Composter?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted User 298457
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Deleted User 298457

Deleted User 298457

Hi folks,

It's like 50 quid a year now to get green bin and my garden needs scarification and lots of trimming. I'm thinking of getting a composter so headed over to Amazon with a big plastic thing in mind, only to be greeted by lots of wooden things. These don't look all that complex - potentially even made out of gravel boards?

Has anyone built one before or have any advice? My garden has 3 tiers so I can bung it right at the back out of site, under tree cover (if that matters).

I'm thinking get 4 fence posts and 4 bags of postcrete and just build it like a small fence?

Is there any plans for anything more intelligent?
 
I'm a gardener and have come across many different compost systems, from the small plastic ones, wooden made ones or just nothing, chuck the weeds, grass, leave's, soft stuff on the floor, still all breaks down over the year.

In fact, I prefer the nothing approach, works best if you have a slightly larger area though, it just so much easier when it comes to using the compost than having it in something.

Does compost quicker enclosed though so if it was me i would just make something simple out of wood, even 3 or 4 pallets would work. 3 for the sides braced together and then have the 4th as a door that just comes off easy so you can get to the compost easy when needed.
If you want it to look a bit nicer go for the gravel board type, have posts like you suggest, do the sides and back but make the front accessible again. You can make it so the gravel boards slot in between the posts so you can remove then easy. Just makes it so much easier for when you want to use it.

Something like this

Modular Wooden Compost Bin | Dobies

Create your own compost at home with our modular wooden compost bin! A worthy investment for keen gardeners, constantly struggling for what to do with green waste – now you can recycle it back into your garden for your plants to thrive off. The unit itself comprises of 4 posts and 20 panels...
www.dobies.co.uk www.dobies.co.uk
 
Top man thank you! The rear tier of the garden is out of sight, out of mind, so maybe in the short term I just designate a corner.
 
Yes, don't get one. I mean what are you going to do with all that compost anyway? Oh, and you may find that your local council sells them at a reduced price, mine does. I was silly enough to buy one, lol.
 
I prefer a compost heap, mines in a dark old corner, shove all green waste in there and the stuff that comes out is like black gold, it's absolutely rammed full of every conceivable insect known to man as well which is a bonus.
SpellowHouse said:
I mean what are you going to do with all that compost anyway?
Click to expand...
:confused:
 
Corner nominated and in use. Much easier than a green bin!!

YXtS9Gt.jpeg
 
I knocked one up out of an old palette and some chicken wire - works a treat !

Well, when it stays full and the chickens haven't scratted it all out .... :rolleyes:

E: There you go
 
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aVdub said:
Got a 330l plastic one a few years ago at a gardening show, which had a big reduction at the time from the local council.

Perfect for the size of our garden and is used for food and junk mail waste as well as garden waste.

evengreener.com

Blackwall 330 Litre Green Compost Converter

As best BUDGET BUY in Gardeners' World Magazine, the Blackwall 330L Green Compost Bin is expertly designed to produce rich compost and help you live EvenGreener.
evengreener.com evengreener.com
Click to expand...
got the same council were giving them away ended up they gave me 2 cause folk didnt seem to want them.
 
I built a three bay compost bin at the top of our garden. I used 8 standard fence posts but to save having to dig holes and use Postmix for each one, I went with the fence post spikes you sledgehammer in. I used narrow timber (25x25mm IIRC) screwed to the relevant side of each post to make a retaining groove, then cut boards to slot in to these for the sides.

What I've found is that some of the boards making up the sides have shrunk or warped a bit, so don't fit very well. Thus if building it now I would just screw the sides / back directly onto the posts and just have the front with the removable boards to make it easier when digging out the compost. Having three bays is good for rotation / use - we're currently filling up two, having been digging compost out of the 3rd since spring.

I can take a picture at some point if it helps visualise things!
 
#Chri5# said:
I built a three bay compost bin at the top of our garden. I used 8 standard fence posts but to save having to dig holes and use Postmix for each one, I went with the fence post spikes you sledgehammer in. I used narrow timber (25x25mm IIRC) screwed to the relevant side of each post to make a retaining groove, then cut boards to slot in to these for the sides.

What I've found is that some of the boards making up the sides have shrunk or warped a bit, so don't fit very well. Thus if building it now I would just screw the sides / back directly onto the posts and just have the front with the removable boards to make it easier when digging out the compost. Having three bays is good for rotation / use - we're currently filling up two, having been digging compost out of the 3rd since spring.

I can take a picture at some point if it helps visualise things!
Click to expand...
If you don't mind - as the "tip" I created at the weekend whilst functional is pretty unsightly lol.
 
Much scrolling through my photo's turned up a picture, probably when I built it back in 2018:

30fUgRIl.jpg

As I said, I wouldn't bother with making the left/right ends and rear panels removable as I've never needed/wanted to remove them - just screw the boards into the posts and save on the cost/time of putting the extra wood on the posts to make the grooves.

Having a mitre saw on a stand saved lots of effort cutting the wood.
 
Top man, that is exactly what I had in mind. You reckon the post spikes are adequate? I guess in such a "solid shape", probably so?

To get to the compost do you lift the boards at the front out or remove one of the bottom ones?

Any cover?
 
That was taken May 2018 and I can't see any movement in the posts since then. Might be older than that - will have to find the credit card bill for the timber. If I was doing it again I might make a jig using timber batons to space the spikes rather than measuring and using string as a couple aren't quite lined up which annoys me but I'm not moving them now (especially when the bays are full!).

I just lift off the front boards from the top to dig out compost - the lower the pile gets, the more you just lift out.
 
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