[julietmaria]

I have always thrown my old compost from annual bedding etc onto my beds, flower beds, or sometimes on my compost heap.  Is this bad?  It seems such a waste to completely throw it in the bin.  Also I planted about 20 old sweet pea seeds in coir pots in the autumn, none germinated , probably too old - so I have just shoved in some nasturtium seeds - is this bad?!   Just thought it would be a waste of pots and compost.  What do you guys think and what do you do with your old compost?
 

[compostqueen]

I never throw it away. I either tip it into the compost bin or onto the garden. I've used last year's spent growbags for planting spuds up in containers. I'll top them up with new growbag though as the nutrients will have been used up from the old. It's too good to chuck though.  The compost will help lighten heavy soils

[viettaclark]

As it loses nutrients, volume and structure I re-use for my pots and raised beds by adding my compost, fbb, manure and some topsoil all mixed up in a wheelbarrow. Saves the pennies!
I always use just fresh compost for seeds and smaller plants.

[DD.]

Old compost is fine for growing things in that don't need a lot of nutrients, like radish & lettuce.

[TerryB]

Compost from last years grow backs is mixed with sharp sand, some BFB added and used to grow carrots and parsnips.

[Agatha]

I always spread mine as a mulch on the flower border - the soil there is farmyard rubble mixed with solid chunks of clay, so it needs all the help it can get!

[Thrift]

I always spread it on the borders too.

[JayG]

I've lived in Yorkshire for so long it would never occur to me to waste anything!  

I err on the side of caution though - I wouldn't re-use or mulch with it if I knew the plants growing in it were diseased (particularly re-using on potatoes and tomatoes) and you perhaps should check carefully that there are no vine weevils (one ran away from a bag of "donated" spent compost when I opened it last year!)  

Last year I grew sweet potatoes quite successfully in re-used compost after dosing it with at least 2 different types of fertiliser to replace the lost nutrients.

Any surplus gets chucked on the flower borders and raspberries.