This bin o' mud in the garden....

Bes

Bes

Bes

Soldato
Joined
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Melbourne
Hi,

I purchased my first house a couple of months ago, and now the weather is improving, my attention has turned to the garden.

The previous owners kindly left a whole load of crap in the garden, including this bin full of basically what looks like their attempt to make mulch/ compost. It's a bin with apparently no holes in it, so is now full of very very wet earth. I had a quick dig through it, and it seems quite rich and full of worms, which I guess is good.


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If I were to drill some holes in the bottom of this bin and let the water drain out, followed by aerating it a bit, am I likely to end up with some semi- decent compost for the flower beds? Or should I just chuck this all out and start again with grass cuttings/ food waste/ etc? Is a bin even a good thing to use to try and start a compost heap?

Yours,

A gardening n00b
 
GSXRMovistar said:
I'm sure I've seen similar where a tap is added to the base (like a water butt) and liquid compost is drained with rain water going in to top it up.
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This.

Add plant waste and water and you will get some of the best nitrogen rich liquid fertiliser going.
 
You either need some drainage holes, or better yet a tap so that you can use the liquid. If it's full of worms, then it's a good sign. The liquid fertiliser you'll make is great stuff and the composted material can be used to enrich your soil. Your plants will love it.

The only potential issue could be the smell! The liquid can be a bit...ripe.
 
Thanks all - sounds good!

Would plant waste include vegetable peelings/ the leftovers from when I juice veg up for drinking, or is it purely offcuts, dead leaves, etc? The internet seems to suggest the latter.

In terms of the smell, there's a pretty decent piece of garden that's just scrub behind my shed (so out of sight/ smell range), so I'll try and move it back there, raise it a few inches off the ground, and fit a tap as low in as I can!

Thanks
 
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Sure you can lob in veg trimmings etc. Any kind of plant material should compost. Juice pulp isn't going to be as good, but it'll still reduce to something. Just try not to overload on any one type as it won't compost as well. Don't overload on grass clippings as these will produce a smelly slimy mess.
 
Borealis said:
Sure you can lob in veg trimmings etc. Any kind of plant material should compost. Juice pulp isn't going to be as good, but it'll still reduce to something. Just try not to overload on any one type as it won't compost as well. Don't overload on grass clippings as these will produce a smelly slimy mess.
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I made the mistake of leaving grass cuttings in the bottm of our garden bin for a year. the smell, oh god the smell.

I will change 1000 dirty nappies happily before having to put myself through that again.

I even had a comedy close peg on my nose and was still nearly sick and had to run away from the bin about 10 times!
 
Bes said:
Would plant waste include vegetable peelings/ the leftovers from when I juice veg up for drinking, or is it purely offcuts, dead leaves, etc? The internet seems to suggest the latter.
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Pretty much everything plant-based can go on a compost heap.

Sticks take quite a while to break down, so I'd be tempted to avoid putting those in. Autumn leaves can take a while too; they seem to break down better if bagged up and left a year or so.
 
Woody sticks/material will take longer to break down, especially if left in large lumps.

Generally speaking, you can compost anything but be you need to be careful with diseased plants and certain weeds. Most things get nuked by the heat/conditions inside a compost heap, but some of the nastier diseases can survive e.g. honey fungus/fireblight. Weed seeds can also survive.

Just looking at your second picture, it looks like the bin is surrounded by ground elder. Ground elder is very hardy and will regrow from the tiniest root fragments. This is one weed you don't want to chuck in your compost heap as it will then get spread around!

Sticking it in your garden waste bin is fine, as industrial composters reach much higher temperatures than a domestic compost heap/bin.
 
Basically anything green and soft (but not perennial weeds apart from leaves) avoid anything woody you're better off dumping or burning those they take years to decompose. Kitchen waste is fine but avoid any cooked food or meat as that attracts rats.
 
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Potato peelings can harbour the blight fungus, so it's a bad idea to compost potato peelings if you/your neighbours others plan on growing anything susceptible to blight, particularly spuds and tomatoes. In effect the warmth of the compost heap will help to overwinter the spores.

Potato peelings will also reduce to slime quite quickly.
 
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