Home Composting

Recycling Nature's Way - You Can Make a Difference!

Recycling yard waste at the curbside is good, but composting is better! Solve the yard waste challenge in your own backyard! Approximately 12 percent of the County's total trash landfilled is yard waste. Composting is a safe, natural way to convert leaves, grass clippings, and vegetable refuse into valuable organic matter, known as humus, which is rich in nutrients. When spread in the garden, humus improves soil aeration, water retention and root penetration.

Home Composting Demonstrations

• Visit a compost demonstration site this summer for hands-on composting techniques for recycling yard waste, and "Let Worms Eat Your Garbage" vermicomposting. For locations and times click here.

How Composting Works

Composting is a natural decomposition process. By observing a few simple rules, anyone can be a successful composter. Microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and protozoans digest plant tissues in the compost pile. For microbes to accomplish their work, they need enough nitrogen, oxygen and water to feed on the carbon rich plant materials provided by you, the gardener. Plant material will also decompose more quickly as the temperature increases.

Building a Compost Pile is Easy!

• Select the materials to be composted. In general, leaves, grass clippings, brush and vegetable waste all work well.
  
  
• Shred or chop materials to accelerate composting.
  
  
• Mix layers of plant materials high in nitrogen with those high in carbon. As a rule of thumb, green materials such as grass clippings are higher in nitrogen and brown materials such as leaves are higher in carbon. By alternating layers of green and brown materials, nitrogen becomes more readily available for microbial action.
  
  
• When nitrogen rich plant materials are not available, spread about a cup of 10-10-10 fertilizer with each cubic yard of compressed plant material.
  
  
• If possible, add a little humus in each layer to increase the number of microbes in the new compost pile.
  
  
• Build your pile to maximum of four feet high by four feet wide. Piles higher or wider may lack the necessary oxygen to decompose quickly.

Care of Your Compost Pile

The optimal moisture content of the pile should fall between 40 and 60 percent. The compost should feel damp, but you should not be able to squeeze out any free moisture. To alleviate excessive moisture, the pile can be covered to exclude rain or turned more frequently to allow it to dry. The pile should be watered during dry spells.

The Finer Points of Composting

A free standing pile will suffice or an inexpensive enclosure can be built with wooden pallets. More substantial enclosures may be built from wire mesh or wood and wire mesh, or attractive prefabricated compost bins may be purchased from local hardware stores.

Do not add meat or dairy products to your compost piles - they cause odors and attract animals. To alleviate odors caused by excessive nitogen or water-logged compost, turn the pile frequently. After a few dry days the odors will disappear.

If your compost pile heats up properly, most disease and insect organisms will be destroyed.

Depending on the type of yard waste placed in the pile and the number of times it is turned, composted plant material should be ready to use in the garden during the next growing season.

A Special Note for COLUMBIA RESIDENTS

Compost bins appropriately located in your rear yard, out of sight from the street, are acceptable in Columbia since they are not considered permanent structures. Check with your Village Office for local restrictions.

For More Information...

about composting or for composting troubleshooting, contact:

Home and Garden Center
University of Maryland, Cooperative Extension Service, (800) 342-2507

Howard County Master Gardeners
University of Maryland, Cooperative Extension Service, (410) 313-2707

Howard County Department of Public Works
Recycling Hotline,(410) 313-6444 (TTY 313-2323)

This information is taken from the Howard County FACTFINDER

"Home Composting: Recycling Nature's Way"
Call (410) 313-6444 for a free copy.

For a FREE, comprehensive composting instruction kit and/or a FREE compost bin while supplies last CALL (410) 313-6444.

Compost bins are made from 100% recycled plastic and available to Howard County residents only.