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how to be a gardener - The complete online guide BBC Homepage Lifestyle Gardening Part One Part Two Are you signed in? Go here for more information The productive garden Setting up your plot Making your own compost General care Growing vegetables Growing fruit The kitchen diary Greenhouse growing The herb garden Test your knowledge Go further Plant lists Interactives Glossary Credits Programme information Help with plugins Gardening newsletter Site map
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7 - Setting up your plot Print page Hurl-a-heap - with our compost building game Making your own compost A great source of bulky, organic material is your own garden compost . The best time to make some is in spring, because it will rot down faster. It’s dead easy to make, it costs nothing and it does the garden a whole lot of good. You can either buy a bin - many local councils run recycling schemes, so give them a call - or make your own heap . Play Hurl-a-heap , our fun game about how to build your own compost heap. What you need: If using a self-assembly version, as shown here, you need:
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Hurl-a-heap - with our compost building game
Building a self-assembling bin… First prepare the compost area If erecting your own bin, hammer into the ground four 10cm x 10cm (4in x 4in) posts to enclose an area about 1sq m (40sq in.) Then bash the soil with the back of a spade to consolidate it.
…takes next to no time Next either tack wire netting to the posts, or nail planks around them, leaving the front side easily detachable so you can get the finished compost out.
15cm (6in) layer of garden waste Add the drainage material In the bottom put a 10cm (4in) layer of coarse material, such as straw or twigs.
Add water if it's dry Make the sandwich Put in a 15cm (6in) layer of garden waste and water if it’s dry. Put in alternate layers of different materials - like a sandwich.
Add soil to each layer Turn up the heat Compost has to heat up to work properly. To do this it needs to have a certain critical mass. A metre cubed is good. It must also be layered to heat up effectively. On top of each layer add a sprinkling of manure or soil. This helps to introduce the bacteria and fungi (or 'heat') needed to break down the organic material.
Cover with an old piece of carpet or tarpaulin Cover it up Then cover with a sheet, an old bit of carpet, polythene or tarpaulin and leave it for about three months to rot down. Uncover, open the front, take all the compost out, then put it back again. This process adds air to the mix and helps it rot down faster. Three months later… Leave for another three months and your compost will be brown, crumbly and sweet-smelling; ready to use in the garden. These can go in: These can't:
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7. The productive garden Introduction Setting up your plot Making your own compost General care Growing vegetables Growing fruit The kitchen diary Greenhouse growing The herb garden Test your knowledge Go further
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Plant lists Find plant lists on: Soft fruit Tree fruit Easy vegetables Herbs Greenhouse planting Find thousands more plants in the BBC Gardening database .
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Video Watch video clips on: Basic principles of growing vegetables Growing seasonal vegetables Making a vegetable plot Making a compost heap
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Interactive Learn how to build a compost heap with our fun game, Hurl-a-heap .
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