I am about to clear out about half the waterlilies and reed mace (bull rushes) in our large pond, 30metres by 40 metres. That bit is fine but how do i get pond plants to rot down on the comost heap? Last time I had to burn the reed mace but it took 6 months to dry out! There is also a lot of excess oxygenating weed which is equally stubborn to rot on the compost heap.
Would i be better to try to shred it first?
Yes shredding will certainly speed things up. Secondly do it while the weather is warm.
David
Shredding would speed up composting a lot but first I'd spread it out in the sun to dry some. Spread in the sun on dry ground I can't imagine it would take longer than 2 weeks to dry... spread it thinly and flip it over every few days like tedding hay. I thin the cattails thet grow around the perimeter in my pond and that's what I do with them. I cut them with a pole pruning saw, the curved blade easily cuts them below the water line with a few strokes and then yanks them out onto the bank. I don't formally compost them in a bin, I cart them out into the woods and dump them in a pile, in two years they are practically all composted.
Not sure I can wait 2 years, we do the pond about every 6 months! the whole garden would be covered!
Without knowing how much property and what kind you have it's difficult to advise... I have several acres of woodland where brush can decay out of sight and meanwhile provide shelter for critters. Perhaps you have somewhere to dig a shallow trench and bury your pond growth. With light brush I simply go over it several times with my mower fitted with mulching blades, within a few minutes a big pile disappears.
Jq Roberts wrote: ...
if you have that much growth the pond is too shallow or too full of nutrients.
perhaps it makes more sense to deepen the pond or reduce nutrient inflows and see if that helps...
songbird
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