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Backyard Composting

Backyard composting makes good sense – and good dollars and cents.  Rather than having your yard waste collected for processing or disposal, you can recycle this material into a rich, dark humus material for use as a soil amendment.  All you need to get started is a compost technique and a bin or a pile!

For additional information on:

  • The Essentials of Composting

  • Choosing what to Compost

  • Composting Techniques

  • Compost Troubleshooting

  • How to use Compost

  • The Compost Bin

  • Vermicomposting

  • Compost Definitions

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Please visit our Stanislaus County’s Backyard Composting Guide

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Domestic Waste Bin
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Nature's Fertilizer

Compost can be mixed into soil as a soil amendment in preparation for planting. It can also be spread on soil at the end of the gardening season and allowed to leach into the soil. If only a small amount of compost is available, it can be incorporated in the seed furrow, or a handful can be added to each transplant hole of annuals, perennials, or vegetables. Large amounts of compost can be used to plant trees, shrubs, and vegetable gardens, or to repair or replace lawn areas. Compost can also be used as mulch, or combined with equal parts of sand and soil to create an excellent potting mix.

Do Compost

  • Barnyard manure

  • Coffee grounds/filters

  • Flowers

  • Fruit and vegetables trimmings

  • Paper with no ink, small amounts

  • Green/Dry leaves

  • Ash- small amounts

  • Tea leaves with bags

  • Bread

  • Eggshells

  • Grass clippings

  • Hair

  • Lint

  • Sawdust

  • Straw

Don't Compost

  • Bones

  • Pet litter/feces

  • Dairy

  • Meat

  • Diapers

  • Diseased plants

  • Fish

  • Greasy foods

  • Invasive weeds

  • Oil/lard

  • Peanut butter

  • Salad dressing

  • Unchopped woody waste

  • Wood shavings

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