To compost or not to compost

Hi,

I'm in the process of undertaking a major clear-up operation in our long-neglected back garden - this involves a lot of weeding, a lot of removing of moss cover, and a lot of cutting back of tree and bush foliage and bracken.

We have one of those dalek-style compost bins, into which all the organic household waste goes and seems to do the job.

My question is what else, if anything, from the garden can we add to the compost mix? Or what else can we do with the other waste.

At present, I have formed:

one fast-growing pile of leaves and ferns and small branches.

A woodpile

A where the raked dead grass/weeds stacking up and being left to dry.

What, if any, are the most constructive uses of these in terms of recycling as compost or mulch etc.

Thanks for any tips!

Dan

 

Hi Dan,


Big pile then is it? I had the same when I first moved into my home. Fortunately I had the room and created my own mini landfill-there wasn't a chance it would all have fit into my compost, now five years later everything that is there does seem to do extremely well.

How about hiring a shredder-this will reduce the bulkiness, and they are great things to play with aswell. I have a old beat up lawnmower and following some advice I got here I use that as a shredder-spreading the stuff about and literally mowing it, of course that won't work with a tree trunk-it works with thin branches and leaves and stuff.


You can use anything that decomposes down, some of the bad weeds you already know about letting them dry then adding to the compost.


I wouldn't add anything that hasn't already become compost as a mulch though-I believe it leechs nitrogen from the soil-although other people know more about that than I do.

 

"How about hiring a shredder-this will reduce the bulkiness, and they are great things to play with aswell"

I would do that too.

 

Many thanks - I think I'll follow that tip and hire a shredder... there seem to be umpteen types available. Got any recommendations on a good one, and indeed a good place to hire from? Cheers!
Dan

 

If you have the space, the log pile could be made tucked away in a corner somewhere and made an actual feature of your garden. Log piles make very useful habitats for various beetles and things to live in, many of which are (apparently - and quoting from my wildlife gardening book) beneficial to the garden. Insectivorous birds and many amphibians also benefit from the fact that the creepy crawlies move in there.

One note on composting bracken though. Composted bracken apparently (again quoting from something I saw on TV and not talking from experience) makes for mildly acidic compost, which is great if you plan to grow azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas and the likes, but not best for everything.

 

i thank my toad popoulation down to my log pile right next to my compost heap :D:D

 

Shred the stuff if you can. Not only does it reduce its bulk but shredding increases the surface area on which the composting organisms can live. Trouble is that most of the stuff you have is what composters call browns ie. it has lots of carbon, but little nitrogen. By volume it needs to be mixed 50:50 with greens. Greens are rich im nitrogen, low in Carbon.
Greens are things like kitchen waste and especially lawn mowings.
Compost heaps go wrong when this mix is not right. Too much brown and it stays dry and does not rot. Too much greens and it goes horrible and slimey, cause theire is no air, that is typically the case with lawnmowings piled up.
Browns will store and you now have the ideal reserve pile to mix with your kitchen waste and lawn mowings. Most people don't have enough browns to mix in and end up having to screw up paper or cardboard to keep the heap working. Incidentally shredded paper(browns) is brilliant for mixing in with lawn mowings and kitchen waste. Not only are our private details shredded but also composted for the garden. Great use of junk mail as well.
Be careful about the dead grass and weeds particularly if there is any couch grass roots or perennial weeds. In that case I would raise the pile up to let air through so that it dries to tinder dry and then set fire to it. If dry it should flare up and burn in minutes , if not seconds, with minimal smoke. If it needs an accelerent or smokes then it is not dry enough. There is nothing wrong with burning in environmental terms, apart from the smoke. People forget that CO2 is given off when material is composted.

 

"Weeds, stick them in water for a while (drown them basically) and add sludge to the compost."

I really ought to do that. I chuck bindweed et all into the compost heap, and some of it must be surviving of course. It wouldn't be any hardship to have a drowning bucket nest to the compost heap.

 

I put some cardboard boxes through the chipper and it came out great - some of it almost like down!

I have taken the bit between the teeth and gone and bought a compost bin. I am quite pleased with it as it has an open bottom and a little trap door. I put the shredded cardboard layer and then a layer of three day old grass cuttings which I put in with the fork and tried to aerate it a bit (a bit like sieving flour for a sponge I guess!). Then a couple of trowelfuls of wood ash and then some peelings from yesterday's culinary efforts as well as some rotting plums (but I'm not planning to make a habit of that - even though we've got far more plums than we know what to do with!).

I showed my husband a bit later and we saw a HUGE worm - he must have come in with the grass clippings. I'm not joking - it was like something out of "Dune" in there!! (I'm a bit worm-phobic so..... maybe an exaggeration ). I am assuming it's an earth worm but I read somewhere that they weren't that into composting and that Brandlings were better.

Will earthworms breed in my compost bin and will he go down into the cardboard?

Susanna

 

I think it will disappear into the ground. Compost worms will find your bin and you will eventually end up with loads. I will have to try that idea of putting cardboard through the chipper.

 

Very very good advice :thumb: Aeration, moisture balance and C/N balance is the key to good composting.




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