Composting

Making your own compost saves money and is a great way to reuse household waste. It’s easy to do, too.

Compost is cheap and easy to make at home – doing so will avoid landfill sites from filling up, saves money on commercial products and spares our rare peat bogs.

How do I start?

Most plant-based organisms can be chucked in the compost bin or heap (you don’t need to buy a bin – but it looks better than a heap).

Likely candidates for composting are: vegetable peelings, grass clippings, annual weeds (but avoid the roots of perennial nasties like horsetail, bindweed and ground elder), leaves, newspaper, cardboard (shredded, and in moderation), straw, chopped up stems and branches, dead plants, and even the contents of the vacuum cleaner (although this can make the compost quite dry, so balance this up).

But don’t add cooked food, dog and cat faeces, meat or glossy magazines.

How do I make a good compost heap?

The key to success is the mix of ‘greens’ (vegetable clippings and peelings) and ‘browns’ (shredded newspaper and the stems of old perennials). You need about two thirds green, one third brown.

You also need plenty of heat for the process to work, so make sure the heap’s not too wet or dry. Overly wet heaps need more brown matter adding to them.

Avoid adding a load of one thing, such as grass clippings, which will sit in a wet mess. Try to build the heap in layers that are 6-8 inches thick. Fork it over roughly on occasion; air helps the heap work better.

When it’s ready (a dark, crumbling material a bit like soil), remove the compost. Either scoop it out from the bottom, or lift the top of the heap with a fork.

My garden has no room for a large plastic bin. What else do you suggest?

In tiny gardens everything is on show, so it’s important to find a decent-looking compost bin.

Composters crafted from aluminium or those that look like old-fashioned beehives are popular. See our range of composters at Tesco direct.

What about pet droppings?

The dropping and bedding from most household pets like rabbits, budgies and guinea pigs can be chucked on the compost heap. They make perfect ‘browns’.

The exception is cat and dog faeces, which either needs to be buried or chucked out with the rest of the rubbish.

How do I keep flies and mosquitoes away?

Flies live on kitchen scraps and are part of the rotting process.

If you have a lot of flies or mosquitoes, your compost may be a little too wet or have too many 'green' ingredients. Add some more 'browns' like straw, egg boxes, shredded cereal boxes and newspaper.

If the problem continues after a month, cover the heap with a thick (4 inch) layer of soil then leave for couple of weeks; the flies should lose interest.

Burying kitchen waste deep in the heap will help too, as will alternating layers of 'greens' and 'browns'. And then every other week use a fork to mix the whole lot together.