House & Home

It’s great gardening weather, at least as I write. The unseasonably warm autumn means that the soil is still at a friendly temperature, leaves are delaying their drift from branch to ground, the lawn is still pushing up new growth and dahlias are still blooming in borders.

It’s a wonderful time for a clean-up. Over the next few weeks the season will assert itself – frost may come and decay will set in.

A perennial issue in gardens is how we deal with the green waste that’s generated most often from beds, borders and trees. Gardeners talk a lot about composting, indeed they can get passionate about the subject. In effect, it means taking as much of this green waste as possible and turning it into nutrition for the soil so it benefits growing plants. So, where do you start? You can buy a compost bin and they range from simple affairs with doors at the bottom from which you can remove the compost, to ones that spin, helping aerate the mixture.

Or, you can recycle an old rubbish bin by drilling some holes around the side. The main advantage of closed containers is that they keep any odours in and are less likely to attract pests. If you’re handy, you can construct a simple wooden version using old crates but there’s nothing wrong with a small heap on the ground either.

In this case, start with a layer of twigs to provide a base that allows air in. It’s a good idea to cover the pile with old carpet or plastic to stop heavy rain saturating things.

Now you’re ready to pile in the waste. And here’s the science bit – the ideal mixture is 2/3 carbon to 1/3 nitrogen. Carbon is brown waste – the stuff that turns black when burned, such as paper, old leaves, twigs, cardboard, eggshells. Nitrogen is the green stuff – fresh lawn clippings, kitchen fruit and veg waste and fresh leaves.

Once you get the balance right, nature and worms will do the rest for you. If your mix is slimy, add more brown waste. If too dry, add more green waste. What shouldn’t go in? I wouldn’t recommend meat or fish scraps that can attract pests. Fruit can attract flies, so if you are composting that, cover it with a layer of grass clippings or leaves.

Definitely don’t put in anything diseased such as rose leaves with black spot – this is fungi that will flourish in a compost heap.

I’d also avoid putting in perennial weeds with fleshy roots such as bindweed and scutch TRY IF YOUR GARDEN grass as only a bit of the root has to survive for the plant to keep growing. Turning the compost will speed up the process but if you’re not in a hurry it will decompose without your intervention. How do I use the compost? You can dig it into borders to condition the soil – worms will digest and break it up, improving soil structure and aeration.

It will help break up heavy soils and make them lighter and it will improve the nutrient holding capacity and substance of light soil.

It also makes a great mulch, ideal for spreading now to suppress weed development and in summer to retain moisture in the soil.

You can mix it with potting compost for plant propagation, although you might need to sieve some of the chunky bits out.

With a compost heap, not only can you reduce your waste levels but you can harvest the perfect plant and soil food for free.

Plus, you can take enormous pride in the fact that you are contributing to a much greener, healthier planet.