Richmondshire District Council is
part of the WRAP Home
Compost Scheme where residents can purchase subsidised compost
bins. Home compost bins can be purchased from as little as
£8. To see all offers currently available please go to
the
Recycle now website
Making your own compost can:
- Help protect your local environment.
- Save you money.
- Help your garden grow naturally.
Compost is easy to make and easy
to use. It will improve light, dry and sandy soils as well as
heavy, clay soils and can be used almost anywhere on the garden.
Using a fork, simply dig it into the top 15cm of the soil or just
spread it to cover the soil. You can also use your compost to feed
your lawn or top up tubs, planters and baskets.
You will find that the amount of
household waste that you produce should be greatly reduced when you
start composting. A third of the average dustbin is taken up with
potentially compostable materials - two thirds, if you include
paper and cardboard.
How to Compost
Compost is best made in a homemade composter or a home compost bin. See above for how to order a subsidised home compotster.
1. Put your
composter in the garden on bare soil. This allows solid
micro-organisms to infiltrate the compost. Composters can be placed
on concrete but they should then have a layer of soil or existing
compost on the bottom to allow worms to colonise.
2. Add your garden trimmings, dead flowers etc. to your composter as they become available. A mix of green and brown waste is best. Green waste is soft, wet materials such as grass cuttings. Brown waste is harder, drier material e.g twigs. Try your best to add equal volumes of both types of materials.
3. Composting works best if you add a lot of materials at once. Try and chop larger items into small chunks before adding them to the composter. These smaller items will be composted faster than large ones. Try to ensure your compost is moist, but not wet. When squeezed in your hands a few drops of water should be produced. If you find it is too dry, add water, and cover and add more dry material if it is too wet.
4. If you want your composting process speeded up, add some soil or some finished compost. Young nettles are an excellent compost accelerator.
5. If you continue to add a good mixture of materials you should have a good quality finished product to use on your garden.
6. Finished compost can take between 6 and 18 months to form depending on the type of materials used. If when removing your compost for use, you find some uncomposted material, simply put it back into your composter.
2. Add your garden trimmings, dead flowers etc. to your composter as they become available. A mix of green and brown waste is best. Green waste is soft, wet materials such as grass cuttings. Brown waste is harder, drier material e.g twigs. Try your best to add equal volumes of both types of materials.
3. Composting works best if you add a lot of materials at once. Try and chop larger items into small chunks before adding them to the composter. These smaller items will be composted faster than large ones. Try to ensure your compost is moist, but not wet. When squeezed in your hands a few drops of water should be produced. If you find it is too dry, add water, and cover and add more dry material if it is too wet.
4. If you want your composting process speeded up, add some soil or some finished compost. Young nettles are an excellent compost accelerator.
5. If you continue to add a good mixture of materials you should have a good quality finished product to use on your garden.
6. Finished compost can take between 6 and 18 months to form depending on the type of materials used. If when removing your compost for use, you find some uncomposted material, simply put it back into your composter.
What can be composted?
- Uncooked vegetable waste
- Tea bags
- Egg shells
- Grass cuttings
- Fallen leaves
- Weeds (avoid persistent weeds and weeds in seed)
- Soft hedge clippings
- Old plants
- Shredded paper and torn card
- Rabbit/guinea pig bedding
- Wood ash
Do NOT Compost
- Cooked food such as left overs
- Meat or any material prepared with meat
- Plate scrapings (raw or cooked)
- Fish
- Cheese
- Coal ash
- Cat litter/dog excrement
Points to Consider
- When considering what you can compost, bear in mind that anything that was once living can be composted, except coal.
- Although coal is made from organisms that were once living, the high levels of sulphur in coal ash will poison the soil.
- If you find you can't use the compost you produce, give it away to gardener friends or neighbours.
- Composting does NOT attract pests such as rats and mice as long as you ensure that no cooked food waste is going in to the compost bin.
- Your compost heap should not smell. If it does it is lacking in
air and should be stirred. Stirring is a useful activity for
composting as it speeds up the process.
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Last updated:
09 August 2007
