Cormaic's Garden - Garden Layout

Garden Layout - The Compost Heap

This is a home-made, double bin compost heap, well hidden behind the shed, and built from old pinewood pallets. It is 1.2 metres by 2.4 metres in plan, and 1.4m high, although I have extension boards to give me an extra half-metre height to cope with the autumnal tidy-up. The heap is built on top of a base of old paving flags, to render extracting the well-rotted compost a bit easier, and each bin has a 375mm high removable panel at the bottom, to give access to the composted material.

All garden waste, except for infected material, is thrown onto the heap, along with all the organic kitchen waste, lawn cuttings and the occasional cardboard box. I add a handful of Garrotta® accelerator if a lot of stuff is added at once, and I encourage Slug Boy and his dodgy mates to use it as an emergency toilet when they are outside - not only does their "contribution" help the breakdown processes, it keeps their inevitably muddy feet off the carpets of Borlochs Hall.

The compost heap during construction.

The heap generates about 1 cubic metre, or 1,000 litres, of lovely, rich compost each year, and this is used for all purposes except sowing seedlings. The front access panel of the heap is removed , the compost is then dug out with a fork and passed through a 6mm riddle to remove anything not properly rotted. The sifted compost is either used immediately or stored in plastic bags, while the leftovers are thrown back on to the heap to cook for another season.

Home Page
Garden Guide
Layout