Composting Tips for a Thriving Compost Pile

Starting and maintaining a compost doesn’t have to be hard. These 15 composting tips for beginners will help speed up the process, avoid common issues and boost your composting game.

15 Composting Tips and Tricks

There are so many reasons to compost at home. For starters, it’s simple, fun and rewarding. What’s more, it helps keep food waste out of landfill and creates a beneficial, nutrient-rich fertiliser for your garden. What’s not to love about that?

Let’s jump into our 15 home composting tips for beginners (and beyond).

Compost Tip 1 – Choose the Right Bin

Your compost bin should suit your space, organic waste requirements and lifestyle. If you have a big backyard and produce loads of kitchen and garden waste, then a large backyard compost may be the right option for you. If you live in a small apartment and produce minimal waste, then you might opt for a bokashi bin. If you choose a bin that’s too big (or small) for your requirements, it’s harder to make the right conditions for thriving compost. Learn more about different compost bins.

Compost Tip 2 – Chop Larger Waste Up

Whether it’s garden waste or kitchen scraps, larger pieces of organic material will take longer to break down. Help your compost (or worms) along by cutting your waste up into smaller pieces.

Compost Tip 3 – Get the Right ‘Brown’ vs ‘Green’ Ratio

A healthy compost will balance ‘greens’ (nitrogen-rich materials like fruit, vegetables and grass clippings) with ‘browns’ (carbon-rich materials like leaves, twigs, shredded paper and certified home compostable packaging). It’s important to get this balance right, as too much of either can throw things off. Aim for two parts brown material to one part green material.

Compost Tip 4 – Avoid Pet Manure

You might think it’s a convenient place to dispose of your pet’s business, but unfortunately, unhelpful parasites and bacteria can live in pet poo. This isn’t ideal for your compost.

Compost Tip 5 – Shred Paper First

Just like you should chop larger organic waste up, you should shred paper, cardboard, newspaper and certified home compostable packaging to help them break down quicker

Compost Tip 6 – Limit Ashes

If you have a fireplace or firepit, placing your wood ashes in your backyard compost is a great way to dispose of it. But if you produce a lot of ash, you might want to limit how much you add, or just keep it to thin layers every now and then. Too much ash can increase the acidity of your compost and raise the pH, which can make it slower to decompose your materials (and even a bit smelly). There are certain types of ash, like charcoal ash, you may want to avoid altogether (BBQ briquettes are often infused with chemicals).

Compost Tip 7 – Limit Meat and Dairy

It’s a myth that meat, dairy, animal and fish products won’t break down in a compost bin – they will. But many home composters choose to limit these waste materials because they can add odours and attract pests. These items aren’t a no-no, you should just proceed with caution. If you compost meat and dairy, you may choose to position your compost bin away from the house.

Compost Tip 8 – Aerate Your Pile Regularly

Aerate or turn your compost pile every week to let some oxygen through and avoid the compost pile rotting. If you never aerate your compost, it can create an ‘anaerobic’ (without air) environment and become a stinky mess.

Compost Tip 9 – Make It Moist, Not Wet

Your compost bin should be moist, but not too damp or wet (when it becomes too damp or wet it can slow the decomposition process and cause odours). If you find your compost is too damp, ease off on the water. You can also add more browns to dry it out.

Compost Tip 10 – Greens Create Moisture (But Too Many Greens Can Smell Bad!)

As a general rule, the more greens you have in your compost (fruit, vegetables, tea leaves, coffee grounds, egg shells, grass clippings, plant cuttings), the more moist your compost will be. This means you may need to water it less. But don’t forget your green vs brown ratio – if you have too many greens and your compost pile becomes too wet, it can turn mushy, slimy and smelly.

Compost Tip 11 – Too Many Browns Aren’t Good, Either

If too many greens make it wet and smelly, then browns can do the opposite. Too many browns can dry out your compost and it’ll take longer to break down.

Compost Tip 12 – Avoid Continuously Adding to Your Pile

If you keep adding fresh material to a compost pile or bin, there will always be non-composted material mixed in with the good stuff. So once you mix enough material, avoid adding any more to allow the composting process to finish. It usually takes between 3 weeks and 3 months to get finished compost. Once you use the finished compost in your garden, you can start the process all over again.

Compost Tip 13 – Avoid Industrially Compostable Packaging

Any packaging or product that’s Certified Industrially Compostable shouldn’t be placed in your home compost bin – this should be sent to a commercial composting facility to break down. That’s because commercial composting environments have more controlled conditions (including measured inputs like air, carbon, temperature and nitrogen), so they can break down materials that a home compost can’t.

Instead, always look for the Certified Home Compost Logo under the Australasian Bioplastics Association (ABA). You should also look for the company’s sub-licence number stated underneath. ONLY products that meet these requirements can be thrown in your home compost bin. Learn more about composting certifications.

Compost Tip 14

Avoid Herbicide and Pesticide Treated Plants

Plants treated with chemicals, like herbicides and pesticides, can take longer to break down and contaminate your compost. Some chemicals might not even break down, meaning they’ll be present in your final compost.

Compost Tip 15

Choose a Spot Based on Your Climate

If you’re composting in a region that gets cool winters, you might choose to place your compost bin in full sun to help it heat up during the day. On the flip side, if you’re in a warmer climate, you may want to place your compost bin in partial shade to avoid overheating.

Found These Composting Tips Helpful?

We hope these quick composting tips will contribute to a healthy, thriving compost pile in your backyard and create ‘black gold’ your garden will love.