February 12, 2025

Acquanyc

Health's Like Heaven.

Garden Moments: How to Dispose of Diseased Plant Material and Weeds

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Nationally recognized gardening expert Melinda Myers helps everyday gardeners find success and ease in the garden through her Melinda’s Garden Moment television segments. Melinda shares tips that hold the key to gardening success, learned through her more than 30 years of horticulture experience.  New Melinda’s Garden Moment web tips will be added throughout the growing season, so be sure to check back for timely, seasonal tips to help you be successful in your gardens!

Watch Melinda’s Garden Moment Videos online.

How to Dispose of Diseased Plant Material and Weeds

Disposing of weeds, their seeds, insects and disease organisms that are usually not destroyed in less-than-ideal compost systems can be a challenge.

Start with a call to your local municipality and ask about disposal options. Many communities allow you to dispose of invasive plants in the garbage when they’re placed in a clear plastic bag and labeled invasive.

Some gardeners place problem plant material in a clear plastic bag and let it cook in the sun. This may be effective, but you can’t be sure the temperatures are hot enough to kill the pests.

Burning is effective but not permitted in many communities and has a negative impact on air quality.

Burying diseased material can help reduce the source of future infection of some diseases.  Dig a hole, fill with plant debris, mix with soil then cover with an inch or two of disease-free soil.

A bit more information:  Speed up decomposition of buried material by shredding it before burying. Mix the shredded material with soil then cover with several inches of disease-free soil. Then disinfect your equipment with a disinfectant spray to prevent spreading the disease to healthy plants.

Visit www.melindamyers.com for more gardening tips, videos and more.

About Melinda Myers
Gardening expert, TV/radio host, author & columnist Melinda Myers has more than 30 years of horticulture experience and is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. She has written over 20 gardening books, including Can’t Miss Small Space Gardening and the Midwest Gardener’s Handbook. She hosts the nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment segments which air on over 135 TV and radio stations throughout the U.S.  Myers is also the host of the recently released The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series.  Melinda writes a regular column for Wisconsin Gardening and Chicagoland Gardening magazines. She also writes the twice monthly Gardeners’ Questions” newspaper column. Melinda hosted “The Plant Doctor” radio program for over 20 years as well as seven seasons of Great Lakes Gardener on PBS. Melinda has a master’s degree in horticulture, is a certified arborist and was a horticulture instructor with tenure. She’s the recipient of the American Horticultural Society’s B.Y. Morrison Communication Award and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of GWA: The Association for Garden Communicators. Myers’ website, www.MelindaMyers.com, features gardening videos, podcasts, monthly gardening checklists and more.

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