Composting

The key to a good compost lies in getting the mix right, you need a good balance of "greens" and "browns" and keep certain items out. If your compost is too wet add more browns, if it is to dry add more greens. Air is also essential to the process so give it a good stir to create air pockets.

Greens (high in nitrogen):

• grass cuttings
• tea bags
• vegetable peelings
• salad leaves
• fruit scraps
• old flowers
• nettles
• coffee grounds and filter paper
• old bedding plants
• horse manure

Browns (high in carbon):

• crushed eggshells
• egg boxes
• corrugated cardboard
• garden prunings
• twigs and hedge clippings
• straw and hay
• sawdust
• wool
• feathers
• shredded paper
• ash from wood, paper and lumpwood charcoal

Keep these out:

• cooked vegetables
• meat
• dairy products
• diseased plants
• dog poo, cat litter, or baby's nappies

The composting process can take up to 18 months to be ready to use in your garden.

Compost is full of nutrients and has many benefits, these include: 

• helping to improve your soil structure
• maintaining moisture levels
• managing your soil’s PH balance
• it also includes nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus to help your plants and flowers

It can be used:

• on flower beds
• as mulch (unfinished compost mixed with soil)
• around trees
• in pots and containers
• for growing herbs and vegetables
• on your lawn

Many companies now promote their products as “compostable” or “biodegradable” but it is important to know the difference. While biodegradable materials are designed to break down within landfills, compostable materials need special conditions to do so.

Look out for these logos: 

Products with this logo can be put into a home compost bin:

However, this logo indicates the product will need to go into an industrial composting facility. They will not rot down in a home compost bin:

You cannot put the following into your home compost bin:

• “Compostable” carrier bags such as those given out by the Co-Op and Waitrose
• “Compostable” magazine wrappers like those now being used by National Trust
• “Compostable” coffee cups
• Vegware, a brand of compostable food containers, unsuitable for home composting
• “Compostable” straws, unless they are made of paper

If in doubt, please leave it out.

Good compost is soft, crumbly, brown, moist but not wet, and smells sweetly of earth. 

Bad compost is a thick, matted, wet, slimy mess, often black in colour and usually very smelly.

To rescue your compost:

• empty the bin and relocate to a warm sunny spot
• mix the existing compost to break it up
• gather ‘brown’ material and refill, adding equal amounts of ‘brown stuff’ to the old compost
• regularly take old compost from the bottom of the bin and put it onto the top, mixing to add air
• use ‘compost accelerator’ powder or horse manure to speed up the process

As the process takes hold, lots of microbes, fungi and moulds will thrive. Please be careful not to breathe in the spores that come from the compost. In very rare cases they can lead to lung problems.

Did you know that fallen leaves can be used to improve your garden?

Try packing damp leaves into plastic bags with a few breathing holes. Leave out of the way and watch your waste turn in to leafmold.

After a year or so, leafmould will be crumbly in the hand and can be used as mulch around shrubs, dug in to improve soil or for dressing lawns in autumn.

There are lots of different ways to compost, follow the links below to learn more about each and start your composting journey:

• Compost bin - Get Composting
• Bokashi - The Complete Guide to Bokashi Compost
• Green cone - Green Cone Food Waste Digester
• Green Johanna - Green Johanna 330L Litre Hot Compost Bin
• HOTBIN - HOTBIN Composting
• Wormeries - Bubble House Worms