What to do with Garden Waste

Garden waste does not belong in the trash. Instead of dumping your green waste and post-pruning piles, go green by disposing of waste properly and recycling it at home. Proper yard waste disposal is not only about keeping your garden tidy, but it's also an essential step toward environmental sustainability. By properly disposing of and recycling the waste, you will minimize landfill waste and contribute to a greener planet.

If you're wondering what to do with garden waste or how to dispose of yard waste sustainability, this guide is for you.

In this gardening guide, we'll explore multiple methods to clear away your garden waste that are more cost-effective and environmentally friendly than traditional methods.

What is Garden Waste?

Garden waste is an organic material that is created from routine garden maintenance tasks such as pruning herbaceous plants or mowing lawns. Garden waste includes green waste, brown waste, turf, weeds, undesired plants, and undesired plants.

Green waste contains fallen leaves, grass clippings, small twigs, and fallen branches. Brown waste contains bark, fallen branches, and other woody materials. Let's discover how to dispose of or recycle all this waste.

Eco-friendly Ways to Dispose of Yard Waste

Follow these sustainable ways to remove garden waste and play your role in contributing to a healthier, greener planet.

Turn Garden Waste into DIY Mulch

Grass clippings, fallen leaves, and wood chips can be used as free organic mulch around gardens and established plants. When they're applied as a mulch layer to the soil surface, weeds will not grow, and organic materials will help regulate moisture and temperature while nourishing the soil.

With a trimmer or hand shears, cut old grass and herbaceous perennial stems into match-stick length pieces. You will find abundant natural mulch in the fall. Shred brown/yellow autumn leaves with a lawn mower before collecting them with your grass trimmings. Then, spread them evenly at the base of your plants.

Moreover, wood mulch stays longer than grass/leaves. It also gives your landscaping a more classic appearance and suppresses weed growth. If you've plenty of wood scraps from clipping or removing trees, you can make your own wood chips using a woodchipper. Hence, you can turn your woody waste into organic mulch, too.

Leave Grass Clippings on Your Lawn

Avoid removing grass clippings and leave them on your lawn to save time and energy. This is called grass cycling. Grass clippings decompose to return nutrients to the soil and protect the soil. They help with moisture retention and keep the grass healthier.

If grass clippings are large, use a mulching lawn mower to chop them and spread them back on the turf. Additionally, regular mowing keeps your lawn healthy. Don't throw the clippings in the trash to reduce carbon emissions associated with their transportation.

Use Branches and Leaves to Fill Raised Garden Beds

Branches, leaves, brushes, and other garden waste are excellent materials for filling raised beds and making mounds to plant squash, pumpkins, and melons. Fill the beds with garden waste and then top it off with soil and compost.

The branches and shrubs will decompose over time and release beneficial nutrients into the soil. In addition, using bulky materials to make the foundation for garden beds saves money by lowering the amount of soil and compost required for the fill.

Recycle garden Waste and Food Scraps with Composting

Composting is an eco-friendly waste recycling method. You can turn yard waste and household waste into compost and soil materials that you can use to nourish your flowers and fruit plants. You can create a small compost bin for kitchen scraps. However, if you want to recycle both garden waste and kitchen waste items, you should create a large compost bin.

Compost bins are available at all good garden centers. Additionally, you can make a compost heap if your garden is large enough. Fallen leaves, kitchen waste like vegetable peelings, lawn mowing's, and old bedding plants are items you can add to your compost bin or heap. Allow your garden waste to decompose slowly and transform into lovely garden gold in a year or more with little to no manual effort.

Drop Garden Waste at the Municipal Waste Collection Area

Many cities and towns have assigned some areas to collect yard waste. If your town has an organic waste collection site, store your garden waste items, and drop them off as needed so they don't wind up in the trash. Make sure to collect the waste in compostable bags rather than plastic bags.

Furthermore, many towns have recycling centers that collect organic yard waste. These centers compost it or convert it into biofuel, fostering a circular economy.

Maximize Usage of a Green Bin

If your municipality provides a green bin for yard waste, be sure to use it to its full capacity. A green bin is a convenient way to get rid of little amounts of waste, like leaves, grass cuttings, and small branches. If you regularly fill a green bin, you can request a second one from your council. However, you have to pay for it.

Hire a Skip

Hiring a skip bin is a great option to remove your organic and inorganic garden waste, especially if you produce a lot of waste in a short time. Paying for waste to be removed either in a skip or by a good waste clearance company is a suitable and environmentally friendly option for large gardens. You simply need to hire a skip or arrange a waste removal company to come and collect.

The Bottom Line

Responsibly and effectively disposing of garden waste is a crucial task that every gardener should master. Understanding what to do with garden waste is key to maintaining a healthy garden and helping to make a more sustainable environment. Whether you select composting, DIY mulching, a local recycling center, or a professional waste collection service, your actions can have a positive impact on our planet.

The most crucial thing is to ensure you're not dumping your yard's waste in general trash bins. Why waste all good stuff when there are so many recycling options? So, dispose of your waste correctly and make the world greener!