Home composting

Put your composter in the garden on bare soil, not paving or decking. It should be somewhere that is easy to get to all year round.

Add your garden trimmings, dead flowers etc. to your composter as they become available. Ideally, you should have a mix of 'green' and 'brown' materials like grass cuttings which won't successfully compost on their own. Browns are harder, drier materials. Try to add equal volumes of both types. Avoid adding woody stems - these are best taken to you local green waste recycling centre.

Composting works best if you add a lot of material at once. Chop chunky and large items into small pieces to help speed up the composting process. Try to ensure your compost is moist but not wet - when squeezed in your hand, a few drops of water should be produced. Add water if it is too dry; cover and add dry.

If you wish, add some soil, finished compost or a compost accelerator (young nettles are an excellent natural accelerator) to help speed up the composting process.

Keep adding a good mixture of materials.