i want to make compost!

asparagus1968

Hi all,


I only have one flower bed in my garden, the soil is really heavy, and often water logged.
I want to start a compost bin to help. I've started collecting tea ,eggshells, veg scraps ,etc in a plastic tub for around a week...
what next?
I have an old plastic dustbin hanging about, no lid though,could I make use of this?
could I go about making it into a compost bin,if so,how? No money to buy one:)

wallbash

Secret of a compost bin is size and variety. So with a small garden you are going to have a problem.

Think wormy, or even abandon the whole idea.

ps , you tube is a good place to get some ideas.

Farway

Whatever you decide to use it will need a cover of some sort to keep rain / vermin out

Depending on space available you could try a plastic Dalek type of bin. ignore the pretty illustrations of pretty girl shovelling lovely muck out of the base door, it never does

Some councils have a subsidised scheme to buy these, check you local council web site, often under the environment label

Mojisola

Check if your council composts the green waste - they usually sell the compost reasonably cheaply.

You'll need 10-15cm of compost over the whole flower bed to make a difference (every year for a few years) - you'll never produce that much from a small garden.

asparagus1968

thanks for all replies, now confused.
flower bed is about 1 metre wide and 8 metres long.
I'd just wanted to replace heavy soil with some home made compost, will this be impossible?

wallbash

No, just will take too long. I have a fairly large garden, my compost bin is about a cubit metre. Takes me about a year to fill it, then I remove top foot or so, and I find I have about 8 wheel barrow load. Which would give a thin topping to 'your' bed.

I've started collecting tea ,eggshells, veg scraps

So do I , but the vast majority filling my bin, is lawn clippings , and green waste from my raised beds.The large flower borders and the straw from the rabbit hutches are all added.

You just need a lot more to compost.

the soil is really heavy, and often water logged.

And yes a raised bed is the way to go, but its either a long . long job or you are going to have to throw some money at it .

forgotmyname

You maybe shocked at how much (little) compost you produce.

We have one of those green darlek bins and fill it with kitchen waste and grass cuttings and paper etc.. Filled to the brim, During the summer it goes down very quickly, 2 bin fulls is probably equal to a mop bucket worth of finished compost.

As mentioned if teh soil is that poor you will want a minimum of 6" covering over the whole area.
And you will probably need to do that for 4 or 5 years.

Money or time to get it to decent soil.

pendragon_arther

For a start you need to aerate the soil by turning it over. Hard work to begin but good exercise, just do a bit at a time. Ask your neighbours if they've got any compost and if so dig it into the soil. Most people put out their compost to be collected but ensure it's only vegetable matter and no cooked food or vermin will come. (Rats etc do not come for veg matter). Worms will only come to well ventilated soil and soon you will have rich soil and lots of flowers maybe for the summer.

Linda32

forgotmyname wrote: »

You maybe shocked at how much (little) compost you produce.

We have one of those green darlek bins and fill it with kitchen waste and grass cuttings and paper etc.. Filled to the brim, During the summer it goes down very quickly, 2 bin fulls is probably equal to a mop bucket worth of finished compost.

Totally agree with this :rotfl: We have a compost bin at the allotment so anything which isn't weeds or very woody goes in, plus anything from home which can be composted. We start this off in September and fill this throughout the year until the following autumn when its done. iirc we got around 6 small bags in money terms if you bought from a garden centre around £20 worth. It was enough for our garden and probably your bed as well.

Its up to to whether you decide if its worth the wait if its free. We mainly do it because we have got to put the waste somewhere.

Your bed is bigger than I initially thought. Does this produce compost material? or is it shrubs etc? I'm just thinking if your only getting kitchen waste its not going to be enough to fill it in a year.

wellused

Agreed about the quantity that the home composter can generate, I have two compost bins on my allotment made from old pallets so the volume must be around 1 cubic metre, I filled one of those over a year and left it for a year this produced about 10 inches deep of compost it's good stuff mind you and the experts like Monty Don say that you don't actually need loads of compost and that a thin layer activates all sorts of good nutrients in your soil. If you do go ahead with the compost idea be sure to put the bin in a sunny position as it will work much quicker if it gets hot in the summer months.

asparagus1968

ah, thanks all for the help.
right, lots of turning over to begin asap. will ask around for compost or buy some! will keep collecting my bits for future use, maybe in pots next year
flower bed is mainly shrubs/prennials, my pots have the colourful flowers.
no lawn either, so now realise it would be a veeeeeeery long time to produce enough compost myself!