[londongardener]

My compost bin is very woody i.e. mainly stems, anything I can do to make it rot down easier?

[snowdrops]

Pull it all out & mix it with some fresh manure, it will help it heat up, do you put veg peelings etc in, urine also works as an activator

[londongardener]

Pull it all out & mix it with some fresh manure, it will help it heat up, do you put veg peelings etc in, urine also works as an activator

Thanks for that, I will try to get hold of some manure and start putting veg peelings in.

[snowdrops]

Also paper,egg shells,tea bags, basically any garden waste & food waste but no cooked foods  or meats,fish,that will attract rats. Mix them up & add in layers 6-9 inches deep except for grass cuttings sprinkle them around or they go slimy & smelly. If it's very dry give it a water.

[Kleftiwallah]

I've given up on tea bags, they won't rot down in a thousand years!

Cheers,  Tony.

[Trikidiki]

I think it depends on the brand. Someone gave me some, I think they were called 'Tea Pigs'. The taleaves inside had disappeared but the bags were the same as they went in two years before.

I read somewhere that the manufacturers are looking at developing a tea bag that does rot and is strong enough to not tear in use.

[jezza]

hi try nettle tops  or comfry leaves as an accelerator veg peelings and a few grass clippings help break woody materials down; i have just taken 6 barrow loads out of a compost heap another 15 to go if i dont get 15 -25 barrow loads out the heaps failed     jezza

[londongardener]

Thanks all, sadly my lawn is so small I doubt grass clippings would help much and I never mow it.

[Yorkie]

I've given up on tea bags, they won't rot down in a thousand years!

Cheers,  Tony.

I think it depends on the brand. Someone gave me some, I think they were called 'Tea Pigs'. The taleaves inside had disappeared but the bags were the same as they went in two years before.

I read somewhere that the manufacturers are looking at developing a tea bag that does rot and is strong enough to not tear in use.

I agree about it being brand-specific.  I read somewhere (so it must be true!) that some tea bags have silicone or something similar as a lining, which prevents them rotting down in compost or in use.  Mine don't decompose and I have stopped trying to compost them as I'm fed up of seeing tea bags all over the plot / front garden 

[mrsbean]

I have  small raised beds either side of my shed, chuck the tea bags in after our brew.Then when i have a build up spend a bit of time ripping them up and mixing them in. Not for everyone the fiddle, but like you say they dont rot down.

[Plotmaster]

Coffee Grounds from your local coffee shop are great for the compost bin and to use as fertiliser plus snails and slugs hate them

[Trikidiki]

......... I'm fed up of seeing tea bags all over the plot / front garden 

My pet hate is the shredded plastic windows from envelopes. I keep thinking they're shards of glass and get nervous.

[muckyboots]

Hi  I use yorkshire tea and they rot down well, and make a grand cuppa gromit!cheers,

[Trikidiki]

Hi  I use yorkshire tea and they rot down well, and make a grand cuppa gromit!cheers,

Is 'gromit' a local name for tea, I've never heard it before. Would that be where Gromit (as in 'Wallace and...') got his name?

[Growster...]

Finding a huge teabag on the garden today, I was wondering if I should knock it on the head, tear it apart and chuck it, but then considered the consequences, well, you have a small bag of little more than soggy compost, it holds water, and should retain the moisture under the surface, so why not just bury the thing and let it act as a tiny reservoir?

They're all over our garden, and just get raked over when the time comes!