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Whether you’re a keen gardener or not, if you’re fortunate enough to have even a small outdoor space, there’s always some kind of garden waste to deal with. It’s one of the few downsides to having a garden. Sure, we all love to look at trees, hear them rustle in the breeze and see the beauty of nature in the birdlife they attract – but they do make a mess! Once autumn and winter hit home, the mess becomes really apparent – and during summer, grass clippings can reach mountainous proportions. Dead leaves, rotten branches, windfalls, weeds, and peeling bark all become annoying and occasionally, dangerous issues.

In this article we’ll talk you through some of the various options for dealing with garden waste. We’ll include composting and how to get started, in addition to skip bins and how skip bin hire for garden waste might just be the solution you’re looking for.

The issue with garden waste

For many people, their garden is a special place which offers a fantastic place to spend time alone or in company. Socialising, holding family gatherings or just enjoying some quiet time planting and maintaining flowers and veggies are all incredibly valuable pastimes – great for our mental health and physical fitness alike. All that fun comes at a cost though. Maintaining your garden does take a lot of time and energy and if you have a large space, you’ll know this all too well. One of the things most gardeners complain about is how to deal with garden waste. Grass clippings, old dead wood, tree roots, leaves, pruning’s from bushes and trees – the list goes on. Of course, your council bin will be a good place for a little of your garden waste – and little is the operative word here, because council green waste bins aren’t very big at all. If your garden is of a decent size and you have a few trees, all it takes is one good storm and you could easily fill half a dozen of them.

Recycling garden waste for compost

This is a good option for many people but you do need to be committed. Here are the basics you need to know about composting.

Some councils offer great compact compost bins at a lower price for residents. A compost bin doesn’t need to be fancy – just a large container with a hatch at the base.

• Know what can go into your compost bin

Never add meat or dairy products to your compost bin. Do add grass clippings, fallen leaves and fruit, weeds etc.

The “right balance” is a compost bin which contains just the right amount of green waste and brown waste. That speaks for itself! If your compost looks very wet and sloppy, add some brown waste – if it seems dry, then you need some greens. Turn it regularly to keep it aerated.

Skip bin hire for garden waste

Not everyone has time to create and manage their own compost and compost isn’t suitable for larger pieces of garden waste such as tree roots and large branches. If this sounds like you, then you probably need to look at a skip bin service as an option for your garden waste.

What can you put in a skip bin?

You might be wondering if you can put excess soil into skips, or perhaps rocks and rubble. The short answer is no.

Green waste skip bins are meant only for things which your garden produces naturally – this includes the following:

• Small logs
• Bark
• Woodchips
• Grass clippings
• Shrubs
• Weeds
• Old tree roots and stumps
• Leaves
• Small branches

As a rule of thumb, it’s better not to put windfall fruit into green waste because it attracts a lot of pests and rots at a much faster rate. You can put this into your own compost bin or save space in your council bin for it.

Here’s a list of what not to put into your green skip bin.

• Bags – don’t throw full bags of green waste into the skip, put it in without the addition of plastic
• Soil
• Stones
• Rubble
• Concrete
• Sand
• Leftover liquid garden fertilizers
• Paint
• Any chemical gardening solutions

Which size skip bin should you hire?

This is something which many people find confusing if they’re new to ordering skips. A good rule of thumb to remember is how each available size is equivalent to a certain number of averagely sized wheelie bins.

Mini skips for example range in size from 2M³ to 4M³ and will hold as follows –

• 2M³ = Will hold the equivalent of 8 wheelie bins worth of waste
• 3M³ = Will hold the equivalent of 12 wheelie bins worth of waste
• 4M³ = Will hold the equivalent of 16 wheelie bins worth of waste

Once you know this rule, it’s much simpler to calculate which size skip bin to hire.

Deal with your garden waste quickly

Skip bins for geen waste are probably the most convenient and easy way to dispose of your garden waste. If you’re a busy person and don’t have time to manage multiple compost bins effectively, then ordering suitably sized skips to do the job is probably your best option.