Handy Tips For Autumn Composting In Melbourne

Composting in Melbourne during the autumn season is a great opportunity to make use of the plethora of fallen leaves from deciduous trees and shrubs in your backyard.

Composting is a great way to make your garden more sustainable by reducing the amount of landfill rubbish, as well as creating natural fertiliser for your garden. So, whilst you tidy up your backyard with fallen leaves, follow our handy tips for establishing a successful compost!

Handy tips for composting in Melbourne during autumn

Find a suitable container

Compost can be established in a ready-made compost bin, container or self-built frame. It doesn’t require anything overly fancy, just something to hold all of the ingredients together to allow beneficial bacteria that break down the plant debris to increase in temperature and do their job effectively. Ready-made containers for composting in Melbourne can either be stationary, rotating or come as compost tumblers. The advantage of rotating and tumbler compost bins is that they speed up the decomposing process from frequent oxidation and heat retention.

Select the right ingredients

Compost requires both brown and green plant matter. Autumn leaves for your compost are rich in carbon, however lack a lot of nutrients, therefore the leaves need to be combined with kitchen scraps and grass clippings as the green matter. Brown matter can include wood chippings, shredded newspaper and dry leaves. Composting in Melbourne during the autumn months means you will have a steady supply of fallen dry leaves! If you wish to give your compost pile a head start, you can use an activator to kick start the composting process.

Turn the pile regularly

The composting process is basic; however, it does require a little attention every now and then. Attending to your compost bin weekly can make all the difference. Be sure to add more material weekly to give the bacteria fresh ingredients to break down and enhance the insulation required to increase heat. Turning the pile with a pitchfork or adding a compost aerator each week will ensure the materials are well blended. If the compost is dry, the composition process will slow down and if it is too wet, it will suffocate the bacteria and become slimy. Good compost may take a few months to create, and should resemble a dark, crumbly soil that has a scent of fresh earth.

Composting in Melbourne is an easy and sustainable way to make the most of your garden and kitchen wastes, and in turn creates wonderful organic matter for future gardening purposes.

Want to make your backyard more sustainable? Take a look at our tips on how to bring sustainable gardening to your backyard.

Looking for gardening services? Contact the CGS team today! We offer a variety of gardening services including regular lawn mowing to keep your garden looking well maintained during the cooler seasons.