I just use the lawnmower if soft enough weeds. Tree trunks or anything large then you would need to chop them up or shred.

If you mean a paper shredder, then I would advise against it, as you would most likely clog and break it.

Even a garden shredder will not cope with shredding up large quantities of sappy weeds as they are designed to shred the likes of bramble and raspberry canes and hedge/tree prunings.

To answer your question as its put, no I would not recommend using a shredder for soft weeds - they're designed for woody stuff such as branches, etc.

And even if you're using one to shred prunings I find it clogs constantly, takes ages and is very noisy. Horrible things, shredders. I've gone back to being very patient with the secateurs and chopping twigs up small.

We find if you do use a shredder that it works best with a mixture of twiggy and soft.

Beattie I suspect the things you want to shred are too sappy and not woody enough - B's retirement shredder eats up all sorts of things BUT it does need to be kept clean and clear :-)

I was trying to shred the prunings from hardy fuchsias (magellanica type), hebe, blackthorn, ivy, holly etc which had all grown together into an excuse for a hedge. After hours of fighting the twigs my OH uplugged the dratted thing as he couldn't stand the noise any longer, or my complaints!

Just as I suspected. Many thanks for your comments, I will go back to using 'girl power'!

Probably all too sappy Beattie. Janpled why did you want to chop up your weeds anyway?

I have a large amount of material to compost and would prefer to condense it asap to allow more room in my bins. It will also rot down more quickly.

Remember you do not want your compost to be too compacted or the air will not be able to get through it.