On Sep 11, 12:57*pm, Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...



Can anyone offer any suggestions on how to kill off any seeds dispersed
within home-made compost?

I have a large compost heap made from weeds and long grass, among other
things, and probably contains a lot of unwanted seeds. The large heap is
now about three months old and has been turned twice. Perhaps some of the
weed seeds have now been destroyed due to the heat generated within the
heap, but past experience causes me to suspect that many will not have been
killed.

I plan to use the compost to create a new lawn, using grass seed, in an
area where the soil is very poor. Last time I did this, the weed seeds
within the compost were prolific and started to sprout after the compost
was spread on the ground.

* Your best plan is to prepare the new lawn bed, let the weed seeds
germinate,kill them off either with glyphosate or a flame gun, all before
seeding the grass. Some weed seeds will germinate later (sods law) but not
all kinds will survive regular mowing. *Any which do, you can either
winkle out with a pointy knife (my preference) or use a specialist lawn
weedkiller , but only when the grass is well established.

* I keep a separate dalek compost prison for seedy weed disposal; the
compost from it either goes into deep burial (like bean trenches) or as
surface mulch under shadyshrubs where seed germination will be minimal.

* *Janet

As you are only dealing with weed seedlings I would go for Wedol
rather than Glyphosate, Much quicker acting.