Discussion
I now have 3 compost "boxes" side by side, built from pallets.
Two are already full with a mix of grass, hard an semi hardwood cuttings, leaves large and small and some weeds pulled from the drive.
Not sure I should put the weeds in!
Cannot decide whether to get a rotation thing going where the new stuff goes into the first bin, then that gets tipped into the second that into the third then onto the garden or just keep filling and turning all 3.
What do others do, and at this rate I'll need a 4th - 5th ....
Is an accellorator compound worthwhile?
Two are already full with a mix of grass, hard an semi hardwood cuttings, leaves large and small and some weeds pulled from the drive.
Not sure I should put the weeds in!
Cannot decide whether to get a rotation thing going where the new stuff goes into the first bin, then that gets tipped into the second that into the third then onto the garden or just keep filling and turning all 3.
What do others do, and at this rate I'll need a 4th - 5th ....
Is an accellorator compound worthwhile?
For all gardening advice consult the RHS.
Composting advice at https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=444
Much better than any explanation written by me.
Composting advice at https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=444
Much better than any explanation written by me.
Unless you have relatively small bins I wouldn't worry too much about turning them as there's usually little advantage long term and it's fairly knackering.
Over time I've found that having three bins, each large enough for a year's worth of contents, ideal. One bin for filling, one that's maturing and one that's ready to use. In this way, giving the compost a couple of years to do its thing means that you really don't need to worry too much about brown to green or carbon to nitrogen ratios. It will compost down perfectly well of its own accord given enough time, and imho a compost that's allowed to mature is always better than one produced quickly and put into use immediately. Anything that's not finished composting in the ready to use bin can be returned to the new bin to continue the process.
A garden shredder is an invaluable tool for dealing with woody prunings and speeding up the rate at which they'll compost as they can take a long time otherwise.
Straw mixed into the compost is excellent for keeping the pile aerobic and preventing it smelling (especially useful if the majority of the compost is grass clippings).
Layering crushed charcoal into the pile makes for a wonderful compost, helps to retain moisture and prevent leaching of nutrients and is an excellent soil improver.
Adding weeds isn't worth risking unless you know for certain that you can get it hot enough to kill off any seeds.
Compost accelerators are only really useful if you have a lot of woody material and little nitrogen rich green stuff, but nitrogen fertiliser or even urine works well.
Below is some compost that I dug into for the first time this month. It was made in autumn 2016 and consists primarily of grass from lawn scarifying and wood from shredded hedges together with charcoal made from the larger hedge material, then topped with fallen oak leaves and left to sit until now.
It's a lovely friable texture and it turns out is good enough that two of the main support posts have sprung to life and started to shoot leaves
Over time I've found that having three bins, each large enough for a year's worth of contents, ideal. One bin for filling, one that's maturing and one that's ready to use. In this way, giving the compost a couple of years to do its thing means that you really don't need to worry too much about brown to green or carbon to nitrogen ratios. It will compost down perfectly well of its own accord given enough time, and imho a compost that's allowed to mature is always better than one produced quickly and put into use immediately. Anything that's not finished composting in the ready to use bin can be returned to the new bin to continue the process.
A garden shredder is an invaluable tool for dealing with woody prunings and speeding up the rate at which they'll compost as they can take a long time otherwise.
Straw mixed into the compost is excellent for keeping the pile aerobic and preventing it smelling (especially useful if the majority of the compost is grass clippings).
Layering crushed charcoal into the pile makes for a wonderful compost, helps to retain moisture and prevent leaching of nutrients and is an excellent soil improver.
Adding weeds isn't worth risking unless you know for certain that you can get it hot enough to kill off any seeds.
Compost accelerators are only really useful if you have a lot of woody material and little nitrogen rich green stuff, but nitrogen fertiliser or even urine works well.
Below is some compost that I dug into for the first time this month. It was made in autumn 2016 and consists primarily of grass from lawn scarifying and wood from shredded hedges together with charcoal made from the larger hedge material, then topped with fallen oak leaves and left to sit until now.
It's a lovely friable texture and it turns out is good enough that two of the main support posts have sprung to life and started to shoot leaves
Mixing fresh lawn clippings into my compost makes it incredibly hot by the next day, making great compost. By day 4 its cooled down but by then I'm tipping another load of clippings into it which heats it back up again. I always spread a thick layer of lawn clippings on top of the compost to act as insulation. it really does get piping hot.
Hedge clippings work too, I spread them over my lawn and go over them with my lawn mower and add them just as I do the grass clippings.
Hedge clippings work too, I spread them over my lawn and go over them with my lawn mower and add them just as I do the grass clippings.
Edited by LeadFarmer on Monday 25th June 09:01
Thanks everyone
Sadly the weeds are in there now.
One of the "bins" is overflowing, the second is half full.
That's for a couple of weeks worth of trying to sort out a garden.
Guess I need to be more selective.
The grass cuttings are in a small "haystack" trying to smother a large area of nettles and dock.
More grass cutting arriving this week.....will stop pruning, weeding, cutting back etc (Where do i put the 3 metre high sycamore trees?)
Sadly the weeds are in there now.
One of the "bins" is overflowing, the second is half full.
That's for a couple of weeks worth of trying to sort out a garden.
Guess I need to be more selective.
The grass cuttings are in a small "haystack" trying to smother a large area of nettles and dock.
More grass cutting arriving this week.....will stop pruning, weeding, cutting back etc (Where do i put the 3 metre high sycamore trees?)
jagnet said:
Compost accelerators are only really useful if you have a lot of woody material and little nitrogen rich green stuff, but nitrogen fertiliser or even urine works well.
I thought about using an accelerator.. until I saw the price of them.Are you saying that if I pee on my huge compost heap at night when no one is around that will accelerate decomposition?
By the time you come to use the compost it'll have long been broken down and used by the bacteria in the heap so there isn't a hygiene issue. There’s nowt wrong with having a waz in the compost helps keep things moving along, especially with it being so dry of late.
How North in North Yorks are you (I’ll nick those sycamore off you to season and burn
)
As for those nettles, don’t smother them with grass cuttings, get them ripped up and put in a bucket of water for a few weeks, the water will reek but is great nitrogen fertiliser when diluted about 10:1 in a watering can.
The weeds you’ve stuck in the compost don’t matter that much, if you’re using it for mulching next year, just grab them when they come up - I have a great little book called Compostig by Bob Flowerdew and if your do want to chuck weeds in the bin, he suggests drowning them in a bucket for a good few weeks and then all but the toughest weeds and roots will be dead.
I’ve run a couple of compost bins the last few years and then a few tonne bulk bags for leaf mould, etc.
Have just got some more bins for a steak to start doing a proper three bin rotation so looking forward to having an extra bin with ready to go compost
Got these three for a ridiculous £25 delivered all in as a local wholesaler near us was shutting up shop. I couldn’t even make them for that money.
How North in North Yorks are you (I’ll nick those sycamore off you to season and burn
)As for those nettles, don’t smother them with grass cuttings, get them ripped up and put in a bucket of water for a few weeks, the water will reek but is great nitrogen fertiliser when diluted about 10:1 in a watering can.
The weeds you’ve stuck in the compost don’t matter that much, if you’re using it for mulching next year, just grab them when they come up - I have a great little book called Compostig by Bob Flowerdew and if your do want to chuck weeds in the bin, he suggests drowning them in a bucket for a good few weeks and then all but the toughest weeds and roots will be dead.
I’ve run a couple of compost bins the last few years and then a few tonne bulk bags for leaf mould, etc.
Have just got some more bins for a steak to start doing a proper three bin rotation so looking forward to having an extra bin with ready to go compost
Got these three for a ridiculous £25 delivered all in as a local wholesaler near us was shutting up shop. I couldn’t even make them for that money.
Thanks guys
Bit more gardening to do today but will watch the weeds, there's just so much grass growing through everything at the moment.
The sycamore trees were self sets and not worth holding onto for firewood, just left them behind the polytunnel for now and sorry, just updated my profile. I moved a month ago from Yorkshire to Oban in Scotland.
Interesting idea about the nettles, but need to get to them through the dock and pile of grass cuttings that look to have been there "for a while" although to be fair I've added to it. Need to be careful in their, there are at least two slow worm (protected species) living in it as well as toads etc
Bit more gardening to do today but will watch the weeds, there's just so much grass growing through everything at the moment.
The sycamore trees were self sets and not worth holding onto for firewood, just left them behind the polytunnel for now and sorry, just updated my profile. I moved a month ago from Yorkshire to Oban in Scotland.
Interesting idea about the nettles, but need to get to them through the dock and pile of grass cuttings that look to have been there "for a while" although to be fair I've added to it. Need to be careful in their, there are at least two slow worm (protected species) living in it as well as toads etc
Thoughts on horse manure in your compost? We have loads of horsey types here all bagging up their horse sweepings for s to take away full of poo, wee and bedding (straw or wood clippings) I add a few bags a year to the rest of the mix it takes a while to break down but makes a good compost when it’s ready.
Manure based compost is great for roses, veg patches, etc where you have relatively hungry plants that benefit from the additional nutrient richness of such compost.
On its own I tend to think of it as a lighter compost come slow release fertiliser that lacks the rich humus and more stable carbon of a woody based compost that you might make in the garden and is more easily washed through the soil, particularly in sandy soils. As an annual mulch around roses it works brilliantly for suppressing weeds, feeding the roses, encouraging bio activity in the soil and providing some soil conditioning.
No reason at all why you can't mix it into your own homemade compost and get the benefits of both. You may find that more of the nitrogen in the manure gets used to compost the rest of the heap versus composting the manure/straw on its own but it should still be a more nutrient rich mix by the time you come to use it.
On its own I tend to think of it as a lighter compost come slow release fertiliser that lacks the rich humus and more stable carbon of a woody based compost that you might make in the garden and is more easily washed through the soil, particularly in sandy soils. As an annual mulch around roses it works brilliantly for suppressing weeds, feeding the roses, encouraging bio activity in the soil and providing some soil conditioning.
No reason at all why you can't mix it into your own homemade compost and get the benefits of both. You may find that more of the nitrogen in the manure gets used to compost the rest of the heap versus composting the manure/straw on its own but it should still be a more nutrient rich mix by the time you come to use it.
Reviving the old 'Compost' thread - Has anyone got any good ideas for chopping green garden waste? I have a decent chipper/mulcher with a Briggs & Stratton engine which is great for woody stuff but turns anything green in to wet mulch that just clogs up inside. I bought a petrol powered tiller that I thought might chop everything but it tends to get stringy like lupin stalks stuff wrapped around the tines and just grinds to a halt. Today I tried chopping everything with the hedge clippers which worked reasonably well but I wondered if anyone has any other ideas? At this time of year, as we start cutting back the mixed borders, we generate so much green stuff that I want to find a quick way to chop it before adding it to the compost. 
xstian said:
I chuck green stuff straight in, its only the woody stuff I chop up. They're nice looking compost bins you have there, but have you looked into ventilation between the boards, if might help speed the process up a little.
It doesn't seem to need ventilation, it works very fast indeed. I could turn out 2 bins in a season and each bin is a cubic meter although it compacts down by half over the course of the summer. The first bin of green stuff is cooking well all the time - was 60 deg C last time I checked. The middle bin is always warm and the third is cool but full of worms. As we empty the finished bin we turn the others along one bay so each bin gets turned and mixed twice. As for green stuff, I always chop into smaller bits as I find it composts much better, maybe that's why it works so fast? I was just looking for chopping ideas I might look out for a cheap Bosch AXT 2200 electric shredder with a blade that chops. Bin 1 - filled this summer
Bin 2 - turned a few months ago but is ready now
Bin 3 - was green stuff in bin 1 last summer and is ready now
Looks good, just been linked over here from the greenhouse thread.
Given life is short, and we have enough space I dont plan to do any turning so from what I have read two bins likely isnt enough? I had thought about making a pair of 6ft square bins out of old gravel boards and post at atleast it wont root then. Alternate one for one year, one for the other year.
But maybe I should make 3x 4ft square boxes and run a 3 year rotation.
Given life is short, and we have enough space I dont plan to do any turning so from what I have read two bins likely isnt enough? I had thought about making a pair of 6ft square bins out of old gravel boards and post at atleast it wont root then. Alternate one for one year, one for the other year.
But maybe I should make 3x 4ft square boxes and run a 3 year rotation.
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