Composting Guide

Updated June 2026

Compost is the single best thing you can add to poor or sandy soil, and warm climates make it happen fast.

Compost turns kitchen and yard waste into the rich organic matter that sandy and depleted soils desperately need. In warm climates it breaks down quickly, so even a casual pile pays off within a season.

In pictures

Three-bay compost bin system in an Australian backyard

Layering green and brown materials into a compost bin

Green and brown composting materials side by side

Hands holding finished dark crumbly compost with earthworms

Turning steaming compost with a garden fork

Hot composting (fast)

Mix about half nitrogen-rich "greens" (kitchen scraps, fresh grass, manure) with half carbon-rich "browns" (dry leaves, cardboard, straw). Keep it as damp as a wrung-out sponge and turn it weekly; in warm weather it can finish in 6-10 weeks.

Cold composting (easy)

Just pile it and wait. No turning, slower, but it works fine, especially in a hot climate where everything decomposes quickly.

Worms & tumblers

A worm bin in the shade makes rich castings and handles kitchen scraps neatly. Tumblers keep things tidy and speed up turning in small yards.

What to add and avoid

Add: vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, eggshells, dry leaves, grass, shredded cardboard, plant trimmings. Avoid: meat, dairy and oily food, diseased plants, weeds gone to seed, and pet waste.

Warm-climate tip: keep the pile shaded and moist. Sun bakes piles dry and stalls them, so a shaded, watered pile beats a baking one. See the Florida-specific composting in Florida guide for local detail.

Source: UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions, Composting.

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