In this section:
Garden
To get the best compost for your garden why not follow some of the tips below:
- Remember to add the right ingredients – a 50/50 mix of ‘greens’ (tea bags, vegetable peelings, fruit scraps, old flowers, grass cuttings, spent bedding plants ) and ‘browns’ (garden prunings, coffee grounds, tissues and paper napkins, egg boxes, vacuum cleaner dust) makes great compost.
- You can also put any dead and unwanted leaves and stems into your compost bin, and any weed cleared from a pond can be used to combat a dry compost bin.
- Adding meat, fish or dairy products to your compost bin is not recommended, as this can attract unwanted visitors to your garden. Cooked vegetables and diseased plants should also be kept out as they can spoil your compost mix.
- If you’re clearing out old bank statements and bills, why not shred and add them to the compost heap where they will help the composting process by creating air pockets.
- Don’t throw away used tea-bags; add them to your compost bin along with the cardboard box they came in, torn up. You could also fill in gaps in your lawn by using grass seeds sown on used tea-bags.
- If you’re a coffee lover, you can also put your coffee grounds in the compost bin.
- Making the most of the food we buy can also help us get composting – fruit and veg peelings are ideal for the compost bin or wormery.
- Egg shells can also be composted. These won’t decompose in the bin but will be crushed into very small pieces adding calcium and valuable minerals to the soil.
- After 9 months to a year your compost will be mature enough to use. You’ll know its ready when the compost has turned into a dark, crumbly soil-like substance.
For more information on home composting why not visit www.recyclenow.com/compost
