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Compost
We're having a grim January, with rain, rain and more rain and the plot is something of a quagmire.
18 messages
Gardeners' World Web User
21/01/2008 at 19:00
My husband insists in digging in teabags/old tomatoes/old cucumber into the soil. Is this doing any good to the soil?
Gardeners' World Web User
22/01/2008 at 23:59
I have a laurel hedge which generates a lot of leaf trimmings which I have shredded. Can I compost these or are they poisonous. I want to use the compost as a mulch for the rest of the garden. I have an acid soil. Can anyone help please?
Gardeners' World Web User
23/01/2008 at 15:18
Joy and Morning Glory: Any organic matter, that does not attract pests and make them dig it up, can be added. Harder pieces (prunings) take longer (years if the wood is over a centimetre thick). The rotting process depletes available Nitrogen until rotting is complete when the bacteria and fungi (the rotters) die and yield the Nitrogen back to the soil. Laurel is only temporarily poisonous. Dry, it is great for starting a bonfire due to the waxy leaves I think.
Gardeners' World Web User
29/01/2008 at 22:00
Thanks to Chris, carshalton for your tips on composting the laurel trimmings. I will compost it first before putting it on the flower beds. Mixing in grass cuttings etc should minimise any poisonous concentration with any luck.
Gardeners' World Web User
16/04/2008 at 15:04
I've bought one of these small plastic compost bins. I have a very small garden - new to us - and just want to have some compost on hand to help lighten the soil. I've placed it in the corner of the garden and want to get started so that with luck by this time next year I should have some compost going! I'm saving kitchen waste - uncooked - in a plastic bag in the kitchen with a view to starting - help!!!
Gardeners' World Web User
19/04/2008 at 04:34
Hi David, Drop your kitchen waste into the bin along with any garden waste like grass cuttings. Throw in some ripped up cardboard and (non-glossy) paper to add carbon and let nature take its course. I throw coffee grounds into mine, which help heat up the waste and compost it down quicker.
Gardeners' World Web User
19/04/2008 at 13:38
We add the straw/sawdust from our rabbit and hamster cages in our composter and it makes for lovely compost!
Gardeners' World Web User
21/04/2008 at 15:12
can i use my home made compost for seedlings, it is not very fine?
Gardeners' World Web User
28/04/2008 at 20:17
I tear open my used tea bags pour out the leaves and throw away the paper bag as I find it doesn't rot down very well in my heap. I also use the cardboard from loo/kitchen towel rolls as this breaks down lovely but I do wet them first before putting them into the heap.
Gardeners' World Web User
06/05/2008 at 02:51
What is the best way to stop flies becoming a problem in compost heaps.
Gardeners' World Web User
06/05/2008 at 18:36
I got a greenhouse for my birthday in April, and have been buzzing since. I've planted sweetpeas in cardboard egg boxes which have flourished but the seeds I put into toilet rolls have been very disappointing. I thought I was doing my bit for recycling. Where have I gone wrong with the toilet rolls? Any ideas or should I just forget them and stick to egg boxes?
Gardeners' World Web User
19/06/2008 at 13:04
I have got ants in my compost, will they do any harm.
Gardeners' World Web User
02/09/2008 at 11:05
Why are worms trying to escape from my compost bin?
Gardeners' World Web User
30/01/2009 at 23:47
Worms don't like acid fruit and peel so don't add to your heap, I don't turn my heap very often if you have got the right mix there is no need to, each year I have loads of free compost but never use it for seedlings.
Gardeners' World Web User
26/07/2009 at 08:22
My compost has become wet and smelly rather than dry and crumbly. I've been putting all fruit and veg peelings into it as well as grass cuttings. Do I need to include alot more newspaper and cardboard?
Gardeners' World Web User
03/05/2010 at 22:20
You need to put some woody fibre into your compost This can be scrunched up dampened newspaper, egg cartons, loo rolls, shredded bark.. pretty much anything that has some fibre. Grass clippings are fine for a composter, but too much and the whole thing gets slimy, which looks to be your problem. Adding a layer of damp newspapers should sort it out.
Gardeners' World Web User
08/11/2010 at 21:06
I have just moved and have a very small garden but LOTS of leaves are falling from trees behind the back fence I rake them from the lawn should I also remove them from the flower beds which is mainly shrubs with a few newly planted perannials and bulbs
Gardeners' World Web User
28/11/2011 at 18:30
By regularly turning my compost heep and mixing in some soil and paper shreddings I've found the compost heap rots down very quickly. I do this by having a long trench and only filling one end of it then I transfer the contents to the other end of the trench.

During the Spring, Summer and Autumn I do this fortnightly.Also during dryer weather I water the heap and cover with old compost bags to keep the moisture in the heap.

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