What Can I Compost During Autumn?
As autumn arrives, nights draw in, the air turns crisp, and the landscape glows in shades of red, orange, and gold. While the garden begins to wind down for winter, there’s still plenty of compostable material available to keep your HOTBIN active and productive. Here’s a guide to what you can add throughout the season.
Early Autumn (September)
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Prune and compost: flowering shrubs, fruit trees, hardy climbers (honeysuckle, wisteria, Virginia creeper), and late-fruiting raspberries, blackberries, and hybrids.
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Cut back and compost: deciduous hedges (hawthorn, beech, hornbeam), and raspberry canes that fruited earlier this year.
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Remove and compost: tender bedding plants, plus deadheaded dahlias, roses, begonias, and summer bedding.
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Windfall fruit: chop spoiled or rotted fruit into smaller pieces before adding. For best results, mix with other waste, bulking agent, and shredded paper to help maintain hot composting temperatures as the weather cools.
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Keep on top of weeding to prevent strong root systems from developing.
Mid-Autumn (October)
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Cut back and compost: lavatera, buddleia, and sambucus (by half their height to avoid wind-rock), asparagus stems as they yellow, old strawberry foliage, and herbaceous perennials as they die back.
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Autumn leaves: rake, shred, and add to the HOTBIN. If you don’t have a shredder, simply mow over them. Shredding increases surface area, speeds decomposition, and helps prevent compact layers that restrict airflow.
Late Autumn (November)
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Prune and compost: long rose stems (by one-third to reduce wind-rock), deciduous trees and hedges, and winter prune apples, pears, and grapevines after leaf fall. Shred or chop woody stems before adding to speed breakdown.
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Cut back: remaining asparagus spears at the base once the foliage yellows.
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Clear: old, spent plants.
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Autumn leaves: rake, shred, and add on dry days to avoid excess moisture.
How to Use Your Compost in Autumn
Before heavy frosts arrive, choose a clear day to spread compost on beds and borders, then dig it in (or top-dress if you follow a no-dig method). This rejuvenates the soil before the next planting season. For borderline-hardy plants like agapanthus, add an extra layer of compost around the base for protection
Ready to make the most of autumn’s garden waste? Keep your HOTBIN working through the cooler months and turn seasonal cuttings, leaves, and prunings into rich compost. Start composting today with HOTBIN — visit this site to get yours at the lowest price of the season!