Amateur Gardening

Focus on… Compost heaps

WHETHER your compost area is large or small, indoors or out, there’s a method out there to suit every household and gardening requirement. Let’s look at the options for organic-rich bliss!

Get the balance right

The process itself is simple: grab a mixture of ‘green’ (such as kitchen fruit and veg scraps, broadleaved hedge pruning, sappy veg garden waste) and ‘brown’ material (like woody prunings, bark chips, dry leaves), mix it together thoroughly, keep moist and include the passage of time, and compost will be yours. It’s decomposed via naturally occurring fungi and bacteria, along with tiny creatures like woodlice, earthworms, nematodes and millipedes, into a nutrient and organic-rich material that can ultimately be added back into your garden. Follow my checklist tips on page 20, and there’s not much that can go wrong.

“There’s a method to suit every household”

Size matters

As for the vessel in which you compost, the choice

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