Once you throw garden waste like grass cuttings in the dustbin, energy is used taking it to the local landfill, where it then slowly rots down releasing more harmful greenhouse gases in the process.
Instead of throwing garden waste away, why not make your own garden compost instead of having to buy it? There’s nothing better for your plants and it won’t cost you anything.
Getting started:
All composting requires three basic ingredients:
- ‘Browns’— carbon rich materials such as dead leaves, small branches(shredded), and twigs
- ‘Greens’ tend to be quick to rot, fresh, nitrogen rich materials such as grass clippings, vegetable waste, fruit scraps and some weeds (not pernicious weeds)
- Moisture
Ideally, your compost pile should have an equal volume of browns to greens
- Choose a dry, shady spot for your compost pile or bin that is sunny or semi shaded and sited away from any watercourses
- Fork over the ground surface to improve drainage and make it easier for worms and other micro-organisms to move up into your heap
- Make sure any larger pieces of composting material are chopped or shredded before they are added to the heap
- Cover the base of your composting area with a 20cm layer of brown twiggy materials to aid drainage
- Add a 5-10cm layer of green materials and a little soil or finished compost to start the decomposition process
- Top with a 3-inch layer of brown materials, adding a little water until moist if needed
- Keep adding alternate layers of green and brown materials as you collect them
Your compost should be ready in two months, to a year depending depending on the types and quantity of materials used and the temperatures achieved in your heap.
When it is ready, finished compost should be dark brown, fairly dry and crumbly and should bear no resemblance to the original components. It should smell earthy like damp soil.
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What to compost
- You can compost garden waste like grass cuttings (i.e. to which no weed or moss killers or synthetic fertilisers have been recently applied), wood ash, most weeds (avoid perennial weeds with deep tap roots), non-woody prunings, spent bedding and vegetable plants (pest/disease free) as well as kitchen fruit & vegetable waste
- Give the compost body by adding cardboard such as shredded toilet roll tubes and egg cartons, used tea bags and crushed egg shells
- If you keep chickens, or vegetarian pets like rabbits or guinea pigs, add their bedding and droppings to your heap
- You can even compost hair – from your family or your pets!
What not to compost
- Diseased or pest infested plant material -you may re-introduce these into your garden when using the compost
- Perennial weeds such as bindweed, couch grass or dandelions
- Dog faeces or cat litter
- Cooked food, meat, fish or dairy products – these may smell and/or attract rodents
- Used tissues or nappies – these may contain pathogens which are not destroyed by the composting process
- Coal ash
- Glossy magazines
- Metal, glass or plastic
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Our top tips for great composting
- How does your compost look? Black and sludgy? Too dry? Is it a bit smelly? The best compost contains an equal mix of woody and green material and is 50 per cent moist. You can add shredded paper, straw, sawdust or dry leaves if you don't have enough wood for your heap
- Turning at least twice will add oxygen to the heap and speed up the compost
- When the time finally comes to use your home-made compost, first take off the top-most layer and keep this to use to start off your new heap – this layer will be full of worms and other beneficial micro-organisms to kick start your next batch of compost
- Adding a layer of an activator such as rotted manure every 30cm will speed up decomposition and enrich the resulting compost
- Keep your heap cosy. Covering with an insulating material will raise the temperature inside the heap and speed up the process
- Autumn leaves can be composted separately to make beneficial leaf mould - an excellent soil conditioner and component for your own home made potting compost
- If you are limited for space why not start a wormery to transform uncooked food** and paper waste into rich plant food? (**but not meat or fish or dairy products, or citrus)
Using your compost
As soil improver. Compost helps improve drainage on heavy clay soils. By contrast, on light, poor soils adding compost helps retain moisture and nutrients.
As a plant food. Compost is packed with nutrients to help plants thrive. Use one barrow of compost to every five square metres of soil as a top dressing.
As a mulch. Add a 10cm layer of compost to reduce evaporation and suppress weeds.
As a growing media. Mix with other materials like sieved soil, sharp sand and bark-chips to make your own potting compost.
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