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bebilja
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 24
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jamsam
Joined: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 2560
Location: erm....i dont know, its dark.
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oldish chris
Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 4148
Location: Comfortably Wet Southport
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 Posted: Sat May 12, 07 9:01 pm Post subject: |
 
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I work in a nursery, we grow and sell hundreds of laurels, never done me any harm. Loads of plants are poisonous, e.g. rhubarb, potato, beans (especially dark skinned cultivars of Phaseolus vulgaris such as the kidney Bean). If you are that worried about plant toxins, stick to eating meat.
I compost laurels, bung then through a shredder, mix with grass clippings, piss on them occasionally and wait 18 months. |
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Home on the Hill
Joined: 06 Feb 2005
Posts: 313
Location: Warwickshire
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dornadair
Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 63
Location: left a bit
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45451
Location: Essex
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oldish chris
Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 4148
Location: Comfortably Wet Southport
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| Posted: Sun May 13, 07 7:58 pm Post subject: |
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There are some curious "reputations" regarding toxic plants. The common laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) aka "Cherry Laurel" is allegedly full of cyanide, I understand that quite a few plants contain this poison, presummably to deter insects. I've never come across anyone working with the plant suffering any problem at all. I can't imagine the typical shredder pulverising it to such a large quantity of dust that you have to do it in the middle of a windswept field (the noise is another matter however!). There are many plants in your garden that are more toxic: ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) is an example - but only a few horse owners seem to be aware of the problem, everybody else simply pulls it up and composts it without ill affects.
Lots of people refuse to have Laburnam in their gardens because of the poisonous seeds. Most of this plant's family (Papillionaceae) have poisonous seeds, e.g. Lupin, Sweet Pea, Kindey Bean to name but few. I've never come across a parent refusing to have dried beans in the house because a toddler might eat them! You've probably weeded and composted the fairly common native plant Black Nightshade (Solanum nigrum) without knowing it, blissfully unaware of the nasty alkaloid in the stems, leaves and fruits - again, more toxic than laurel.
The moral of the story: unless you are sure that it is edible, don't eat it. If it isn't edible, compost it. I only know of one genus of plants that should be treated with caution - the Euphorbia or "spurges" - which have with a caustic, poisonous milky sap (it irritates my wife quite severely - far more than my "jokes" do!)
Toxic Plants? Unrotted compost!
On the subject of toxins, there is a quantity of Ethyl Alcohol round here somewhere.... |
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45451
Location: Essex
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Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
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dougal
Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent
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oldish chris
Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 4148
Location: Comfortably Wet Southport
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oldish chris
Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 4148
Location: Comfortably Wet Southport
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| Posted: Tue May 15, 07 9:11 pm Post subject: |
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| dougal wrote: |
Clarification please!
Shredding laurel (Portuguese?).
Chris says he composts laurels *then* shreds it.
The whippy 'green' cuttings are a right pain to shred. (The shredder loves things that are more brittle; maybe it needs sharpening.)
Is there any significant hazard from inhaling any dust produced when trying to shred first (so it rots faster), or is: rot the leaves off, extract the twigs, shred and re-rot, the way to go both for health and ease of shredding?
Almond/marzipan smell is classic Agatha Christie cyanide... |
Sorry - its called "random access memory". I think the following is in the correct sequence:
I shred them first. My shredder is about 20 years old and also has problems with whippy bits, so some shreddings are a bit long! [Never mind!] The latest load of evergreen leaves. provided last November by a professional gardener, contained some small fragments of concrete path so I couldn't shred them. I was given about 2 cubic yards of old leaves, mainly the common laurel - Prunus laurocerasus. By February the load had shrunk enough to be transfered to a [quick calculation] 12 cu ft compost bin (which is just the right height for the direct addition of urea). If anyone is really interested I could take photos so that you can see how the composting is progressing.
I'm sceptical about a dust problem - I would have thought that the material needed to be very dry for this to happen. However - it is sensible to avoid breathing any kind of dust. As for the almond smell - I'm one of the 10% of the population who cannot detect the smell of cyanide!
I am assuming that all other broad leaved evergreens (e.g. the Portugal laurel - Prunus lusitanica, Privet and even holly (nasty vicious stuff) can be treated the same.
I also compost wood shavings: I use the stuff as a potting compost for greenhouse tomatoes.
I work on the assumption that if it is organic, it can be composted. Purists will mix materials according to their respective Carbon:Nitrogen ratios. (Budding purists please note - I have some tables of C:N ratios in an old book written by Lawrence Hills - if you're interested.)
I draw the line at leylandii clippings - that goes to the council recycling centre! |
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dougal
Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent
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