How to Set Up a Composter in Your Garden? A Practical Guide for the New Season

26.05.2025

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How to Set Up a Composter in Your Garden? A Practical Guide for the New Season

Do you have a house with a garden? May is the perfect time to start taking action – the gardening and allotment season is just beginning! If you care about the environment and want to make a practical impact, setting up your own composter is a great step. Compost is a natural fertilizer that enriches the soil in your garden and helps plants grow healthily.

If you want to learn the basics and practical tips about waste separation, check out our article: A New Home, New Habits – How to Implement Recycling in Daily Life?

Why Set Up a Composter and How Can Compost Be Used?

A composter allows you to turn organic waste, such as vegetable and fruit peels, plant leftovers, or leaves, into valuable compost. It’s a natural fertilizer rich in nutrients that improves soil structure and fertility—especially in home gardens and allotments—supports plant growth and resistance, and reduces the need for chemical fertilizers, leading to cost savings and less environmental impact. With a composter, you get a free, healthy, and eco-friendly fertilizer for your garden.

What to Use to Make a Composter?

Setting up a composter is neither complicated nor expensive. You can make one yourself from materials you already have. The most important things are that the composter should be well-ventilated, easily accessible, and sized appropriately for the amount of waste you plan to compost.

The best materials for a composter include:
- Wooden pallets or boards – cheap and eco-friendly, allow for good airflow,
- Special plastic containers with ventilation holes – available at garden stores,
- Metal mesh or frames – a temporary but effective solution, though prone to corrosion.

What not to use to build a composter:
- Airtight plastic containers without ventilation – restrict airflow, causing waste to rot,
- Wood treated with chemical preservatives – can contaminate the compost,
- Plastic or foil bags – like airtight containers, they block oxygen and hinder decomposition.

What Can and Can’t Go into a Composter?

What you put into the composter greatly affects its quality. A well-managed composter evenly breaks down waste without emitting unpleasant odors.

You can compost:
- Vegetable and fruit peels and scraps (beware of too many citrus fruits),
- Grass clippings, leaves, and twigs,
- Garden plants (without weed seeds or diseased parts),
- Coffee grounds and tea leaves (including paper filters),
- Crushed eggshells.

Avoid composting:
- Meat, fish, bones, and fats – attract rodents and create bad smells,
- Leftovers, especially those with spices and salt,
- Large quantities of citrus or onions – they have antibacterial properties and acidify the compost,
- Plastics, foil, glass, metals, styrofoam,
- Paper packaging with print or lamination – even if they decompose, they may leave harmful substances.

Where to Place the Composter?

The location of the composter matters – it affects its efficiency, the quality of the compost, and how pleasant your garden experience is. Ideally, place it in a shaded or semi-shaded area, such as under a tree or along a fence, sheltered from the wind to prevent the material from drying out. It should also be some distance from patios or windows, as unpleasant smells may occur during decomposition. It's best if the composter sits directly on the ground – this allows microorganisms and earthworms to easily access it and support the natural breakdown process.

Which BIO Waste Bin to Choose?

It’s a good idea to have a dedicated container for bio-waste at home – a small lidded bucket is ideal. It helps contain odors, keeps flies away, and is easy to clean and empty daily. It’s not recommended to collect bio-waste in plastic bags, as they do not decompose and hinder sorting later, nor in paper bags, which may fall apart and contain unwanted dyes or glues. The best solution is to throw waste into the composter loose – directly from your kitchen bin to the composter.

Do Something Good for the Planet (and Your Garden!)

Setting up your own composter is a simple step with great ecological, practical, and financial benefits. A well-managed composter will enrich your soil and make your garden flourish. All it takes is a bit of consistency and proper preparation.

Start today – May is the perfect time to begin your green transformation! And if you dream of owning a home near Warsaw, check out our green residential developments for sale – the ideal space to live close to nature and make your eco dreams come true.