To make traditional compost, it is best to alternate layers of different types of shredded plant materials. The layers should be in 6- to 8-inch layers. This layering will help the compost arrive at the correct nitrogen balance. You should use matching parts by volume of green and dry plant materials in the mix. Be careful when adding layers of fine green plant wastes such as grass clippings. It has tendency to mat and will prevent water from moving through everything. Use about 2-inch layers of fine materials alternately with woody plant prunings to create a balance of dry and green materials.
Traditional composting includes soil as one of the layers. By adding large amounts of soil, the weight increases which makes composting difficult and less efficient. Large quantities of soil could possibly suffocate micro-organisms. It would be a good idea not to use any soil for composting. Water needs to be added to the
compost pile every few layers.
A variety of materials are acceptable to use for composting, but many
gardeners wish to recycle the collected yard waste. Plants have a tendency to lose close to 75 percent of their volume in composting, so plenty of plant material can be effectively processed.
Composting is effective on most yard wastes such as leaves, flower and vegetable parts, straw, and a guarded amount of woody prunings, grass clippings and weeds. Woody branches and twigs larger that 1/4 inch in diameter should first be put through a shredder or chipper. Don't use highly resinous wood or the leaf prunings from plants such as arborvitae, junipers, pine and spruce. The resins in these materials protect them from decomposition. High tannin-containing leaves, such as the oak and cottonwood, have a similar problem so they should be used in small amounts only if chopped well and mixed with other materials. The best way to handle your grass clippings is to leave them on the lawn. It has been proven that they return the nutrients back to the soil.
Generally speaking, you should avoid plants that have been treated with weed killers. Small amounts of these plants may be mixed in the garden compost as long as it is allowed to decompose thoroughly. If treated grass clippings are used they should be as fast as the breakdown in the soil. Plants that are killed with weed killers that are soil inactive shouldn't present a problem if composted in small quantities.
If grass clippings are too long to leave on your lawn, composting is a better alternative than trash disposal. Some weeds can be composted, especially if you pull them before they produce seeds.
Compost particularly serves to reduce the amount of yard wastes and converts plant materials into usable soil amendment.
Composting waste from your yard, as you can see, is fairly simple to accomplish but adding large amounts of other materials, such as animal manures, will defeat the purpose.
