Hammersmith and Fulham Council is encouraging local ardeners to turn their wilting bedding plants, grass trimmings and autumn leaves into excellent green garden compost by offering discounted compost bins from as little as £15 plus delivery.

A compost bin can be used to combine tidying the garden while creating a good mulch to improve spring planting, and it is more environmentally friendly than bonfires.

A compost bin is also best if you only have a small garden or if you want to keep things looking neat and tidy.

Now is an excellent time to start composting as there’s plenty of garden waste available. It’s important to have a good mix of materials and not too much of any one thing to make good-quality compost.

As well as green garden waste, you can compost fruit and vegetable peelings, egg shells, tea bags, pet hair and even shredded paper – which cannot go in to your orange Smart sack.

Try to aim for a 50/50 mix of ‘greens’ (vegetable peelings, old flowers, grass cuttings, spent bedding plants) and ‘browns’ (garden prunings, coffee grounds, tissues and paper napkins, cardboard, vacuum cleaner dust). 

If you have too many leaves for your compost bin, put the excess into a bin bag, make a few holes in it, and leave in a secluded spot to rot down. It will be a great soil conditioner in a few months. Another good tip is to use your lawnmower to collect up leaves. It shreds the leaves and helps speed the composting process.

If you get it right, this autumn’s compost will provide a free supply of nutritious soil conditioner to enrich your spring planting, producing an abundance of flowers, fruit and vegetables next year.

To order your compost bin call 0845 130 60 90 or visit Get Composting.

Bins begin at £15, plus £5.49 delivery, while other composting accessories are also available at special prices.

The council adds that composting also helps it keep a tighter rein on spending, as it currently costs the borough £128 to send a tonne of waste for disposal.

Cllr Greg Smith, H&F Council Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services says: " Composting is a great way to recycle garden waste, and it saves council taxpayers money because we end up sending less material to costly landfill. Everybody wins."

October 7, 2011