Home Composting

Do your bit to reduce pollution and landfill and benefit your garden and your pocket

What is Compost?

Compost is a mixture of organic materials which decay into a dark soil-like mass, also called hummus.

Why Compost?

To make a soil improver for your garden that’s completely free.

To reduce pollution - organic waste when buried in the ground (landfilled) releases methane gas and polluting liquids.

To use an alternative to peat based products which damage fragile environments and their plants and animals.

How does it feed the soil?

Compost contains minerals that plants need for optimum growth such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Compost increases the soil fertility, it provides soil organisms with the right nutrients which are then passed onto the plant.

What can I do with it?

There are plenty of uses for your finished compost, regardless of your experience or what kind of garden you have. You will know the compost is ready when you can no longer recognise the original ingredients.  It should be dark brown and have a sweet earthy smell.  Dig it into soil when preparing new beds to give your garden a boost!  It will add nutrients and increase fertility. Use it as mulch around plants in the spring to help suppress weed growth and as a general fertiliser throughout the year.

Use it in potting recipes mixed with different quantities of such things as soil, sand, leaf mould or worm compost!

If there are still bits of your mixture that have not decayed, don’t despair!  Just pop them back in the composter, they will rot down eventually!

What will I need to get going?

Choose somewhere to put a compost bin- on bare soil, not concrete.  You should be able to get at it easily.

Buy a compost bin, or make one yourself.  It’s better if there are no gaps in the sides, and it should have a lid or cover.

Buying a bin

If you’d like to buy a compost bin, there are lots on the market and they vary in size, style and price.  When looking for a bin just ask yourself whether it is big enough – it should be at least 200 to 300 litres.  It should also have a lid to keep out the rain. Finally,  it shouldn’t be so flimsy that it blows away in the wind!  Apart from these features, pick the one that you like the look of and that also suits your pocket!

In January 2007 the city council entered into a new partnership arrangement with WRAP (Wastes & Resources Action Programme) which is a government funded organisation.  Customers will be able to purchase compost bins at very competitive prices.  These can be purchased via their website recyclenow.com/compost or by post from:

WRAP (Staffordshire & Stoke)Campaign
Freepost LS6334
Leeds
LS14 1YY

Building a bin

You can make a compost bin out of an old dustbin, old wood or just wire mesh on a wooden frame and lined with old carpet.

Wire mesh with cardboard /carpet– cheap and easy to make.  Drive four posts into the ground, then staple wire to them.  Make it easy to open one side for access. Line with cardboard cartons and top with a square of carpet or plastic sack. You will need to make frames around 75cm to 1m square, with enough frames to stack up to one metre.  Keep the rain out with a wooden lid or square of old carpet or polythene.

Old dustbin - Cut the bottom out of a large, plastic dustbin: turn it upside down and replace the lid

Sectional wooden bin - Sections are stacked up, or removed as required.  Individual sections can be made out of different widths of wood.

Follow the link to instructions on how to make a sectional wooden composter.

How do I make compost?

You can make compost simply by adding compostable items to a compost heap when you feel like it. It will all rot eventually but may take a long time, may not produce a very pleasant end product, and could smell.  There’s lots that can go in, but some things that shouldn’t.  Follow the link to see a list of things you should and should not put in your composter.