Destroying debris from invasives the Norfolk way

By Jill Chase and Bill Ticineto

Removing invasive plants from your yard is a great step toward stopping their spread into our surrounding woodlands. Just as important is what to do with the debris. Many invasive plants have aggressive methods of reproduction. Seeds can stay viable for years or bits of root can regenerate whole new plants. In order to make sure you’re breaking the cycle of growth, you need to have a plan of what to do before you start.

One method is composting, which can work as long as the temperature of the compost gets to 140° – otherwise you’ll be spreading the seeds into a healthy bed of mulch.

One sure and approved method is burning, and the Norfolk Transfer Station will do that for you for free. Residents of Norfolk do not need a transfer pass to bring invasive waste debris to the brush pile for burning. There are some rules, though. Branches or woody material greater than three inches in diameter is not allowed and the debris cannot be contained in bags.

There is an efficient method of getting invasive debris to the burn pile. Simply start by placing a tarp in the back of your car, SUV or truck and fill it up. Be careful that no debris goes flying out on your drive to the transfer station.  When you arrive at the transfer station, stop at the gate and say hi to Jimmy, then proceed to the brush pile and back your vehicle up to the burn pile. Once there, simply pull the tarp and flip it onto the burn pile. Done.  

The transfer station does not condone placing bags of plant debris into the solid waste dumpsters because that increases the town’s cost of disposal. 

There are arguments against burning because it adds carbon to the atmosphere. The argument can be made, though, that the carbon is offset by the benefit of the removal of invasive plants and the replanting with natives – not to mention the social interaction of a trip to the Norfolk Transfer Station. There is no data to back that up, but it sounds good.