Hi all,
We just chop down a big amount of lilies that were growing under our deck and invading the pathway.
We put them next to our existing compost pile, and we pretty much doubled the size of the whole thing (about 1.5m x 1.5m x 1.5m of lilies). The thing is, this second pile, is only lilies. Leafs and roots all chopped and mixed together.
So our question is: will they compost by them selves? or we need to mix them up?
Cheers
Replies
You can definitely compost them by themselves. The problem is that it will depend on what you mean by a lily. Do they have bulbs? If they do they will be harder to compost.
I know that they are not called lilies but to compost agapanthus and calla lillies, I have put them into black plastic bags. Not quite the quantity that you have, but it still took ten full rubbish sacks. I then put them away under a hedge. Later about Eighteen months I went and got under the hedge and pulled all the bags out of the compost. I did have one bag burst so I dug the weedy looking plants out and put them in another bag.
The main problem with bulbs is the bulb. Some people use them to make compost tea in a barrel. I do the same with wandering Jew and onion weed. You could do this slowly by adding them a little at a time. I have tried to use a hot compost to kill these things. It can be hard to get it your compost perfect so that you kill the bulbs/roots. The smaller the size of the particles the more chance you have of heating them all the way through and killing them.
Thanks peter, here is a pic of my 'lilies'