In message , Stephen Howard
writes
On Thu, 9 Sep 2004 13:33:43 +0100, Martin Brown
wrote:

In message , Stephen Howard
writes
On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 15:06:57 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:

I was told that burning garden waste is naughty.

Depends on the local bylaws I'd imagine.

In some regions domestic garden fires are banned (not that anyone pays a
blind bit of notice in Belgium). It turns out that a significant
proportion of dioxin pollution (and other bad stuff) comes from badly
constructed fires burning garden waste and domestic refuse. The
Organic(TM) fraternity prefer to ignore this fact - fire is "natural".

Don't recall ever seeing any organic gardening publications
recommending burning waste as opposed to composting it - save for
obviously diseased material.

Composting isn't all that much better. ISTR that fungal decay is about
third down the list of sources of dioxins in the environment.

Most people have bonfires because bonfires are fun.

And to be fair fire is a pretty effective way to sterilise most things.
Though some hardy spores may actually be distributed in smoke by the
updraft.

Mind you, one has to wonder about the checks and balances - on the one
hand there's a load of bonfires, and on the other there's a load of
cars, lorries and heavy plant shoving garden waste around.
Compost miles, I suppose.

It is never as clear cut as you might hope.


Fresh ashes can help to counteract the tendency for a polythene mulch
to raise the acidity of the soil.

I only burn my garden rubbish when it is tinder dry. Onions and fruit
trees seem to thrive on any charcoal and wood ash that remains.

That's a valid point - a soggy bonfire is not a happy bonfire.
Round about now I burn all the twigs and broken off branches from the
plum trees, and throw the ash round the roots - seems to work for me,
I get good yields in spite of being rather neglectful of my plums!

They tend to go biennial if you don't look after them. My neighbours
tree has so many plums this year that the entire village has been
supplied!

Next year I expect it will have almost none (like last year).

Similarly I too find it helps the onions along - those beds that are
treated with ash seem to produce more robust onions...though still not
so robust that they won't fall prey to a spot of grey mildew in some
years.

I reckon the onions like the extra drainage from the charcoal and the
fruit like the wood ash. YMMV.

Regards,
--
Martin Brown