Composting a Cordyline?
 

My neighbour had a codyline, hideous scrawny thing, until it died following last winters severe cold weather. It has remained standing, ugly and bare since then. Until last weekend, when it finally keeled over. I offered to help hm dispose of it as he is in not brilliant health.

It was after making the first cut through the trunk I noticed how similar it is to coir fibre.

That got me thinking, could it be recycled into a compost or mulch? Anyone here have experience of this.

My initial thought was to hack it into chunks, split the chunks lengthwise and place in blag bags/under cover and let nature take its course.

If it is a non starter then it is going to the tip

Thoughts and suggestions welcome.

Composting a Cordyline?
 

"Johno" wrote

My neighbour had a codyline, hideous scrawny thing, until it died following
last winters severe cold weather. It has remained standing, ugly and bare
since then. Until last weekend, when it finally keeled over. I offered to
help hm dispose of it as he is in not brilliant health.

It was after making the first cut through the trunk I noticed how similar
it is to coir fibre.

That got me thinking, could it be recycled into a compost or mulch? Anyone
here have experience of this.

My initial thought was to hack it into chunks, split the chunks lengthwise
and place in blag bags/under cover and let nature take its course.

If it is a non starter then it is going to the tip

Thoughts and suggestions welcome.

The branches that died on mine went in the compost bin and rotted down
without a problem.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

Composting a Cordyline?
 

The branches that died on mine went in the compost bin and rotted down

without a problem.

Was thinking more the trunk, spilt lengthewise and chopped up. Would obviously take some time!
Cheers Bob

Composting a Cordyline?
 

In article ,
Johno wrote:
The branches that died on mine went in the compost bin and rotted down

without a problem.
Was thinking more the trunk, spilt lengthewise and chopped up. Would
obviously take some time!

Or you could just heave them on, and chuck them back when you use
the compost. They will disintegrate within a year or two. Such
items are very useful in compost, because they provide fibre for
water retention and drainage once they start to break down.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Composting a Cordyline?
 

"Johno" wrote in message
...
My neighbour had a codyline, hideous scrawny thing, until it died following
last winters severe cold weather. It has remained standing, ugly and bare
since then. Until last weekend, when it finally keeled over. I offered to
help hm dispose of it as he is in not brilliant health.

It was after making the first cut through the trunk I noticed how similar it
is to coir fibre.

That got me thinking, could it be recycled into a compost or mulch? Anyone
here have experience of this.

My initial thought was to hack it into chunks, split the chunks lengthwise
and place in blag bags/under cover and let nature take its course.

If it is a non starter then it is going to the tip

Thoughts and suggestions welcome.



In New Zealand at the recycling centres and at the green waste section signs
state 'No Cabbage Plants', ie., no cordylines. So there must be something
about them that doesn't suit composting.

mark

I did a little research on this, and the reason they don't like them is that their fibrous nature often bungs up their chipping devices, especially if they are a bit blunt. They may refuse to take phormiums (NZ flax) too for similar reasons.

They are, as previously said, a good contributor to a compost heap, but you need to cut them up into suitably short pieces first. A lot of the ones that got frosted in UK turned to smelly mush while they were still standing there.

Composting a Cordyline?
 

their fibrous nature often bungs up their chipping devices,

echinosum

That makes perfect sense, I found them challenging to cut with a saw at first, resorted with great success to my razor sharp billhook.

They are in my heap now!

Cheers and happy gardening for 2013