How to Start a Compost Heap: Greens, Browns and Common Problems

Choosing a bin or heap

You don't need to buy anything to start. Common options:

Option	Good for	Things to know
Open heap	Large gardens with lots of material	Simple, but can look untidy and dries out faster
Plastic "dalek" bin	Small gardens, kitchen waste	Tidy and keeps moisture in; harder to turn
Pallet bays	Regular turning	Two or three bays let you move compost from one to the next

Put it somewhere easy to reach from the kitchen, ideally on soil rather than paving so excess water can drain away.

What to put in

Think of two groups and aim to mix them.

Greens (soft, moist, break down quickly):

Uncooked fruit and vegetable peelings
Tea leaves and coffee grounds
Grass clippings (in thin layers)
Soft plant trimmings and spent bedding plants

Browns (dry, woody, give structure):

Plain cardboard and egg boxes, torn up
Shredded paper
Dry autumn leaves
Straw and woody prunings, chopped small

What to leave out

Cooked food, meat, fish and dairy – they can attract rats and other pests
Pet waste from cats and dogs
Diseased plants
Perennial weed roots and weeds with seeds, unless your heap gets very hot
Glossy or printed plastic-coated paper

Building the heap

Start with a layer of coarse brown material such as twiggy prunings to help air flow at the base.
Add greens and browns as you collect them, mixing rather than adding thick layers of one thing.
If it looks dry, sprinkle it with water; if it looks wet and slimy, add more browns.
Turn the heap with a fork every few weeks if you can. Turning adds air and speeds things up, but an unturned heap will still rot – just more slowly.

Fixing common problems

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Smells bad, slimy	Too many greens, too wet, not enough air	Mix in torn cardboard or dry leaves and turn
Nothing is happening	Too dry, or too many browns	Add greens and water, then turn
Flies around the bin	Exposed food scraps	Bury fresh scraps in the middle and cover with browns
Lots of woody bits left	Pieces too large	Sieve them out and return them to the next heap

Using your compost

Finished compost is a soil improver: spread it on beds as a mulch or fork it lightly into the top of the soil. It is not a substitute for potting compost on its own, because home-made compost varies a lot in texture and nutrients.

Planning where to use it? See how to plan a small vegetable bed.

Quick checklist

Bin or heap sited on soil, easy to reach
Greens and browns mixed in roughly equal volumes
Damp like a wrung-out sponge
No cooked food, meat, dairy, or pet waste
Turned when convenient