down if I just leave them under the bushes. Plus they make weeding and planting bulbs an interesting way to make my tetanus shot worth the money.

Grass clippings are left on the yard, unless my SO slacks off on the mowing. Then we rake them into the shady "dead zone" on the side of the house. Hopefully next year, we'll get around to building the raised planting beds there.

The trees along our street generate a lot of leaves in the fall and we'd get nasty looks from the HOA if we didn't rake them up. If I could have shredded them so they wouldn't blow around, I would have piled them on the "dead zone" as well, and eliminated 4 bags of waste.

[Gone Fishing]

Sounds like a good plan.  If supply starts to exceed demand in the stick department, just pile them in a back corner.  In a humid environment, they will decompose quite well on their own.  I never really use the "compost" they make but just let it work it's way into the surrounding soil.  I keep them separate from my "good" compost because they make shoveling difficult.  After a while, you just get a permanent pile that never really seems to grow as the bottom is rotting as fast as you add new sticks to the top.  Makes great bird habitat as well.       

[RetiredAt63]

I am so glad I don't live with an HOA.  If their street trees are generating leaves, it is a pain that they don't allow composting.

I almost envy you the rose problem.  Here roses are mostly marginally hardy - if I had any my main pruning would be to cut back all the dead branches each spring.  Even my 1812 rose didn't make it one winter.  But peonies and day-lilies are a lot more reliable and just as beautiful. 

If I were in your shoes I would definitely be getting another shredder, it would make your gardening easier and more productive.

[Prairie Stash]

I have 2 compost bins I alternate between. When one is full I leave it alone and switch to the other. After 6-12 months of mostly ignoring it all but the very top is dirt, the top bit I just scrape off and toss into the other bin. I like not needing to scrape out the bottom from the pile, that use to be a unnecessary hassle. I need to add water from the rain barrel regularly, if it dries out the composting stops.

I never turn my compost, it still turns into dirt. I don't measure greens and browns, I'm all greens all winter. Browns on top will reduce fruit flies and insects, if that's not an issue then don't worry. I get a bag of leaves from the neighbour to add in a handful occasionally later in the summer to cut down the flies. My compost doesn't smell, unless you put your head inside. My backyard smells like grass and flowers.

I do make extra work for myself by trench composting massive amounts of leaves. It's rehabilitating my clay soil, it's a slow multiyear process. It works well after the garden is finished, best done in the fall. I don't recommend it for most people unless they enjoy physical labor.  I also tried vermicompost for a 5 year period, fun but not much better results.

Remember it's just dirt, no need to get fancy or make it into work. Design a system that requires minimal effort and you'll use it forever.

[FarmerPete]

Behind my house is a small strip of wooded property that is owned by the city.  I have what I loveingly call my "compost" pile back there.  Basically, it's just my yard waste piled up.  The pile seems to shrink each year through the winter and summer.  One of these days I should spend more time and try to turn it.  Since it's just yard waste, I'm guessing it wont compost well.

[RetiredAt63]

"Yard waste" is such a general term - what is in it?  Everything rots, just some things rot slower than others.  Compost is just a way to make decomposition happen faster, it is not magic.  You might have black gold back there.  Or not.  At least you are most likely keeping the trees happy.

Since it's just yard waste, I'm guessing it wont compost well.

[rocketpj]

We just pile it up behind the garage.  I suppose at some point I might have to do something about it, but it seems to break down fast enough not to be a growing problem.

We have a regional park right behind our property, so I often throw some of the stuff over the fence to 'feed the forest'.  So far no issues - one of my biggest projects each year is cutting back the ever-expanding blackberries growing over the back fence (after harvesting, of course).