Watercress test to assess compost maturity and plant compatibility.

• Mix a small amount of compost with garden soil in a small container and moisten with water.

• Scatter watercress seeds over the mixture, cover them with plastic wrap, and place the container in a bright location out of direct sunlight to allow the seeds to germinate.

• If the seeds germinate after about a week and the seedlings grow rapidly without brown or yellow discoloration, the compost is mature and compatible with the plants.

Fresh compost (= immature compost) can be made in about 3-4 months. The finished product can be used as a soil cover to improve the soil. It contains mainly some large granular material and some humus and many small organisms that can rejuvenate poor garden soils.

Non-vegetable food waste (meat, sausages, fish scraps, bones) is not suitable for homemade composting in the yard, because the homemade composting process usually does not guarantee the required temperature for a certain period of time to ensure good composting hygiene (sanitary control of epidemics).

Whether in the garden or indoors, plants should not be used for composting in your own garden once they have contracted a disease or suffered an insect infestation.

Pests such as lice, thrips, European red mites or maggots will only die when the compost reaches very high temperatures.

Composting is actually a process in which aerobic microorganisms break down biological waste. Therefore, you should give your compost pile plenty of oxygen.

Why does my compost pile stink?

Why is my compost pile full of maggots?

Why has my compost pile turned my yard into a rat playground?

Why does my compost not look as good as expected after use, and do my plants get sick and even wilt?

Organic waste and compost piles are generally harmless to human health, provided we observe the basic principle: people with mold allergies and those with weakened immune systems should be careful. This means that such people should promptly throw organic waste from the kitchen into the organic waste bin and should not make their own compost at home. For healthy people, it is safe to make compost in their own gardens.

If you have broad-leaved trees in your garden and have enough space, you should make compost from leaves in autumn.

A special type of organic waste utilization is surface composting and mulching. Instead of transporting dead plant branches or leaves to the compost pile, they are evacuated directly and evenly on site. This is very labor efficient when larger areas of land are involved, as there is no need to reuse the finished compost. The material used for surface composting is tilled beneath the soil, while the material used for mulching remains on the soil surface. For densely cultivated gardens, mulching with organic material is easier than with surface composting, which is recommended prior to the placement of a new garden.

Compost pile​

Not all locations in the garden are suitable for making compost. If possible, the compost pile should be set up in a shady part of the garden to prevent the compost pile from dehydrating.

Extreme weather conditions can discourage composting, so the location where the compost pile is located should be surrounded by a hedge, bean stand or wall planting to prevent it from being damaged by strong winds.