Making great compost5 June 2013
There are many tips for making great compost, writes Bob Sherman, but first you need to start with your bin.
Bins come in a bewildering array of shapes and sizes. For a good selection try the Recycle Works and Link-a-Bord.
Local authorities often offer plastic bins at a discount to encourage home composting.
You can on the other hand make your own bin. Remember bins need solid sides and a lid to retain heat and prevent them drying out.
Once you've got your bin sorted, the following tips should help you make great compost.
Site your compost heap ideally in dappled shade where it will be sheltered from wind, rain and sun.
To keep out rats place the bins on slabs with just a tiny gap between them to allow worms in and excess liquid out. Wrap chicken wire round the base to stop rats chewing through.
Aim for three bins - one for filling, one for maturing and one that's being emptied.
Plant material rots with or without heat but a hot bin produces useable compost more quickly. Without oxygen a heap cannot warm up, so to get a hotter compost, turn over the compost with a garden fork. Alternatively turn the heap into another bin when it starts to cool.
If you can, add plenty of material at one go rather than in dribs and drabs.
For fastest results chop the feed material into small pieces and smash thick stems.
If your heap is dry and hasn't rotted much it means you need to add more soft, sappy material (young weeds, grass mowings, fruit and vegetable peelings). If the opposite is true, stir in chipped prunings, shredded paper and other more fibrous material.
If you use weedkillers or insecticides, consider replacing this with organic methods. For example, some of the most popular weedkillers for lawn weeds contain clopyralid. This is highly persistent meaning contaminated lawn mowings can pass through the heap and make your compost poisonous to plants for two or three years.
Apply compost any time between February and October and work it just under the surface. One wheelbarrow load to 5 sq metres is plenty.
Bob Sherman is head of horticulture at Garden Organic www.gardenorganic.com
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