I am as anti chemical as anyone, but there comes a point when hand pulling just won't work. I have a large wooded/wetland area behind my property that backs up to the interstate. So, it doesn't belong to anyone, really. Well, there are probably over 20 acres of untended land, and there are patches of garlic mustard scattered throughout the entire area. I tried to pull some of the patches closest to my yard, but after six hours on each of three Saturdays, I still had another three Saturdays' worth just in view of my house. I have better things to do with every Saturday in May for the next countless years than pull garlic mustard. I bought myself a pump sprayer of glyphosate and attacked my Lily of thr Valley. The speed with which I can treat a large bed, and know the roots are dead, is truly liberating. I can now look into the future and see newly planted native flowers and understory trees and shrubs instead of growing beds of garlic mustard. Martha

Why are you calling this stuff "hazardous Waste"? I have to admit I don't really know what garlic mustard is. It sounds to me like you are searching for the quickest way to compost it down. It also sounds like you found the open air piles to be quickest but are concerned about the seeds being exposed to light and able to germinate. I would suggest you stick with the open air pile and cover over it with some sort of mulch material to shade those seeds. Something like leaves, wood chips, or straw might be good. It also sounds like you may need a little more moisture. Compost needs only be as damp as a wrung out sponge. Other options for bins that may work much better for you would be a circle of wire fencing or hardware cloth. That lets air and moisture in while keeping things contained. Make sure to line the sides and top of your pile with mulch material to cover those seeds you don't want germinating. Don't discount hot compost all together. It doesn't have to require constant turning or much special attention. It really just requires a good balance of Nitrogen and carbon material along with the right amount of air/moisture. It doesn't not have to be turned unless the components were not mixed to begin with. Turning really just speeds up the process but a continuous pile can be quite hot in the active area and what is below is just aging as nature intended. I have never turned compost (other than the slight mixing that happens when you add to a bin or the turning that happens when you empty a bin to apply to the garden.) Here is a link that might be useful: My Bins

As far as I know, Garlic Mustard spreads mainly by seeds dropping a relatively short distance from the plant that prodcued them. Occasionally seeds are carried on boots, by water, or similar means, but that is a relatively small amount of seeds. Large infestations come only from seeds growns very nearby. So, once you stop the plants in your woods from setting seeds, you will eventually stop having lots of plants to pull and finding something to out compete them won't be such a big concern. I don't think there is any woodland plant that can outcompete garlic mustard when there are millions of seeds in the ground waiting to sprout. Any healthy woodland floor plant community can temporarily compete with Garlic Mustard when only a few plants are present, but physical disturbance or the presence of tons of seed is too much for most communities and the Garlic Mustard takes over.

I pull this stuff out of my garden beds but I have given up trying to control the forest and roads. It would just stress me out too much. Same goes for dandelion and some other weeds. I've made peace with them. You just sometimes can't control Mother Nature. I learned to enjoy the flowers out there and soon they are gone for the summer. Bye Bye...see you next year! Some years are better (or worse) than others. The only thing I actually go out and kill is poison ivy, but only where I walk or on my property. I have enough stress with what goes on in my garden! lol.