Bodmin WEED it Team

30/10/2026

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30/10/2026

Cemeteries Working Group Closed to Applications

Thank you to everyone who registered an interest in being part of the Cemeteries Working Group. We now have the required number of Councillors and Bodmin residents appointed to the group.

Facilitating the group is Jack Bland (Head of Operations) with representation from Cllr. Ahearn, Cllr. Barbery and Cllr. Skea.

Should you have any questions or require further information please contact the Councillors at:

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

30/10/2026

We removed a bit of moss from this pavement that leads to the path too.

Here is the before and after.

30/10/2026

A great bit of work completed on this path this afternoon

Discovered a concrete edge that probably hasn’t seen the light of day in decades!

Full width now available to use and most of the slippery moss scraped up.

2 on time volunteers 1 late 1

1.5 hours

1 more bag filled

👍

There is more of this path for us to do at a later date.

30/10/2026

Every garden eventually has a stump that's in the way. Removing one with a shovel and axe is brutal physical work, especially if the tree was large. A slow method that feeds the rot from the inside takes almost no effort — as long as the stump is dead.

What you need: a drill with a ⅝ to ¾ inch spade or auger bit, potassium nitrate stump remover (sold at US garden centers under several brand names including Spectracide Stump Remover), and patience.

1. Drill deep holes. Make 8-10 holes across the top of the stump, 6-8 inches deep, spaced as far apart as possible. On a large stump, drill additional angled holes into the sides so the compound reaches deeper into the wood.

2. Fill with potassium nitrate. Pour the granular stump remover into each hole. Potassium nitrate is a nitrogen fertilizer; the nitrogen feeds the fungi and bacteria that break down wood, nudging along a process that naturally takes years. Plain high-nitrogen lawn fertilizer does roughly the same job. Many stump-remover labels then tell you to burn the stump once it's porous — that's prohibited or needs a permit in many towns, and the no-burn route works, just slowly. Wear gloves and keep the granules away from heat; potassium nitrate is an oxidizer.

3. Add water. Pour water into each hole to dissolve the granules and help them pe*****te. Repeat every 2-3 weeks for the first few months.

4. Cover and wait. Cover the stump with black plastic sheeting to hold moisture and warmth, which accelerate decomposition. Weigh the edges down with stones or soil.

An honest note on timing: this is not fast. A fresh hardwood stump (oak, ash, walnut) can take 6-12 months or more to soften enough to break apart with an axe or mattock. An old stump already beginning to rot moves faster, 3-6 months. Any method that promises weeks is overstating what chemistry can do. The real advantage is minimal physical effort, not speed.

The Epsom salt version circulating online rests on the idea that magnesium sulfate dries the wood from the inside; there's little evidence it does more than the water you pour in with it. Don't count on it.

Don't remove it at all: hollow out the center with a chisel, fill with potting mix and compost, and plant flowers, herbs, or succulents. A stump planter is more attractive than a hole and decomposes on its own over the years.

One correction to the chart's caution: potassium nitrate is a fertilizer, so it won't hurt a neighboring tree. The real issue is a living stump. If it's still producing green shoots, it's alive and won't rot, no matter what you pour in. The usual fix is a herbicide painted on a fresh cut, and that is where the neighbor warning belongs: roots of the same species often graft together underground, and herbicide applied to one stump can travel into a tree you want to keep. Near a tree you value, cut the sprouts off every time they appear until the stump starves instead.

30/10/2026

Untreated pruning wood buried beneath a garden bed acts as an invisible underground water reservoir — a technique known as hugelkultur, popularized by German and Austrian permaculture growers.

The method: dig a trench deep enough to fully bury branches and small logs. Place the untreated, unpainted wood in the trench and water it thoroughly before covering with soil. The wood begins absorbing that water immediately and continues to do so with rainfall over the following seasons.

What happens underground: decomposer fungi colonize the wood and gradually break it down, while earthworms work through the softening material. Over the following months and years, plant roots — tomatoes, squash, kale, and other heavy feeders do particularly well — grow into this loose, moisture-retentive layer. In dry spells, the buried wood acts as a slow-release reservoir that plant roots can draw from independently of rainfall. One first-year caveat: fresh wood ties up some nitrogen as it starts to rot, so layer grass clippings, manure, or compost over it, or use wood that's already partly decayed.

Practical notes worth knowing: keep the bed away from house foundations, fences, and any wooden structures — buried damp wood can attract termites, which is a genuine concern across much of the US Gulf Coast, Southeast, and Southwest. Wear gloves when handling, and check wood before burying. Avoid creating standing water in the trench that isn't covered — stagnant water is a mosquito breeding site.

Use pruning wood from your own garden or sustainably sourced branches from established trees. Don't use wood from diseased trees, black walnut (its juglone suppresses tomatoes and many other crops), or invasive species like tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), and don't collect from forests or natural areas.

Fall is the right window to build one — fresh pruning material is available, and the wood has all winter to begin absorbing moisture before spring planting.

27/10/2026

Before scraping moss off a wall, a pot, or a patio, consider what it's actually doing there.

Moss isn't dirt. It's a plant with no true roots that absorbs water and nutrients directly from the air and the surface it grows on. It grows where almost nothing else can: on stone, bark, tile, and in permanent shade. It doesn't damage intact stone, doesn't pe*****te sound mortar joints, and doesn't compete with other plants for soil.

What it does: retains moisture like a sponge, slows stormwater runoff, buffers temperature swings on the surfaces it covers, and provides microhabitat for mites, springtails, tardigrades, and other tiny invertebrates that are the base of the food web in a healthy garden ecosystem.

One thing worth correcting, since the claim circulates constantly: moss does not absorb more CO2 than trees. Sphagnum peat moss accumulates carbon in peatlands over centuries, which is significant at landscape scale. A patch of moss on a garden wall captures no more carbon than the shrub next to it. Its real value is local and specific: moisture regulation, thermal buffering, and microhabitat in the square inches it occupies.

In the US, moss is naturally dominant on stone walls and building surfaces in the Pacific Northwest, the Appalachians, and the moist Northeast — the same regions where the damp stone-wall look develops without anyone planning for it. In drier regions it colonizes the north-facing sides of walls, pavement joints in permanent shade, and the base of tree trunks where nothing else settles.

Two places it does come off: a slippery walking surface, and a shingle roof, where the water it holds shortens the life of the shingles. On a wall, an old pot, or a tree base — leave it. It's doing more than it looks like.

26/10/2026

Mission aborted tonight.

It was just too dark!

But 30 minutes and 4 sacks of leaves with only 2 volunteers aint bad.

Possibly returning tomorrow afternoon if anyone fancies it?

26/10/2026

W**d it extra!

We spotted a tree branch that needed removal

Could have reported it to council but decided quicker to do it ourselves

👍

26/10/2026

Who fancies a raffle? 😍

£70 voucher for VIRAJ in Bodmin! Our local Indian ❤️

1-100
£2 a number

Payments details will be added once game is full.
we will draw as soon as game is full.

Numbers in the comments!