Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Minimize Waste to Minimize Work

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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Minimize Waste to
Minimize Work

• Frank Reilly

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Bottom Line Up-Front

• Yard waste is expensive
• Its best to avoid it Reduce
• If you cant Reuse it
• Or Recycle it

www.AdvancedMasterGardener.org
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Agenda

• Yard Waste is Fuel for Wildland Fires
• Yard Waste Wastes Land Fill Space
• Reduce Yard Waste
• Reuse Yard Waste
• Recycle Yard Waste

P A G E 3
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Yard Waste is Fuel for Wildland Fires
Virginia Fires are less dramatic
But burn on the ground and through brush
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Yard Waste is Fuel for Wildland Fires

• The reason for this program
• Dont burn yard waste
• Defensible Space
• Debris Piles
• Leaves

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Yard Waste Wastes Land Fill Space
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Yard Waste Program SummaryHanover County
Yard Waste Wastes Land Fill Space

• Spends 1,000,000.00 per year to handle and
  transport solid waste
• Receives 20,000 tons yard waste per year
• Composting and recycling yard waste saves dollars
• Helped avoid Landfill Closure!

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Agenda

• Yard Waste is Fuel for Wildland Fires
• Yard Waste Wastes Land Fill Space
• Reduce Yard Waste
• Reuse Yard Waste
• Recycle Yard Waste

P A G E 8
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Reduce Yard Waste

• Plan your Landscape
• Right Plant Right Place
• Consider Easy Maintenance
• Consider Pest Resistance
• Pest Management
• Consider Climate
• Improve the soil

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Plan your landscape appropriately
Reduce Yard Waste

• Avoid invasive and/or messy species

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Plan your landscape appropriately
Reduce Yard Waste

• Avoid invasive and/or messy species

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Right plant, right place!
Reduce Yard Waste

• Perhaps most importantly is choosing plants with
  appropriate cultural requirements
• Do plants adapted to dry climates do best in
  urban soils?

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Right plant, right place!
Reduce Yard Waste

• How Big WILL it get?

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Plan your landscape appropriately
Reduce Yard Waste

• What is the ultimate size of the plant? Even
  nursery tags and/or literature can sometimes be
  misleading
• Compact does not necessarily mean small
  Euonymus alatus

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Reduce Yard Waste

• How Long is the plant useful?

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Easy maintenance
Reduce Yard Waste

• Pruning, raking, and mowing grass can all lead to
  excess waste naturalized landscapes can help
  reduce clean up

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Climate
Reduce Yard Waste

• Zonal ratings are obvious but microclimates are
  less so there can be dramatic exposure and
  temperature variations within just a few feet
• Plan for daily changes not just seasonal

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Improve the soil!
Reduce Yard Waste

• Poor soil quality causes a high percentage of
  plant failures
• Many sites have poor soil low fertility and
  biodiversity
• Clay soils often have poor drainage. Compounded
  by compaction

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Pest Resistance
Reduce Yard Waste

• Not only can treatments be environmentally
  harmful, but sick and dead plants create LOTS of
  waste

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Pest Management
Reduce Yard Waste

• 4 tiers of IPM
• Set action thresholds
• Monitor and ID pests
• Prevention
• Control

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Pest Management
Reduce Yard Waste

• A reduction in the impact of pests can prevent
  major plant losses and reduce yard waste

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Water
Reduce Yard Waste

• We want to minimize water use but you still
  must plan for its availability or youll end up
  with dead material
• Container grown plants are often particularly
  drought sensitive

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Nutrition
Reduce Yard Waste

• Scouting is nearly as important for nutrition as
  it is for pests find the little problem before
  it gets big
• Know how to fix problem adding fertilizers may
  not be the solution

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Agenda

• Yard Waste is Fuel for Wildland Fires
• Yard Waste Wastes Land Fill Space
• Reduce Yard Waste
• Reuse Yard Waste
• Recycle Yard Waste

P A G E 24
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Reduce Yard Waste

• Make Mulch and Use it
• The right way
• GrassCycling
• Novel Re-uses

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Reduce Yard Waste

• Mulch to
• Retain soil moisture
• Control Weeds
• Prevent soil compaction prevent erosion
• Moderate soil temperature (Summer Winter)
• Reduce plant disease
• Provide crop protection
• Better appearance
• Underwear concept!

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Reduce Yard Waste
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Mulch
Reduce Yard Waste

• Mulch volumes to cover to a 1 inch depth
• 1 cubic yard covers 324 ft2
• 1 cubic foot covers 12 ft2
• Calculate yd 3 for your garden
• Area to be mulched (Feet) X Depth (inches)
• 324
• http//www.gardenplace.com/content/calculator/mulc
  h_calc.html

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Mulch Problems

• Sour Mulch
• High nitrogen in grass clippings
• Matting in leaves
• Weed seeds in compost
• Artillery fungus
• Other novel fungi
• Alleleopathy
• CN ratio deficiencies
• High alcohol de-pigmentation
• Over-mulching

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Mulch Timing
Reduce Yard Waste

• Perennial Beds Early
• Annual beds when planting or after seeds sprout
• Trees/Shrubs whenever
• Vegetable sets when planting renew
• Vegetable seeds after sprouting.

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Preparing Mulch
Reduce Yard Waste

• Chipper shredder bigger IS better
• Lawn mower
• Safety First
• Composting

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Proper Mulching
Reduce Yard Waste

• Check Soil Moisture
• Check depth
• Refresh by raking
• 2-4 inches or less
• out to drip line
• No closer than 2-4 in to trunk

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Problems with too much mulch
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GrassCycling
Reduce Yard Waste

• Leave the clippings
• Free fertilizer
• Decomposition is really fast
• Even clumps break down fast
• Mulching mower
• Sharp Blade
• Mow when dry

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Benefits of GrassCycling

• Reduce yard waste by 20 - 40 or more.
• Save time, trouble and expense of bagging or
  putting yard waste in cans
• Save gas and energy required to transport and
  process grass clippings
• Reduce the need for fertilizer by one-third
• Reduce the demand for water
• Reduce negative impact on water quality from
  erosion and pesticide application
• Provide moisture and nutrients to the soil and
  cushioning layers to reduce wear
•  Leaving grass clippings on your lawn can
  generate up to 25 of the lawn's yearly
  fertilizer needs
• Lawns stay greener and healthier when clippings
  are left on them.
• Grass clippings don't cause thatch.

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Novel Reuses
Reduce Yard Waste

• Grapevine wreaths
• Fallen wood in the landscape/pond
• Fallen wood or sapling fencing
• Planters
• Dried grasses and flowers
• Feeders

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Agenda

• Yard Waste is Fuel for Wildland Fires
• Yard Waste Wastes Land Fill Space
• Reduce Yard Waste
• Reuse Yard Waste
• Recycle Yard Waste

P A G E 38
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Composting Recycling
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Recycle Yard Waste
Composting Considerations

• Microorganisms
• Moisture
• Particle size
• Temperature
• Oxygen
• Carbon / Nitrogen Ratio

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Microorganisms
Recycle Yard Waste
Bacteria
Fungi
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Moisture
Recycle Yard Waste
50 is ideal
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Particle Size
Recycle Yard Waste
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Particle Size
Recycle Yard Waste
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Temperature Profile
Recycle Yard Waste
900 to 1400 F
Cool
Hot
Warm
Cold
Cold
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Compost Pile Dimensions
Recycle Yard Waste

• How Big?
• Maximum Size
• 5 X 5 X 5

• How Small?
• Minimum Size
• 3 X 3 X 3

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Oxygen
Recycle Yard Waste
To speed process, turn more frequently
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Carbon Nitrogen Ratio
Recycle Yard Waste
Browns vs. Greens
301 is ideal ratio
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High Carbon Sources
Recycle Yard Waste

• Leaves
• Paper

• Straw
• Sawdust

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Materials With High Carbon Value
Recycle Yard Waste
Fruit Wastes 351 Leaves 40-801 Corn
Stalks 601 Straw 801 Bark 100-1301 Paper 1701
Sawdust 5001 Wood 7001
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Compost or Mulch?
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High Nitrogen Sources
Recycle Yard Waste

• Grass Clippings
• Kitchen Scraps
• Manures

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Materials With High Nitrogen Value
Recycle Yard Waste
Food Wastes 151 Grass Clippings 201 Cow
Manure 201 Horse Manure 251
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CN Ratio How to Measure?
Recycle Yard Waste
Start with equal parts by volume
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Do Not Compost
Recycle Yard Waste

• Diseased Plants
• Plants with Seeds
• Meat
• Invasive Weeds
• Oily Food Scraps
• Dog/ Cat Manure

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Constructing A Compost Pile

• Place coarse materials in bottom of pile
• Add 4 to 6 layer of leaves
• Add high nitrogen source ( grass clippings or
  manure)
• Water the pile after each layer
• Continue steps 2, 3 4 until bin is full

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A new compost pile will be built in the center
unit of a three-pallet bin system.
Recycle Yard Waste
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The first step is to add a bed of twigs and small
branches to promote air circulation.
Recycle Yard Waste
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A layer of browns is added. Watering between
layers ensures that moisture is evenly
distributed.
Recycle Yard Waste
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Next, a layer of fresh greens is added.
Recycle Yard Waste
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Add and water another layer of browns.
Recycle Yard Waste
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Fresh greens come from flower pruning.
Recycle Yard Waste
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The browns spent the fall and winter in the
adjacent bin.
Recycle Yard Waste
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The next layer of greens is also from prunings.
Recycle Yard Waste
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A fourth layer of browns is added. The layering
process will resume when more greens are
available.
Recycle Yard Waste
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Finished compost can be improved by sifting
through a screen to remove oversized pieces.
Recycle Yard Waste
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An inclined screen uses gravity for some of the
sifting effort.
Recycle Yard Waste
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The screen is loaded with compost.
Recycle Yard Waste
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Use a square shovel to scrape the compost against
screen.
Recycle Yard Waste
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The screen is removed to reveal the sifted
compost. The rejects will be added to a fresh
pile.
Recycle Yard Waste
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Choice in Composting Bins
Recycle Yard Waste

• Home made
• Snow Fencing, Pallets,Wire, Wood Slats, Concrete
  Blocks, Etc.
• Store Bought
• Metal and Plastic Bins and Drums

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Wire Bin
Recycle Yard Waste
Eleven-foot length of 2 x 4 x 36 welded,
medium-gauge fence wire.
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Wooden Pallet Bin
Recycle Yard Waste
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Wooden Pallet Three Bin
Recycle Yard Waste
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Fasten Pallets With Old Coat Hangers
Recycle Yard Waste
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Wooden Pallets Snow Fencing
Recycle Yard Waste
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Purchased Bins
Recycle Yard Waste
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Compost Trouble Shooting
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Uses of Compost
Recycle Yard Waste

• Soil Amendment
• Potting Mix
• Lawn Establishment/renovation
• Mulch

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Benefits of Using Compost
Recycle Yard Waste

• Improves water-holding capacity of soil
• Improves soil structure
• Prevents soil crusting aiding seedling emergence
• Provides a food source for soil organisms
• Increases the fertilizer-holding ability of soil

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COMPOST HAPPENS!

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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Minimize Waste to
Minimize Work

• Questions?