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Shredding
yorkie2
For anything woody, like your hedge cuttings will be, the more effort you put into reducing their size now will pay dividends in terms of time taken to compost. If you can put them through a shredder and then compost from there then they shouldn't take too long. The time will depend on whether you "manage" your compost or just let nature take its course. Geordie has a great post on compost and "managing" in this section. If you turn your compost regularly you can get it ready in a lot less time. It also pays to mix contents so that you don't have too much of any one item. The woody hedge cuttings should offset the grass cuttings and stop them turning into a solid black stodge (technical term!) but I'd still be tempted to mix kitchen waste in as well. Can you store the cuttings and add them as a layer when you compost other material over time?
Last year we put cabbage stalks on the compost in 6 inch sections. I emptied the bin recently and although some decomposition had taken place it wasn't really enough and we sorted threw the contents, ripping any larger items to smaller ones and returned them to the bin. The stuff we had cut to shreds have all broken down and are now on the bed ready for this year.
We always have a pair of secatuers with us when we compost now so we can cut stuff down to the minimum size. My mother in law let us have the contents of 2 of her bins that had been standing for 3 years and to be honest, as she hadn't cut much stuff up about a third of the contents went back in the bin.
Good luck. Florists also use the leylandii greenery in floral displays, if you have flowers you could also use a small amount (doesn't really count in the overall scheme of things) to add to your table displays.
Originally posted by yorkie2
For anything woody, like your hedge cuttings will be, the more effort you put into reducing their size now will pay dividends in terms of time taken to compost. If you can put them through a shredder and then compost from there then they shouldn't take too long. The time will depend on whether you "manage" your compost or just let nature take its course. Geordie has a great post on compost and "managing" in this section. If you turn your compost regularly you can get it ready in a lot less time. It also pays to mix contents so that you don't have too much of any one item. The woody hedge cuttings should offset the grass cuttings and stop them turning into a solid black stodge (technical term!) but I'd still be tempted to mix kitchen waste in as well. Can you store the cuttings and add them as a layer when you compost other material over time?
Last year we put cabbage stalks on the compost in 6 inch sections. I emptied the bin recently and although some decomposition had taken place it wasn't really enough and we sorted threw the contents, ripping any larger items to smaller ones and returned them to the bin. The stuff we had cut to shreds have all broken down and are now on the bed ready for this year.
We always have a pair of secatuers with us when we compost now so we can cut stuff down to the minimum size. My mother in law let us have the contents of 2 of her bins that had been standing for 3 years and to be honest, as she hadn't cut much stuff up about a third of the contents went back in the bin.
Good luck. Florists also use the leylandii greenery in floral displays, if you have flowers you could also use a small amount (doesn't really count in the overall scheme of things) to add to your table displays.
Have just been reading through all your advice and guidance re: composting! Very useful, especially Geordie - do you have an honours degree in composting?
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