Burning garden weeds etc

cena

Can I start a fire in the back garden. I have weeds that have over grown over 4 years and made a pile.

Could I burn them in the back garden

tphase

as long as it's actual garden waste (hedge clippings etc) I think it's still allowed

Call the cops in advance to advise you'll be carrying out a controlled burn of garden waste. Otherwise you risk being hit with a call out charge for the fire brigade if someone reports a fire. This is advice I got from a member of the local fire brigade about 5 or 6 years ago when I was clearing the ould fellas garden after he died.

If it's a big pile, consider breaking up in to smaller piles you can easily control. You really don't want it getting out of hand...

If it's mainly greenery, it will break down fairly quickly so alternatively you could make a compost pile.

TheTeainEMT

Simply

No. Its illegal as per Waste Management (Prohibition of Waste Disposal by Burning) Regulations 2009 (SI No. 286 of 2009) according to http://www.epa.ie/waste/householder/burn/

A call to the guards will do nothing to stop the fire brigade being mobilised if someone calls 999. The call will go to regional fire control and they'll mobilise a crew and the guards will know nothing about it.

If they arrive you'll get a nice bill for the pleasure... doesn't matter who calls it you'll be the person to whom services are rendered


Some prescribed burns are allowed but theres a detailed certifying process beforehand during which the council will inspect it and issue a permit (Im sure with an invoice attached) when youre about to burn youve to ring regional fire control on a specific number to say you're starting... but if the coucil hasnt sent the permit in you mightnt be allowed start. Also you must be on scene for the duration of the burn because if someone calls it in fire control will ring you to make sure its actually your fire and not a neighbour's house etc

If you dont answer then a crew is mobilised as normal


Better off paying the few quid for a reputable company to dispose of it for ya

RiderOnTheStorm

tphase wrote:

as long as it's actual garden waste (hedge clippings etc) I think it's still allowed

+1 . I dont think back yard burning of "waste" as per the EPA in other post applies to garden cuttings. You can burn wood in your fireplace inside your house, so why not in your yard?

cena

This is what the garden looked like. It is piled up

IMG_20180830_114420_1024x768.jpg

New Home

Unless they're an invasive species, I'd suggest hiring a shredder and turning them to mulching/composting material.

tphase

RiderOnTheStorm wrote: »

+1 . I dont think back yard burning of "waste" as per the EPA in other post applies to garden cuttings. You can burn wood in your fireplace inside your house, so why not in your yard?

the cartoon on the EPA page suggests that burning garden clippings is prohibited however section 5 of the regulation permits such burning subject to jumping through some hoops with the local council, as TheTeainEMTalready pointed out. This provision came into force on Jan 1, 2014 so the advice I got was probably correct at the time



OP, in that garden I wouldn't be lighting any big fires. It looks a bit tight and I'd guess is in a built up area. No matter which way the wind blows, you'd probably piss someone off. Shred/compost as much as you can. Any large woody bits can go in the stove

magicbastarder

as above - no way should you burn garden waste in what is obviously a suburban area. whatever the law says, that's incredibly antisocial.

burning garden waste is nothing like having a barbecue - the waste will be damp, and thus very smoky (the moisture will keep the temps low so it won't be an efficient burn).

it was not garden waste being burned, but i did call the fire brigade on someone burning refuse in their back garden less than a year ago.

cena

Ya it is a built up area in Dublin. I don't own the house put helping a family friend that lives in states. The area through the kitchen and hall is very narrow.

I was thinking of hiring a shedder and putting it into a skip.

dathi

RiderOnTheStorm wrote: »

+1 . I dont think back yard burning of "waste" as per the EPA in other post applies to garden cuttings. You can burn wood in your fireplace inside your house, so why not in your yard?

Permissible disposal of waste by burning
5. (1) Without prejudice to any other enactment or rule of law, Regulation 4
shall not apply when the following conditions are fulfilled—
(a) the burning of waste relates solely to material consisting of uncontaminated
(free of dangerous substances, preservatives or other artificial
impregnation or coating) wood, trees, tree trimmings, leaves, brush,
or other similar waste generated by agricultural practices, but excluding
garden and park wastes

that is taken from the SI. 286 (the actual law) the EPA was referring to and as you can see it excludes garden and park waste

Discodog

I was told by Galway County Council that you can burn green waste but you have to get authority first.

But burning that, in a suburban area, will result in the Guards, Fire brigade & a big bill.

Get a quote for a private, licensed waste remover.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

It's quite an simple answer. No, you cannot burn garden waste.

Hocus Focus

Three possible solutions;
hire a shredder, pile the resultant material in a corner and then start a compost heap adjacent to it, mixing it with kitchen (uncooked) vegetable waste, grass cuttings etc. You can make a compost bin with four pallets tied together at the corners.
Use it as a mulch to suppress weeds around plants, shrubs, hedging etc.
If your local authority takes green waste you could bag it up and bring it there.

TheTeainEMT

Mulch.ie do a good collection service

antietam1

cena wrote: »

Ya it is a built up area in Dublin. I don't own the house put helping a family friend that lives in states. The area through the kitchen and hall is very narrow.

I was thinking of hiring a shedder and putting it into a skip.

Buy a shredder, even the cheapest are useful.
Do a bit of composting as well.
15€ per car load at Ballymount re-cycling.

looksee

A shredder, especially a cheaper one, will not chop leafy stuff, and tangles of brambles or heaps of weedy stuff will be impossible to get into the feed - you have to feed in an end of branch. They are great for the right purpose but you need to be mincing branchy stuff rather than weeds and brambles.

antietam1

looksee wrote: »

A shredder, especially a cheaper one, will not chop leafy stuff, and tangles of brambles or heaps of weedy stuff will be impossible to get into the feed - you have to feed in an end of branch. They are great for the right purpose but you need to be mincing branchy stuff rather than weeds and brambles.

Maybe there are shredders you are unfamiliar with, not ideal but my flymo will munch anything as it does not have blades.

looksee

Fair enough, the one I had would eat branches no hassle, but if it got a lot of leafy stuff it would clog up, and while it would take in a fairly substantial (wide and bushy) twiggy branch fed in from the stem end, it would not take 'middles of bundles' of stuff.

Lumen

I have the best-reviewed electric shredder I could find, the Bosch AXT 25 TC, and my experience is similar to looksee's.

It will munch through straight-ish leafy branches no problem, but dealing with tangles of stuff turns into an all-day ordeal.

Discodog

Lumen wrote: »

I have the best-reviewed electric shredder I could find, the Bosch AXT 25 TC, and my experience is similar to looksee's.

It will munch through straight-ish leafy branches no problem, but dealing with tangles of stuff turns into an all-day ordeal.

I agree. I have tried a few. The quiet type that use a drum crusher clog really easily & are very slow. I know of two Bosch that burnt out their motors.

magicbastarder

i bought B&Qs cheapo turbine cutter - like a cheap version of the bosch mentioned above. wish i had it when i was shredding the leylandii several years ago, the shredder i'd borrowed at the time clogged on the greenery in the leylandii too easily (not sure of the exact terminology, but it used a spinning disc with raised blades); that sort of work i think would suit the turbine style better as leylandii branches tend to be straighter than from a lot of other bushes.

Hocus Focus

antietam1 wrote: »

Buy a shredder, even the cheapest are useful.
Do a bit of composting as well.
15€ per car load at Ballymount re-cycling.

Lidl has one on offer this week.

Lumen

Here's a video of my shredder from a while back. It's gripping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWk9QjyFOIc

antietam1

Sorry guys never meant to suggest a shredder would be easy to use, I am retired and I have all day and all week to do this.
But still make use of Ballymount recycling.