Composting

How to make compost

To make good compost you need a mix of different items including those from the lists below. You will see that garden waste is not the only thing that you can put into your compost bin. There are many more everyday items from your home and garden that you can add to make your compost.

Greens

  • fruit and vegetable peelings
  • tea bags (plastic free)
  • coffee grounds
  • grass cuttings
  • old flowers
  • nettles

Browns

  • garden prunings and leaves
  • egg shells
  • cardboard egg boxes
  • newspaper (scrunched up)
  • toilet and kitchen roll tubes
  • cardboard (corrugated without tape and labels)
  • shredded documents
  • bedding from vegetarian pets
  • hair and fur 

A mix of 'greens' and 'browns' is important. The green items contain bacteria that generate the initial heat required by the process. Mixing in some brown items stops the contents from becoming a sludgy, smelly mess and will create the air pockets required by this living ecosystem. The materials break down naturally and reduce in volume (you may notice that the level will keep sinking). 

You can speed up the rotting process by stirring the materials:

  • if using a compost bin, lift the bin up (the contents should stand like a tower), re-position the bin and fork the contents back in
  • a compost heap can simply be turned with a fork

If your compost is:

  • dry and crumbly, add in more 'green' items or water
  • soggy and smelly, add more 'brown' items to soak up the moisture

The compost is ready when the lower layers are a dark and crumbly material without smell. As it is full of nutrients, compost can be used as a natural fertiliser to feed plants, improve soil texture and help your garden retain moisture in dry weather conditions. 

As it is full of nutrients, compost can be used as a natural fertiliser to feed plants, improve soil texture and help your garden keep hold of moisture in dry weather conditions.

Find out more about home composting

BBC Gardeners World
RHS Gardening 
Recycle Now home composting
Soil Association 
Kew Gardens compostin