By T. S. Miles

Composting is an excellent way to reuse resources, and also cut down on costs.  Commercial mulch is costly, and often time consuming to schedule drop offs.  Look to this long lasting method to sustain your lawn.  This article starts a series focused on all things compost.  In this instalment, we will outline the basics.   We’ll break it down, pun intended, so you can see the benefits in creating your own composting pile! 

Most residential composting is done through what is termed as container composting.   You will want to construct two bins, which can be side by side or otherwise (a tip, side by side is most common for a good reason, it makes transferring the compost from bin to bin much easier, we’ll talk about why you would transfer in a bit).  These bins can be made out of various materials, just make certain when you construct your structure you allow space for aeration, plain english, air needs to be able to get in and our for the materials to break down.  It is helpful to leave one fo the four sides open allowing for easy access of materials in and out.  The average size of a container is 4×4, however, you can create a bin as long as you’d like, space permitting.   Why two bins, well, one bin is used to hold the plant refuse while the other bin is active compost. 

*Tip, composting is the process of bacteria breaking foods down to create a mixture rich in nutrients to return to the soil, that is wonderful right!  What is not always so wonderful, the smells created by the bacteria.  Think about this and other constraints mentioned as you pick the ideal location for your composting pile!

According to the EPA, “yard trimmings and food residuals together constitute 24 % of the U. S. municipal solid waste stream.”   Help reduce this number, follow the rest of our series and create a composting pile of your own!

Next instalment we’ll talk about base materials and Cargon/Nitrogen ratios!

We know you care about keeping your lawn looking good, preserving the value of your home or business, we also know you care about our environment, with this site; you can generate useful ideas to achieve both!

Thank you for reading!

- The Green Lawn, Green LIfe staff