One of the important ingredients used in composting is lawn clippings, commonly referred to as yard waste. They are primarily grass leaves (and some stems) that have been cut off by mowing. Clippings left on the lawn shade the soil surface and reduce moisture loss due to evaporation. Decomposed lawn clippings are valuable source of plant nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

Ingredients For Composting

Most organic waste such as vegetable scraps, tea leaves, fruit peelings, coffee grounds, vacuum dust and crushed eggshells can be composted. The rule of thumb is to mix 25% waste with 75% lawn clippings. Vegetable scraps have a high proportion of water. If you have used more than about 25% in proportion to grass cuttings, this may produce wet and heavy compost. Chopping and shredding larger items speeds up the composting process. This can easily be done by running the lawn mower over leaves and other soft garden waste. The more uniform in size the ingredients, the quicker the decomposition process.


Make available essential heat and air and ensure that the compost bin is situated at a sunny position as heat is an important part of decomposition process. Hot compost indicates that the composting process is activated. The bin should also be at an accessible place so that it can be easily tumbled every few days. The compost will turn dark earthy brown in 4 to 6 weeks and it can then be removed for use in garden. Compost becomes lumpy when the compost bin has not been turned often enough. Tumbling of the bin causes the contents to fall from top to bottom where they will hit the breaker bar across the middle. This feature is to help to break up compost lumps for better aeration.

Foul Smelling Compost

A foul smell produced by compost indicates that anaerobic decomposition (without oxygen) is taking place. It is usually caused by not tumbling sufficiently and aerating the ingredients. It may also be due to too much moisture or a combination of both problems. The only remedy is to empty the bin and start all over again. In order to avoid this problem allow moist plant material to dry outside the bin before placing it into the compost bin. The addition of some ground limestone is also a good idea as it helps to neutralize the build-up of acid. If a great deal of leaf material is to used some high nitrogen fertilizers can be used to balance the carbon to nitrogen ratio present of the composting mixture.