Can I put these in my compost bin?

Question

I have just pulled some sort of vine week out of my ivy and was wondering if I can put it into my compost bin. It has large green leafs which are quite thin. It has no flowers or buds on it.

Also, I have just cut back a bush which has some small flowers on, can these clippings go into the bin as well?

Answer 1

Yes but avoid anything that is a weed and in bloom or seed as the seeds may survive the composting and sprout where ever you use the compost.  The bush clippings yes also, but the woody stems may take quite awhile to decompose it would be best to dispose of these elsewhere.

Answer 2

Yes you can, I myself have a Compost bin and have this ivy growing on my house, i put it in there and it worked just like usual

Answer 3

The general method of adding material to your compost is 4 parts “brown” matter to 1 part “green” matter.  Your plant clippings would be considered green matter.

Brown Matter:

Dead leaves

Shredded paper or newspaper

Brown cardboard

Small twigs

Coffee grounds

Green Matter:

Fruit and vegetable scraps

Tea leaves and bags

Egg shells

Weeds, green leaves, and plants

Grass clippings

Though the general rule is 4:1, brown to green, the real key is balance! Try for a good variety of items, and do not add too much of one thing. This gives a good balance of carbon and nitrogen contributors, which makes for effective composted soil for your garden. I always add a bit of topsoil to a new batch of compost to get it started.

DO NOT ADD pet droppings, meat, fish, chicken, dairy products, cooking oils, or non living items like plastics. Your pile will smell, attract pests, not decompose properly, and make lousy compost that could harm your plants.

Answer 4

I wouldn't put vine weed in if  it has any root ,that could grow in the compost, but the leaves and  small flowers in fact any flowers are fine woody bits are good providing they are shredded or cut small, seeds are not a good idea because they grow again when you spread the compost on the ground.

Answer 5

Anything that has, can, and might could grow in the grownd can be put into a compost. Leaves from any plant or tree, grass clippings, vegetable skin shavings, even eggshells can be put intoa compost bin. Just make sure it's not anything that is NOT biodegradable, like plastic, glass, aluminum, paper, etc. Remember, the ideal purpose of a compost is to reuse the dirt made for planting, and you don't want plastic or paper in your garden.

Hope I helped!

Answer 6

Yes, no problem.

Answer 7

If you compost them properly the roots and seeds should decompose from the heat of the compost. I just wouldn't compost any of the poison vines, Poison ivy and poison oak.

Here is a wonderful site that will give you all the information you need to compost, you can compost things I never thought of. Lots of good information about composting here.

http://www.compostguide.com/

Answer 8

Sure, you can put almost anything organic in it, especially plant materials from cutting and pruning.

Answer 9

I would be very careful with vine weed, it's extremely hard to kill and I doubt the seeds would die in a compost bin, though I note it has no flowers or buds. Still I would be tempted to burn it and put the ash in the compost bin.

The bush clippings aren't a problem in moderation, just try to mix them in so they break up uniformly and you don't have a layer of semi composted material when you come to use it.

Answer 10

yes but cut it up into pieces, cos this stuff will end up taking root and growing in your compost bin