Composting

[posalie]

This is a stupid question, forgive me. I've looked online and can't find the answer.

I'm about to start a compost bin. RHS recommends filling it in one go, but I don't think we'll be able to do so. Anyway, once the compost is 'mature' in 6 months, do we have to use it all in a single go? Or can we take what we want and add more to the pile?

Finally, when people talk about mulching plants, do they just mean putting compost on the soil?

Thank you!

We use as and when. I recommend minimum two though, as if you keep adding to it it will never have time to all compost.

we have three. As the moment two are full and half rotted down. I’m not adding anything else to them and they will be ready to use at the end of the summer. I just fill the last one.
Its been a very dry winter where we are, if wetter those two would usually be ready to use already after the winter.

And mulch is wood chip, different to soil. The wood chip basically helps reduce weeds and stops the soil drying out too quickly in summer

Do most people have two or more then?

Ours are basically like these. But made of old scrap wood so not as smart!

Aha, so do we buy mulch then? I've read about using newspaper too?

You don't need to 'fill' your compost bin, most people would find that impossible. Just add to it as you can, with your kitchen scraps and garden cuttings. I also add torn up cardboard or newspaper, if you add too much 'green' stuff (kitchen scraps etc) it will be an overly wet mix. Cardboard and newspaper helps aerate and dry up the mix a bit.

I have four compost bins as we have a huge garden, but having just one is fine. I don't bother to turn the compost, too much effort!

In terms of using it 'all at once', you won't be able to. The bottom section will be well rotted, the upper section will be newer and partly rotted - so you leave the upper section in the bin, and next time that will be the well rotted part.

What type of bin do you have? With some types there is a removable door at the bottom, so every now and then you remove the door and have a look, if it looks well rotted down you then remove that portion to use it.

Mulch is a word to describe something you put on top of the soil, and can be made of various materials including bark, shingle - or homemade compost.

www.rhs.org.uk/soil-composts-mulches/mulch

I only have one. I don't use mine as soon as it's ready.
I shred toilet and kitchen roll for the cardboard to mix in. I've just used some today - it was lovely! No idea how old it was...
I get mulch for free from local council. It's wood chip/ chipped up trimmings and they leave it in a communal area next to a park and some allotments.

Right, better idea is to make a wormery. That's what's confusing you, I think.

Drill holes around the base, an inch above the bottom. Add a couple of inches of garden soil on top of whatever mess is in there right now. If you're brave, try and stir some shredded paper into the grass mess, first.

Add worms to the top, where the soil is. Shut the lid and leave them to it.

If you add layers above them- grass clippings, kitchen waste etc, they'll just work their way through it all.

Basically they'll turn it for you as they go.

The issue is emptying it. What I do, is have a secondary bin (smaller kitchen bin) alongside it. I stop filling bin one about halfway up, and start filling bin two. When bin one has mellowed nicely, tip it out onto a garden border, or a tarpaulin. Tip bin 2 into bin one, top with a layer of soil, gather your worms out of the heap you tipped out and pop them back in.

You're best off buying worms from a worm farm online. Unless you have a neighbour who'll share?

I have a neighbour who's very into worms and gave us a leaflet. Based on my research, it's quite tricky and maybe can be something we work up to. Our compost bin was ordered via our council and looks like this (attached). We ordered a base plate too. I assume we can open a hatch at the bottom to take a look periodically?

I have two wooden bins, top up regularly and move stuff from one to the other.

I used to have one like yours and I just used to lift it up, put it down next to where it was and fork the compost back into it, you add stuff at this stage too depending on whether it is too wet or too dry.

i do use compost to mulch, along with various other material, depending on which bit I'm mulching and what time of the year.

I started a wormery last year and have been quite successful. I mix it up with 'used' compost that I have recovered from failed seedlings, containers etc.

Its all very satisfying!

Be warned a full bin rots down to about a quarter I would say.
And I never have great success with compost - certainly have never produced much in 6 months. I have just remixed last years lot with grass cuttings as it hadn't rotted down enough. So I'll wait another year.
I blame being in the cold, damp west of scotland which isn't conducive to hot mouldering composting.

Thanks everyone. Another stupid question about mulch - once I've mulched this autumn, do I need to remove the mulch in the spring? I can't see evidence of mulch from last year (we bought the house in the autumn).

I have two like yours, I call them daleks.
We fill one over about a year give or take. Leave it and fill the other one. Use the first one while the other is rotting down then turn about.

We did have three but that was getting ridiculous for the size of our garden.
Sometimes the compost is too wet, sometimes too dry. I still use it and nothing bad happened yet
The hatch at the bottom is to get the rotted stuff out, take out what you want, the upper stuff slides down and continues rotting.

We have lots of woodchip and after it has lain a year at least I spread it over the beds and just leave it. It's to smother the weeds and eventually to rot into the soil.

@Ferngreen thank you for this. What do you mean after it's lain for a year? Are the wood chips not ready to use once you've bought them?

No, the mulch will rot down into the soil. Over the years it improves the texture of the soil, makes weeding easier. You can mulch with almost anything that will rot down, certainly with your own compost - don’t waste money buying in stuff to mulch with when you already have a free supply.

Most people probably have one bin! But definitely easier with two and easier still with three. One to fill, one to mature, and one to use. Heat is lost through the sides, so you need it as near cubic as possible. The ideal is to build in one go so that you can alternate layers, but that requires space for storage too. Always remember that most of accepted garden advice originates from commercial or stately home gardens with several full time gardeners! So chuck things on as they become available, just not more than 15cm deep of anything too dense or soggy. So if you have a massive load of grass cuttings, grab a layer of any cuttings or weeds you can lay your hands on and sandwich them in the middle of two layers of grass cuttings.

You’ve got a base plate so your compost won’t be in contact with ground. In that case , once you’ve got about 15cm of weeds etc in it, spread a 8cm layer of garden soil, taken from whichever bit of garden has the most dead leaves on it. This will contain worm cocoons, and the humus loving species will multiply quickly. The soil will also contain lots of other invertebrates which will help the composting process.

From what I understand - say if someone chops a tree down locally the branches and twigs are chipped into a pile of wood chips. (or I think you can buy them from council). From listening to gardeners question time on R4 if you put these fresh chips on to the soil they take nitrogen from the soil as they decompose, so removing nourishment that you want for the plants.
So I leave the chips for a year, then they have turned black and are starting to look a bit like compost. Then I put them on the beds to suppress weeds and leave to rot down. The time to turn dark possibly depends on type of wood, weather etc.

I guess if you buy bags of bark or woodchips from the garden centre they are ready to go straight on the soil.

If you collect autumn leaves, and mix them with grass cuttings, that will rot into a pretty good compost. Neither will do well in its own. You can add other shredded material. If weeding, leave them out in the sun to dry, and try not to include weed seeds unless you know you have a good hot heap that will kill them. Cut them down before they form seeds.

Usually you need at least two, preferably three bins or heaps. One you're filling, one is standing to rot, one is ready to use. You turn each heap over with a fork and into the next position, newest stuff at the bottom, oldest on top, which mixes them up so they rot better. The first heap or bin will not be mixed so will not work until you turn it into the second position.