[cmorrell]

I've just ordered a couple of 330l compost bins from waste aware Scotland and have been reading up on how to compost, layering, mixing etc. What I haven't yet come across is an answer to the following...

I have a couple of piles of woody material I've cut down recently (raspberry, gooseberry, some random invasive bush etc), most of which have fairly thin stems and are easy to cut up with loppers. If I cut these down to smallish lengths, will that be acceptable for composting them or do they really need to go through a shredder? If the latter, anyone know where I can hire/borrow a shredder? I really don't want to add yet another useless garden appliance that gets used once a year if I can possibly avoid it.

[HappyHippy]

Hi,
Google's a wonderfull site 
I found thishttp://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/rubbish/nc_rub/rub_compostinit.asp
They suggest a layer of woody stuff at the bottom of your bin to increase air movement and drainage.
I think that shredding will help it break down more quickly - but if you're cutting it up small that may suffice, especially since you've got the 2 bins.
To hire one from HSS they are £20 for the first day, £10 each extra day or £25 for the weekend http://www.hss.com/g/62812/Summertime-Shredder.html
Hope that helps

[rustyme]

re; composting sticks. Composting guids do say put a layer o f sticks down for airation , and it does help in this respect , but it also acts as a barrier to brandling worms to a degree as well. After your compost has heated up and cooled , done by bacteria and nematode action, brandling or banded worms move in to carry on the breakdown of your compost . If you aren't worried or don't want this to happen then put the layer of sticks down . I now just build direct on to soil , never had any problems with airless (anaerobic) decomposition , as long as you creat a good even mix of contents to begin with . If it takes time to build up a full heap and you have different layers of material , then when it is full, just give it all a good mix, and away it will go . As for the sticks , as long as they are a maximum of say pencil thickness, then they can go in a heap that heats up well . If your heaps never heat up properly , it may be best to not to put them in , or you  can put them in and they will go through 3 or 4 compostings . This is ok , but makes things really difficult each time you empy out a finished heap. You can put them through a shredder and you just treat them as any other form of bark chips etc , or crush them by putting them on a hard surface and driving over them for a few weeks ( put them on your drive , not the motorway !!) If you do put them in a heap I would chop them up quite small 3" or so , and mix them with plenty of grass cuttings, horse manure (if you can get it ) and vegetable matter, and then once the heap has heated once I would then move and remix the heap again . It will then reheat , you can do this 2,3 or 4 times , and you will end up with very good compost in much less time . The sticks will be more or less gone by then . Larger (thicker) sticks are best shredded as they remain intact for a long time and make life very difficult moving the compost. Compost making is a personal thing really , everyone does it different ! Good luck how ever you do it ....


cheers

Russ