How to Deal with Herbicide Soil/Compost?

[SausageParticipant]

Yet another herbicide tale of woe. I met someone who has 10 big pots (35-60 litres each) of compost from last year to get rid of. All the pots have a mix of compost and herbicide-contaminated commercial ‘farmyard manure’. She needs the pots for planting up this year and wants to get shot of the contaminated compost before the new growing season.

How can she get rid of it? She doesn’t have space for another compost pile or spare ground to spread it on and wait. She doesn’t want to risk hiring a skip in case they empty it into council recycling and contaminate everyone else’s compost too. Are there council services for taking contaminated compost? Are there composting companies who know how to deal with this responsibly?

I had a delivery of herbicide yuck too last year, but I was lucky enough to have just enough space to put it away and wait for it to break down. How should people with very small gardens and no space be dealing with this stuff?

Thanks

[CleansweepParticipant]

I should seek to spread it as a ‘top dressing’ on to a lawn or other amenity grassland. Aminopyralid is effective on only a specified group of broad leaf plants, is only applied to grass /and some cereal crops, and should breakdown within a year on exposure to air & rain.
The greater the distribution, the lower the concentration.

[SausageParticipant]

Thank you Cleansweep. I think it might have been on your advice last year that I spread my contaminated compost in a scruffy corner to break down. This lady doesn’t have any grass going spare so I don’t think it’s an option for her. Wondering if getting in touch with a compost company near her would be a good idea?

[Author]

Posts