Autumn composting tips

With autumn now upon us, enjoy our top tips for better composting this season.

 

The tips

1. Love your leaves – leaves are carbon-rich and great for composting. Wait until the leaves start turning brown before raking them up.

2. Use a lawnmower to pick leaves up - this shreds the leaves and helps the composting process.

3. Too many leaves? Store dry autumn leaves in bags and keep one next to the compost bin or heap. As kitchen scraps and other 'green' materials are added during the winter months, a layer of leaves can be tossed on top. This helps balance the green materials and air the compost for faster results.

4. Save wood ash - if you have a wood-burning stove or heater, autumn is the time for cleaning out the ash box and chimney. Save the ashes from the stove box (but don't use the chimney sweepings) add them to the compost bin. Use only ash from clean materials and sprinkle onto compost to avoid clumping.

     

    Add the right ingredients

    1. A 50/50 mix of 'greens' (vegetable peelings, fruit scraps, old flowers, grass cuttings) and 'browns' (woody garden prunings, egg boxes, scrunched up paper) makes great compost.
    2. 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.
    3. Get vacuuming - bags full of dirt and dust can be composted, a perfect addition for when you're spring cleaning.