Garden compost is a great way to recycle your organic waste and will save you the cost of buying compost from a garden centre. It is very simple to make garden compost yourself; you basically need a compost bin and to remember to put your kitchen and garden waste in it! Make sure some air gets to the waste and, hey presto, lovely, nutrient rich compost for your garden!
To get it right and to make sure that your garden compost is good quality there are a couple of things to remember. Firstly, your compost bin should be on a bare soil to allow microbes and small creatures to enter in order to break down the organic material. For information on different compost bins visit the relevant page on our site. And remember that you could also make you own bin.
Secondly, you will need a good mix of waste to make decent compost. Basically, you need to include a selection of ‘browns’ and ‘greens’. ‘Browns’ include dried flowers, woody stems and cardboard which are rich in carbon. ‘Greens’ include fresh grass cuttings and kitchen waste which are rich in nitrogen. For more details on what to include (and what not to include) visit our home composting page.
The other factors to consider are as follows:
- The composting material should be moist but not wet.
- The items should not be too big, so chop up garden waste if necessary.
- Add air to the mixture regularly using a garden fork or by adding more scrunched up paper and cardboard.
- To speed up the process add a handful of garden soil, ready-made compost or an accelerator such as young nettles.
- The finished compost should look like dark soil with a sweet, earthy smell and it will be ready in 6-24 months.
