Building a New Compost Bin
With the arrival of a new season Chris talks us through a thrifty way of making a handy compost bin for the garden…
Ever had problems with compost in bins made from pallets drying out? I have and it continually caused problems with poor decomposition of the composting material against the wooden edges which resulted in many turns of the compost to try and avoid it.
Back in 2022, I broke up two of my pallet bins and replaced it with a large circular bin made of weldmesh panels and lined with Elixir Woven Groundcover Membrane. This was a bit of an experiment which four years later has worked really well and has to date produced many cubic metres of compost made exclusively from shredded hedge cuttings and grass clippings. I use the resulting friable compost to mix with coir for the final potting of my tomatoes, and peppers.
A huge benefit of these bins is that the compost heats up right to the edge of the bin but never dries out. Unlike pallets, the bin itself does not rot and can be taken down quickly for emptying or moving about. For longevity, the woven groundcover membrane should be cut to size and have its edges melted with a hot air gun – this effectively prevents the material fraying, mine is still very durable despite weathering many storms!
From a labour saving point of view, I have found that the compost never needs turning, worms have found the compost naturally and do all the work for me! I fill the bin during the course of the summer season, let it compost throughout the autumn and winter and then decant the contents into dumpy bags the following spring – it’s then ready for use, but in reality, it composts for another year as I make more than I use in a single year. Once the circular bin is empty the process is ready to start again.
My hedges are cut and the clippings shredded during the wintertime and stored so they are ready for compost making when the grass is growing actively. I use a mix of about 4 parts grass cuttings (greens) to one part hedge cuttings (browns) in the circular bin.
The ‘browns’ were stored in an old wooden pallet bin, which was prevented from falling apart with many colours of baler twine! What I needed was a new bin, so after the success of the circular bin I set about making one, but this time it was going to be a square 1.2 metre x 1 metre x 1metre high bin.
The construction is very simple, after cutting the mesh panels to the required size and filing down any sharp edges to prevent snagging on hands and the membrane, I set out the panels to the desired dimensions and hammered into the ground four field stakes. On three of the sides the mesh panels are simply secured to the stakes by hammering in fencing staples.
On the top of the mesh, I use something called ‘car trim’ which simply pushes onto the top of the mesh and is taped with black PVC tape at intervals. This prevents any sharp edges snagging the groundcover, – it costs about a fiver from a well-known online auction site for enough to do this size of bin, but you can also use PVC tape along the whole edge length which also works fine but is a bit more fiddly to put on.
The front panel is simply attached by four brass screws (because they do not rust) and penny washers which holds the mesh secure but allow the front panel to be removed quickly to empty the bin.
In order to fit the membrane nice and snugly around the top of the bin, the posts are cut about 50mm above the top of the bin and the edges filed down to make a smooth surface. The key point for a long lasting and trouble-free bin is that anything sharp either needs filing or taping as strong gales can destroy woven fabric membranes if there is anything to snag on.
Lastly, the groundcover membrane is fitted, I use a wide sheet which is folded, half is in the bin and almost half outside making sure that the start and finish is at the front so the front panel can be removed and the membrane folded back to remove the contents. The ‘mesh sandwich’ really helps against wind damage when the bin is empty or only partially full, as the outer layer pushes against the mesh with almost no wind pressure on the inner layer. I prefer to use wooden clothes pegs to secure the membrane to the mesh, I think they look better and don’t become brittle and break when exposed to sunlight as cheap plastic ones do.
If you need a long lasting large capacity bin for composting or indeed want a specific size of bin to fit a particular space, mesh panels and woven ground cover membrane are really worth considering. They are not as cheap as used pallets to construct, but for me having fully composted material, better moisture retention with no need to turn the heap makes the small extra expense well worthwhile.
Chris Jones
Based in Shropshire Chris has many years experience both in growing projects of his own and passing on his expert outdoor knowledge to others through growing and gardening societies. Keep an eye on our blog posts and newsletters for his seasonal articles to keep you well informed on all things outdoors.
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